Star fought off nerves for film premiere
THERE was a packed cinema waiting for Inverness actress Karen Gillan as she introduced The Party’s Just Beginning, her first feature film as director, writer and star.
Most usually seen at premiere events in gowns by top designers like New York’s Vera Wang, Karen wore a less formal white T-shirt and black trousers ensemble for the Inverness Film Festival (IFF) event.
But the Jumanji and Guardians Of The Galaxy star explained that she and her American producer Mali Elfman had bought their almost identical outfits in Inverness after their luggage was lost flying here from a Moscow film festival.
“I was in my pyjamas when I arrived in Inverness!” Karen laughed.
Her film has already been nominated for Scottish Bafta best film, best debut screenwriter in the Best Independent Film Awards and picked up an artistic achievement award at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
The IFF audience’s excitement surrounding the screening of the film was matched by Karen’s, she revealed.
In a short introduction to the film, Karen – with Elfman and actress Rachel Jackson – said: “This is the most nervous I’ve been to show the film because this place is so special to me. It’s where everything started!”
Karen then explained her transition from actress to screenwriter and film director with her movie.
“I wrote it six years ago and knew I wanted to write something based in Inverness. I also knew that the statistics of suicide in young men between 15 to 24 in the Highlands was higher than in the rest of Scotland.
“I found that a strange and weird contradiction because it’s such a beautiful place to grow up and it has been voted one of the most idyllic places to live, in Europe – in the world. I wanted to explore that through fictional characters.”
After the film, which features many city locations, such as the cathedral, riverside and Raigmore underpass, IFF director Paul Macdonald-Taylor asked how easy it had been to set the film in Inverness.
Karen said: “There was some pressure – not from Mali – to film in Glasgow where there is more access to a film crew, but I was adamant I wanted to capture the authentic version of Inverness.
"Inverness just looks different from Glasgow, though we filmed the interiors there. Two Christmases ago we came up and ran around the streets of Inverness filming with a skeleton crew and I was doing my own hair and make-up.”
The real Inverness features in a few ways in the film – Karen’s character Lucy has a strong Inverness accent, city actor Matthew Zajac is one of a group of well-known Scottish faces taking cameo roles. People misdialling for a helpline and being put through to the home of Karen’s lead character Lucy actually happened to Karen’s family in the past, she told the audience.
Karen’s Q&A also revealed that on Mali’s advice the actress had first begun to practise for her role behind the camera by making some short films, one now set to become her next feature film. She is happy juggling her roles in blockbusters with her own films, describing her own as passion projects.
Film review at www.whatson-north.co.uk
