Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley were excited about heading up a stage production of Romeo and Juliet. Then when Covid-19 forced the play’s cancellation last year the National Theatre had another idea – how about doing it as a film for TV? O’Connor and Buckley almost said no but they’re glad they didn’t.
Last summer seemed the perfect time for O’Connor and Buckley to prove their talent in a well-known Shakespeare at an important venue.
O’Connor’s career had taken off with two roles – Larry in The Durrells for ITV followed by two seasons in The Crown as Prince Charles. (His successor as Charles is yet to be confirmed.)
Buckley was in the much-praised Chernobyl then showed her range in the bio-pic Judy, playing the assistant assigned to keep Judy Garland on track in 1960s London.
But like almost everything on the National’s schedule for 2020, its version of Romeo and Juliet was under threat as soon as the Covid pandemic hit.
O’Connor recalls “Friday therapy sessions” when some of those involved got together to try to work out what lay beyond the fog of Lockdown One.
“It would be Jessie and myself and the director Simon Godwin and sometimes Fisayo Akinade (who plays Mercutio) and Rufus Norris, who runs the National. They were brilliant at keeping us all involved and motivated.
“But when they first came to us about making it a film instead, I think for both of us the reaction was absolutely not – not a chance mate. It just didn’t seem the right idea. So thank goodness we followed through and engaged with it as a project.’
The film is pacy, lasting just 90 minutes. It was shot over 17 days on and around the National’s Lyttelton stage. In normal times the auditorium has an audience capacity of 890 but the seats remained empty.
