More than six months after “I Swear” released in the U.K., audiences in the U.S. are now finally getting to see the British indie film that’s been at the center of a whole lot of noise from across the Atlantic.
Landing in cinemas nationwide via Sony Pictures Classics, the feature, written and directed by Kirk Jones, tells the deeply moving, often hilarious and frequently tear-jerking story of John Davidson, the Scottish Tourette Syndrome campaigner who has suffered from the neurological disorder since a teenager.
But “I Swear” arrives in the U.S. with the sort momentum behind it that most low-budget British movies could only dream of.
Having broken records as the highest-rated feature on record in the U.K. (beating “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Top Gun Maverick” and “Parasite”), it went on to take an astonishing $8.3 million for Studiocanal on home soil, an unthinkable result for a film of its size. But the unthinkable continued into awards season, with the film landing 5 BAFTA nominations. winning best casting and, in what will likely go down in BAFTA history, leading actor for Robert Aramayo, who beat Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet (and then delivered a speech many people have had on repeat since).
Jones, previously best known for directing “Nanny McPhee” and “Waking Ned,” knew there was something very special about the film, to the extent he sold his family home to entirely finance its roughly $3.8 million budget. It was an admittedly bold move, but one that meant he could put the sort of swearing into “I Swear” that it needed — and cast Aramayo rather than someone with more star power. As he notes, the BAFTAs would appear to have proved him right (although he still hasn’t got the money back).
But the BAFTAs also brought with it major controversy. Davidson, in at attendance as a special guest, involuntarily shouted the N-word while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting on stage. It was, of course, part of his Tourette’s condition, but the eruption of anger that followed saw the incident come to overshadow the event and spark headlines for weeks after.
Davidson, Jones notes, was “incredibly upset” about what happened, but told him afterwards that it’s been part of his life since he was 14, although nowhere near on such a global scale.
Speaking to Variety, the director discusses how “I Swear” might have look had he not put his house on the line, why he hopes the film will increase understanding of Tourette’s, how Aramayo’s deeply “genuine” BAFTA speech is up there among the great film awards moments of all time and his next feature — an adaptation of beloved British children’s TV classic, “Mr. Benn.”
It’s obviously been a while since ‘I Swear’ came out in the U.K., but it did phenomenally well. And then there were the BAFTA wins. This is a low-budget British indie film — it’s such a rarity for a film like that to have that sort of success. Was any of it at all anticipated?
It wasn’t expected. Nothing is ever expected. But I’ve been making films for 25 years, and my instinct was that at every level — script, cast, just going up to Scotland and starting to prep, and then starting to shoot, was a good one. I just had a good feeling about it, and that’s about as good as it gets. But there was a detail about the financing. It was financed in a very unusual way, which meant that I had complete and total control creatively over the script, the casting, everything. And I think that made a huge difference and it turned this into the best experience I have ever had on a film set.
Can you explain the financing? And what do you think would have happened had you not had final say?
Effectively, I ended up putting my house and everything on the line to finance the film 100%. So what that meant was I didn’t have to take out any swearing, which was suggested very early on when we had a meeting with a financier. I’d promised John I would tell a truthful and honest story of his life and of Tourette’s and I’d also promised myself.
I don’t disagree with the fact that if someone is investing what is often millions of dollars, then they should have a say. But by putting everything on the line and borrowing more money to get this film made, no one commented on the script, and it ended up being nominated for a BAFTA. No one interfered with my relationship with the casting director and we were able to cast this film properly, with actors who deserve to be playing these roles. And coincidentally the casting director won a BAFTA. I would never, ever have been able to cast Robert Aramayo in the lead, because financiers, I guarantee you, would have said: ‘He looks great, but he’s not as well known in America as other people. He’s not had a lead role and carried a film. You need to go and find someone else.’ No one said that, so I cast Robert Aramayo, and coincidentally, Robert Aramayo won the best actor award.
So what I’m saying is that maybe this was a huge coincidence, or maybe now and again, if a group of really experienced and responsible and creative people are just left alone to make a film, maybe they can deliver something which is fresher, more interesting and engaging for the audience than it would be if it’s working through a filtration system of notes.
Putting your house on the line is a very bold move!
And I’ve not got it back yet. None of that has changed. I think it’ll be OK, but it’s yet to be seen.
How has Sony Pictures Classics been taking the success of ‘I Swear’ in the U.K and trying to keep that momentum going into the U.S.?
Just like every other territory that we’ve sold it to, it’s being based on audience reaction. So it’s been: screen it, screen it, screen it. In the U.K. it scored higher than any film in the history of the U.K. with Studiocanal, and they’ve had big movies like ‘Paddington’ and ‘Bridget Jones’. It was scoring 98% with audiences. It’s been tested in America and getting almost identical scoring. What they’re saying, in a good old-fashioned way, is that this doesn’t need to have a marketing campaign which pretends it’s something that it’s not. Just let people see it, try and get word of mouth going, and it should find its own position.
Have people in the U.S been OK with the accents?
No, I haven’t heard one comment relating to the accent in the U.S. I was careful, even with someone like Peter Mullen. I remember saying to him, ‘Look, I want it to be Scottish. I want you to be Scottish. But there’s Scottish that you need subtitles for and there’s Scottish which is clear and crisp. So everyone paid a lot of attention to that and it looks as if that’s paid off.
From what I’ve seen, the level of understand about Tourette syndrome seems to be lower than in the U.S. than the U.K. Do you agree? What have you noticed?
There’s more understanding in the U.S. than people think. There is a really popular show called ‘Baylan Out Loud,’ and it’s about a young woman who has Tourette’s, and that’s proved to be very popular. But I agree that the work that John Davidson has done over the years with his documentaries has helped educate people. But when I made the film, it wasn’t as if everyone in the U.K. knew who John Davidson was. But, of course, what we’re really hoping is that when people see the film, not only will they be entertained and they’ll laugh and they’ll cry, but they’ll come away feeling uplifted with a level of understanding that they might not have had before.
You’ve helped turn Robert Aramayo into a BAFTA-winning leading man. I’ve been covering the BAFTAs for many years, but that moment when he won was absolutely magical and one of the best feelings I’ve felt in the room.
The win was was deserved, but I don’t think you could argue with the fact that it was a surprise. You could almost feel a wind pass you by as people took an intake of breath. And so many people came up to me afterwards and said: ‘I voted for Rob, I just wasn’t sure whether everyone else was going to do the same.’ And of course, they did. But the speech. I mean, it’s Rob, he’s so genuine, he’s an adorable young man. And the thing with Ethan Hawke — the emotion that was so present. But if there was a compilation of classic acceptance speeches, things like Roberto Bellini walking over the seats, I think Rob’s would be up there.
Did you have a hunch he might win? Many of us thought there was a chance.
Exactly the same. Nothing’s confident. Even the Rising Star award, which he won just before that, was so unpredictable, because it was voted for by the general public. And in this day and age, it can be quite easy to influence the public via social media. But everyone felt that he deserved the Rising Star. But it was still an unknown. So we got that one out the way, and then we were fortunate enough to win best casting. So that was all great. We had two under our belt. And then, of course, it came to best actor, and, literally, it was as if it was my own nomination. When she said, ‘The winner is…’ I would estimate that that pause was about three minutes. All I’m thinking is, I want to hear the name Rob Aramayo, I want to hear it. And it came and it was unbelievable. It was so deserved, so genuine, and that was unexpected for this level of low-budget project.
Before Rob won, there was the incident involving John Davidson and the N-word. You were sat near him. How did you feel when it happened?
The irony is, that is why we made the film. That is Tourette’s. And I think in the past, people like to think that it’s some kind of sweet condition, where people swear and it’s quite funny sometimes, but it can be really dangerous. I mean, Tourette’s itself is spiteful. It’s nasty. And I hope that as many people as possible see this film, not because it’s my film, but genuinely because I do not believe they can come out the other side of watching it without a level of education, almost accidentally without knowing it, that will allow them to understand so much about the condition, how it manifests itself, how it’s impossible to control. So that was the greatest irony. That night was that that this is the reason why we made the film.
Some of the uproar afterwards underlined that lack of understand, especially when people claimed that he meant what he said…
Nearly all the scenes in the film are true and based on what John has told me. The day that he muttered the word ‘slut’ to a girl as she walked by. She goes home, she speaks to her boyfriend and even though John apologized and explained himself at the time, the boyfriend had no interest, and John was beaten to within an inch of his life. And that’s how life has been for John since he was 14 years old.
Did you keep in touch with John in the days that followed the BAFTAs?
I did. And he was incredibly upset. I remember saying, are you okay? And he literally said: ‘You know, this is how my life has been since I was 14 years old.’ Not that scale, not all over social media, but that’s how it’s been — that level of upset and anger towards him. And the irony is, John is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man, yeah, you could ever hope to meet.
Now that things have died down, how’s he doing?
He’s good. He’s great. He’s actually gone back to work. He had a heart condition. People were quite concerned about him, but he’s in good shape now, and he’s actually started back at work. I think he’s a working class hero. I think he feels more comfortable knocking around the community center and sweeping the floors and putting the tables and chairs out than probably has done at any of these parties.
Was there no talk about bringing him over to the U.S. to help with the release?
He can’t fly. You can imagine the issues in an airport and it’s dangerous. It really is a security risk. There’s no question. He won’t even fly down to London from Scotland. That’s too much for him. He comes down on the train.
Onto something very different, you’re now working on a ‘Mr. Benn’ film
I am working on Mr. Benn, which is as much a surprise to me as anyone else in the world. I was 100% sure that I was going to do exactly the same as I did with ‘I Swear,’ which was: find an idea, develop it, write it, direct it, produce it. Because I had such an incredible experience. And my office email has been inundated with projects and offers. We’ve had to put an auto response, basically saying we cannot accept any more. We’ve had to fend everyone off!
But Mr. Benn slipped through the net. I remember it as a child. But my take on it, and this might help people understand why I’m starting to write it, is essentially that Mr. Benn is a good, kind, gentle, if not a little boring man. When he goes into the fancy dress shop, he goes to historical scenes, fantasy scenes and he often goes into a situation with an unsurmountable problem, a problem which looks like it’s going to be very hard to solve, but with common sense, kindness, understanding and decency. He brings people together, he sorts them out, he solves a problem, and then, as if by magic, he goes back into the changing room. And I feel there are a number of problems in the world at the moment which can be solved with kindness and common sense. And that is why I think it’s time for Mr. Benn to come out of retirement. But I haven’t written it yet.
What type of problems are you talking about? The major problems in the world at the moment feel a little insurmountable? Are they the ones that Mr. Benn can take on?
Yeah, I think so. You know, people warring over boundary lines. Those are the sorts of things I’ve got in mind. But it will be set in modern times, but with a slight fantasy twist.
