Southcliffe principal cast interviews

22 July 2013

Eddie Marsan plays Andrew Salter

Describe the journey Andrew and Claire go through?

Andrew and Claire are the characters the audience will identify with the most.  They are a middle aged couple with a teenage daughter, a mortgage and then something terrible happens in the town and their story is how they react to it. 

 

How was it filming some of the more traumatic scenes?

The scene in the morgue was the most traumatic scene for me to film, as you really feel for Andrew at that point. It’s so raw and heartbreaking and you really see a man truly come apart at the seams. The climax of Andrew and Claire’s story was also deeply touching.  It’s was a very emotionally exhausting film to make but also very rewarding.

 

How did you leave the trauma behind on set?

When you watch a sad film you cry, it’s the same kind of thing with an actor.  You use your emotions and imagine it. You don’t carry the feelings with you, it’s actually quite cathartic.

 

What did you take away from the whole experience? Did it make you reflect on your own life?

I am a dad of four so playing a father who goes through such a terrible thing can be tough, it was easy to imagine how Andrew would feel. 

 

It must have been refreshing going from filming Southcliffe to the comedy The World’s End?

They are both just as hard as one another. Southcliffe was a very emotional production and The World’s End was more technical and effects laden.  I never had time to let one dwell on the other, I just did the job.   

 

What else do you have coming up at the moment?

I’ve been in LA shooting Ray Donovan for Showtime.  I have The World’s End coming out.  Also, a film I did called Still Life has been shown in film festivals and finally there’s Southcliffe. Everyone’s going to be sick of the sight of me! 

 

You have a Twitter profile, are you a prolific tweeter?

I got lonely in L.A. so I started to tweet other actors. Being away from home I got a bit angry about some of the steps the government was making so I started to tweet a few political musings. 

 

Did you find yourself meeting up with the expat community in LA?

I formed a surrogate family with the people filming Ray Donovan.  We all had weekends off and had barbeques together. I stayed with an American actor who I was working with at the time so I always had friends out there.