Where are you from?
I’m a Cheltenham boy. Cheltenham is a peaceful spa town in Gloucestershire, which is southwest England, and about two-and-a-half hours from London. It’s very old England with beautiful Victorian houses. The most Gloucestershire thing about me used to be my accent because it was very distinct and thick, but I lost it. Now I’d say it’s the fact that I love the countryside. I live in London now and I don’t fit in there; it’s clear that I need to be by trees and fields. I’m a true country boy.
Are you a Sundance virgin?
I am a Sundance virgin. It’s quite nice to be the fresh face on the scene. I’m sure there are people who’ve been there loads and everybody knows them. But that’s cool for me because they’ll be like: “Who’s this guy?” I’m an innocent bystander ready to be corrupted by Sundance.
Let’s talk about your film. It sounds like a British Brokeback Mountain.
It sounds like Brokeback Mountain, sure. But as far as my character is concerned, he is comfortable with his sexuality. He is damaged, and he beats himself up because of his relationship with his father. This world that we see in God’s Own Country, it’s not glamorous; it’s grim. Getting completely shit-faced on booze is his release. The sex he has is also damaging; it’s like self-abuse in some ways, until this wonderful Romanian migrant worker comes in and they fall in love.
So how exactly is it not like Brokeback Mountain?
OK, good question. Heath Ledger’s character was denying his sexuality. What my character is not comfortable with is the idea of love as opposed of to sex. What becomes uncomfortable is someone he has real feelings for and an emotional connection to. It’s similar in the sense of a gay love story. And I guess because they’re herding in Brokeback Mountain, aren’t they? So there are aspects that are similar, but I think it’s a very different film, actually. There aren’t many LGBTQ films that are hopeful and focus on something other than dealing with sexuality or coming out. This is a universal love story that happens to be between two men.
What’s the buzz?
The buzz and the relevance is that we just had Brexit — we’ve left the EU — and here is a story about a Romanian migrant worker toiling on a British farm. So it’s almost like a period piece now. When we made the movie, we hadn’t had the referendum. The big thing of Brexit was immigration — and what’s great about our film is that it shows this wonderful aspect of immigration that people don’t see in the press or in the media or at the cinema.
