In Queer Thriller 'Femme,' Co-stars Nathan Stewart-Jarrett & George MacKay Don Different Drag

EDGE: Can you tell me how "Femme" came to both of you, and what your reactions were when you read the script?

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: "Femme" came on a prayer. I was doing something else, and "Femme" came. I feel like with most good things in my life, I ignored it at first... And my agent called and was like, "You need to read this." And I read it on a Saturday morning, and I couldn't stop reading it. And I was just like, "I've got to do this. Just the story, the tightness..." There was something really tight and classical, and just so economic, about the text, and so nuanced, that I was like, "I have to do this, I have to be involved." And I think I made a tape. I met the directors. And that was a weird meeting, where I wanted to be in the film so much that I talked to them way over the time... And then we had a chemistry read, which was all George, really.

George MacKay: No, no! I had a similar thing as Nathan. I read the script and was just like, "Wow, this is so tight. The people in it are full of contradictions. It's economical, but it's kind of operatic. It's deeply complex, but it's also really fast-paced and exciting." Then I met Sam and Ping and talked about the project. And then I was to have a chemistry read with Nathan... who had come off probably two hours' sleep. You'd come from a night shoot, and then were leaving about three hours after the meeting to continue... So, we had this window of time. Nathan was sort of melting in the room outside as we ran the lines, just for sheer tiredness. [Nathan cracks up] And we're both like, 'Let's go for it.' And also, Nathan had come off this job where he was physically enormous, and I had not been working [out] and was tiny. [Laughs] So, the main goal was, like, you need to be scary. You need to be scared.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: It was really like "Of Mice and Men," George and Lenny, but with scripts switched round. I remember I wore this cardigan, and I was trying to cover up my body as much as I could.

I remember throwing myself on this couch in the casting director, Julie Harkin's, office, and was like, "I don't know what to do." I was so tired. I really wanted to be in the film. I just [didn't] think I [had] the goods. George was very sweet. And we just read it. It was the date scene. I literally was lying on the couch, seconds after we met, and [we did] the scene really gently. I was like, "I wish we could do it like this in the room." And we walked into the room, and I looked at the casting director and said, "Can we do it on that couch?" And we just re-created it. It was really nice. Everyone was really supportive. And Preston's got all of this stuff in the date scene, so I didn't really do anything, I just let George carry me through.

George MacKay: [Shaking his head] You helped me out big time. You got down on the floor for the two minutes that needed to be scary.

EDGE: You have great chemistry. And the sexual evolution in the relationship as the film goes along is fascinating. Both characters grow in these different ways. Was that mapped out from the get-go?

George MacKay: Yeah, big time. So much of the storytelling goes into their sexual relationship, to the point where even a confrontation that happens later on in the film is choreographed to echo the sexual relationship that they've had up to that point as well. So, without giving anything away, the sexual relationship is everything. It becomes about performance, as well. The first time they sleep together – no sleeping involved – is this miscommunication of, "Oh, you want me to be this thing for you? Okay, I'll be this thing for you." It's the first miscommunication that sets up the dynamic that then has to get reworked, that then is actually the way that opens up into the thing that they find, which then confuses the initial reason for their meeting even more. And it's also ironic that they're two people who are constantly performing to each other, either across the table, in a car, or when they're having sex. It's a fascinating, complex, confronting thing, the idea of how real the ramifications can be from people's performances.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: I think the sex began as a tactic, but it really compromises Jules and what Jules wants to do. I thought there was a very clear journey from the beginning to the end – which I won't give away, either – of being compromised. That initially being one thing, and then changing into something else.

EDGE: This last time watching the film (the first time was the Berlinale), I wondered what if both of you reversed roles?

George MacKay: Can you say that to Sam and Ping? Because I'd love to do it again!

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: That'd be really interesting. Wow. I get that rail! I get that rail!

George MacKay: You get that rail. I remember telling some people about the role. "So, I'm doing this film. You've got this drag queen and there's this horrible, hyper-macho fellow." And I'd say, "I'm Preston," and they're like, "Woaw, woaw, you're not the drag queen?" [Laughs] I was like, "No I'm the mean macho one!" "Really? Okay." So, maybe we'll give it another go.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: It would change a lot. Wow.

George MacKay: They did that with "Frankenstein" at the National with Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, and every night they swapped from monster to doctor, to doctor to monster. That could be interesting.

EDGE: And it's never been done on screen, I believe, so it would be fascinating to bring you guys back roles reversed. Just planting a seed.

George MacKay: Okay, okay.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: Great!

This interview has been edited for content, clarity and length.

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