Read an interview with Kerry Fox, who plays Jocelyn Hurndall.
Did you meet with Jocelyn Hurndall?
I did. I felt a certain responsibility – I wanted to ease her mind. If you put yourself in her position I think it would be very frightening to have somebody represent you that you don't even know.
What did you talk about?
It was obviously an intense few hours. I suppose I was interested in her as a mother and to try and get a sense of how she functioned with her children. We talked about Tom a lot. I felt she was very responsive. She's obviously been through so much and was very willing and able to discuss things quite openly. I did ask her some specifics of the story, but I suppose that wasn't the main focus of why I was there. I'm sure she's a very different person now than she was at the time when all of this happened. The thing that's important to remember is I'm not trying to do an imitation of Jocelyn Hurndall in any way. Because I haven't experienced anything like that which she's experienced. I suppose I wanted to try and understand what kept her going.
What do you think did keep her going?
It was to do with her sense of her place in the world and understanding of the world. The world was a different place once Tom had been shot so she had to understand the world that she now lived in – politically, socially, economically. She was wrestling with the reasons why somebody would shoot her son, and to understand in her own way why Tom was out there in the first place.
How would you describe the story?
It's all set in this horrific situation, but it's a family drama. It's as much about the dynamics in a modern family as it is about geopolitics. All we're playing is a couple who have struggled, and we look at what that does to children. In these terrible situations people become desperately alone. They have to work out how to deal with that. People lose their loved ones all the time, maybe not in such dramatic situations, and they have to comprehend it. Parents lose children and they're lost.
What can a drama bring to an understanding of the situation?
The thing is, you're trying to get people to recognise individuals and how they suffer in this sort of conflict, and what that does to people and communities. That's what the place of drama is – to tell individual stories and hope that somehow people respond to that and have a greater understanding of human nature and their position within the grander scheme.
There was considerable controversy over your role in Intimacy. Do you expect a similar response to this film?
My husband said, 'You'll be in the shit for that again!' I'm used to that now. You've got to try and reveal something new. We don't know what the effect will be – but I always ask, have you actually seen it? I did that with Intimacy and the answer often came back as no. In which case there's nothing to discuss. We'll just have to wait and see.
Kerry Fox is known for her bold acting choices, from her award winning performance in Intimacy to Welcome to Sarajevo where she co-starred again with Stephen Dillane. Next year, she will be seen in Jane Campion's forthcoming Bright Star, returning to work with the acclaimed director from her native New Zealand after playing Janet Frame in An Angel at My Table.
