good boy's director, producers, and marion bailey did an interview on the life in film podcast, talking about the film, casting, funding, etc. it's about an hour long, so i just transcribed the ben bits (but the whole thing was quite interesting)
you can (legally!) watch good boy here (use a uk vpn if you're outside the uk)
HOST: How did you guys connect? And how did you guys all come together to make this?
TOM: Ummm well, what, oh I can't remember, did we have Ben when we started working together, Elettra?
ELETTRA: Yeah, we just about…
TOM: Yeah, so I knew Ben a long time ago, Ben Whishaw, who's umm the lead in it opposite Marion, and um we sort of left drama school at around the same time. We knew each other a long time, but we hadn't seen each other for a while, so after one of the lockdowns um we went for a big long walk on, um, on the Thames and um on the southbank. And, um, I was telling him about my writing stuff and, um, my mum had just died and so I was telling him about that. And, um, and then out of the blue he just, sort of, just was like "I think you should direct something". And he sort of gave voice to, um, and he was like "I think you'd be really good at it". And he sort of gave voice to something that I'd been feeling but hadn't acknowledged out loud to anyone before that. I'd really been wanting to direct for a while, I think. And, um, it was the kick I needed to go home and write the script and, um. So then I went home and wrote it and then a few months later sent it to him. And he loved it, and said he wanted to do it, which was, you know, gob-smacking and exciting.
TOM: And then so, obviously, I needed a producer, ummm, and then, like Elettra explained, a few mutual friends were introduced and that's how it all began really. And then, um, Elettra built the production team, herself, and then got Max and Kay onboard. And meanwhile Ben and I were talking. We both came up with lists of, ummm, the best person to play his mum in it, who would be, and the top of both of our lists was Marion Bailey. And so I couldn't believe it when, uhhh, the, her agent came back to say that, uh, the day after I sent it, to say that she wanted to be involved. And Ben and me were so thrilled. Ummm yeah, so yeah, that was it.
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(re: the acting)
TOM: I think that they, uh, neither Ben nor, Ben isn't playing me and Marion isn't playing my mum. There's, they, our DNA is definitely in there but, uhhh, the characters are very different and their circumstances are very different to, um…
HOST: I hope so! Hahahaha
TOM: But what, um, what they both did was sort of hon-honour, I dunno, somehow honour the, umm, the energy of us and the DNA of our, of our relationship is definitely in there, um, which was, yeah. So I, yeah, I couldn't ask for a better on-screen version of me - oh my god - than Ben Whishaw, that's ridiculous. And equally, to have, my mum would be thrilled, Marion. Hahaha
HOST: The performances are just. I mean, sometimes you can't, I don't, maybe this is just me, but sometimes when I watch short films I don't expect to have this level of performance. Sometimes you're like, I was like, you know the scene with Ben when he loses it in the front seat of the van? And, ummm, you're watching that, you're just thinking "wow!" Like, I don't know. Like, in my mind, I'm like, "he could just phone this in". And he wouldn't, cuz he's Ben Whishaw, but you're watching and you're like "this is a BAFTA-level performance right there. And, um, is it mad? Is it, when you're there and you're directing this, and you're looking through the monitor like "yes! Yes, this is it!"
TOM: Well actually I was lying down on the… Um, yeah, it was, um, an enormous privilege to watch these two work, Marion and Ben, particularly how they worked together. And, um, no spoilers, we won't say what happens, but there is an emotional peak in the story, umm, or an emotional break through and it happens, um, a lot of it happens in, whilst driving around in a camper van. And for a lot of the shoot, I was lying down behind the, um, behind the front seats with this tiny little monitor whilst, um, it played out in the front seats in front of me. Um, and when it got to this emotional peak moment, which actually happened before I was expecting it to because Ben and Marion did a beautiful thing where they ran into the next scene but before I was expecting it and so it really hit me emotionally. And I, the, ummm, the synergy between the two of them and the, ummm, the emotional honesty coming from those front seats was, was, ummm, extraordinary and so raw and so real. And I, you know I've been around, you know like I said, I've been an actor for twenty years on stage and screen, and I've been around some amazing acting. I've seen some incredible acting up close, but it's really rare when… for the acting to be that good, you know. I've never been that close to such extraordinary acting. Sometimes actors, umm, like, change the molecular structure of a room when they open their mouth and a bit of magic sort of pours out. And that happened in this, umm, film with both Ben and Marion. Particularly in that scene. Um, so yeah, I was watching it going, uhh, I wasn't watching it from the outside, going "awww yeah, this gonna make the film!". I was just very moved and I was very in it with them, and all the.. the very… sharing and the emotional honesty of it, if that makes sense.
ELETTRA: I think after the first… before the first take of that scene, the crew was quite bubbly and, you know, we having a really good energy on set. And then Marion and Ben delivered that scene. They called cut, and there was absolute silence. Absolute silence. And we were all just… (whispering) "are we allowed to talk?", you know. It was, it was really, it's never happened to me before. It was really surreal, the first time that the entire crew just felt so drawn in to, you know…
TOM: Something happened. There was some magic. But what was so shocking to me was that then Ben and Marion were able to repeat it again and again and again. And they weren't doing it technically, they were doing it for real. And I was watching them and, yeah, that ability to just reset and go again, is just, mind-blowing to me. It's way beyond my, um, expertise as an actor, haha.
MARION: It was wonderful to work with Ben, a real joy. And um, it's lovely to see you say those things because that's always what you're hoping will happen. But yes, it takes a whole team, it takes a whole combination of elements to make that little bit of magic happen. Ummm. And a very nice thing, when the crew do appreciate the acting. Because normally they're doing their jobs, they're not really…
ELETTRA: It takes a lot of magic to get a crew to shut up, so…
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(re: their sole financial backer pulling out 2 weeks before shooting)
TOM: I remember bumping into Ben- I remember bumping into Ben Whishaw at a party, and we'd just heard that all the money had gone, and he was like, "are we still on for April?". And I was like, "okay, don't panic… uhhhhh, we have zero money". And he was so cool. He was like… he went silent for a second, and I said, "are you panicking?" and he was like, "not one bit, not at all". And he said, "this, this happens, it will all be good." And I was like "ohhh… okay…" hahaha, um yeah. So…
MAX: [???] as well, because this film very much had its leads in order, and we all kinda fell in love with what it was going to be. And so the idea that, for example, Ben's availability only fit that weekend that we shot, if we weren't gonna do that then… Tom's story only fits the golden hour of Somerset, really, and you're only going to get that twice a year, ya know, in the spring and late summer. And so, ummm, there were some real conversations about "is this going to happen?" which none of us wanted to face because we were so in love with the project.
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