Interview with Oscar-Winner, James Lucas on new feature "Moss & Freud"

This year's BFI London Film Festival saw the world premiere of biopic, Moss & Freud by James Lucas. After winning the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for The Phone Call back in 2014, Lucas and company set out to make his first feature length production. Based on a true story, Moss & Freud explores the unlikely friendship between supermodel, Kate Moss and painter, Lucian Freud. This week we were lucky enough to speak with Lucas about the film, its long journey to the screen, and working with icon, Kate Moss.

Rua: "Good morning James, thank you so much for joining me today. I want to start off by saying that The Phone Call is one of my favorite short films of all time so it's a pleasure to be speaking with you. I mean, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent, what's better than that? Congratulations on the release of your latest film."

Lucas: "Thank you, I can't believe it's finally finished! Filmmaking is not for the faint-hearted. I think the whole gestation of this movie from idea to where we are now is about six years. So it was definitely a labor of love."

Rua: "Wow, that's amazing. I wanted to start off by asking where the original idea for this film came from, especially centering around a figure as iconic and controversial as Kate Moss?"

Lucas: "That's a good question. What I'm interested in is looking at all the aspects of a person's character, both the good and the not-so-good. Y'know, Kate Moss is a fashion icon but does anyone know what she really thinks? That's what intrigues me. I saw this story of incongruity between her and Lucian as this strange, almost fairytale relationship. I saw that as an opportunity for the audience to take a peek behind the curtain. I'm interested in human beings, relationships, connections, and all these deeper themes, so that's the way I decided to tell this story."

Rua: "I mean, it's such a unique, unlikely friendship between two generational icons I'm surprised there wasn't a movie made about it sooner. It proves that reality is truly stranger than fiction sometimes. Could you expand on the differences between making a fictional film like The Phone Call and a biopic like Moss & Freud?"

Lucas: "So fiction vs fact? I believe those things overlap, and by the nature of being a filmmaker, I'm going to embellish the story with my own cinematic filmic flourishes. But what I find in my storytelling is that I'm interested in going beyond the surface and really examining what it is to be human, to think about what is good. Interestingly, I think you can find that in The Phone Call as well, that I'm interested in finding this almost primal, instinctive connection that we feel that we all have this commonality. And so you take a film about Kate Moss and Lucian Freud, I would like to think that the audience could recognize some of their selves themselves within those two characters. The story is also to an extent, semi autobiographical. You know, these are all the things that I've been interested in, I'm really interested in truth, beauty and art. It's also about transformation and our journey through life. We capture Kate in this pivotal time in her life where she's coming from a period of apathy to wanting to find purpose. That's largely her her her journey within this film. I think the other thing that's interesting is that Kate Moss has been approached by innumerable producers, studios, filmmakers documentary makers and she hasn't done any of those things. But I'm quite sort of grateful and touched that she chose this story to tell the world about what the real Kate Moss is like and what makes her tick."

Rua: "Wow, what an honor. Now, how involved was Kate Moss in the making of this film and did that present its own sort of privileges or challenges?"

Lucas: "She was involved from day one. The whole thing started out from me sending her an old fashioned letter outlining who I was and that I thought we could make this beautiful movie about this period of her life. I talked about what I thought may have been going on in her life and what she may have been feeling in a sort of empathetic way and that seemed to strike a chord with her because she got got in touch very soon afterwards. That's where our journey started, and soon after she was brought in as an executive producer as a way of showing gratitude and respect and also allowing what I'd call total authenticity. Every iteration of the script I ran past her, she was great in that respect as well. She's just very straightforward, not so much in the content, but things like dialogue, she was very good at dialogue. Ellie completely captured her in the movie it's quite uncanny, actually. At times I was looking at the monitor and there were times I couldn't distinguish if it was Kate or Ellie that I was looking at."

Rua: "Speaking of lead, Ellie Bamber, I would love to know how important it was to both you and Kate that you found the right person to lead this film? Kate Moss is such a well-known face that must've presented quite a challenge."

Lucas: "I kind of stumbled across Ellie quite early on in the process, actually. I think my cast is quite strong because I like character-driven stories. So I'm quite particular and thoughtful about casting. When I met Ellie, she actually, in many respects, reminded me of Kate. I saw a lot of parallels in terms of their personality, their history, both being these young girls thrust into these sharky waters of fashion and film and they're strong women as a result of it. You know, they're battlers. Kate was psyched from the very start."

Rua: "That's amazing! I can imagine that's one of the most daunting aspects of making a biopic. Y'know finding someone who not only resembles the subject but can accurately convey them."

Lucas: "I don't think we could have made this film as beautiful and powerful as it is without my two leads, Ellie Bamber and Derek Jacobi. I just can't see this film with other actors. I really can't."

Rua: "Would you mind telling our audience where they can find Moss & Freud?"

Lucas: "It just came out on Amazon in the United States. But yeah, I mean, spread the word, spread the love. What I'm hoping is that the audience will get some of the Kate Moss greatest hits that will entertain you, but also provoke thought as well. Not only about Kate and the art world and Lucian Freud, but hopefully will engender thoughts about their own lives.

Rua: "Well, I think that's a great note to end on. Thank you so much for speaking with us today, James."

Lucas: "Thank you, it was a pleasure."