Big John is a risky role. What attracted you to it?
At first I thought I couldn't bring this character off. But in the end I realised the whole thing was about urban American life. These boys are like Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, the "L.I.E." is the Missouri, and Big John is Big Jim. I also realised that here was a man who had a kind of dark side, which was this pederasty as opposed to paedophilia, but who, in his public life, is very secure. He's a pillar of society. He's a very responsible citizen. He's confident and generous of spirit. What he's striving for is what everyone strives for - unconditional love. Fundamentally, he desires to be a parent.
How did you feel when an NC-17 rating was slapped on the film in America, limiting its audience?
I thought it was disgraceful, because it's a responsible movie. Now I've discovered that big movies, like "Hannibal", just go back and back and back and have ratings screenings until they get the rating they want. We couldn't do that because it would have cost more than the film.
Given the hysteria that surrounded Brass Eye in the UK, are you concerned that you'll also become the focus of similar attacks by the media?
Brass Eye was unfairly treated. It was attacked by a bunch of people who hadn't even seen the programme. That ignorant sensibility is prejudiced and biased. Of course these subjects have to be kept within the boundaries of how people deal with it, because听there are families who have lost children. But, it has to be said, not every paedophile is a murderer. Nor is every pederast a murderer.
So who do you see as the film's audience?
It's a rites-of-passage story that any 15-year-old would identify with. It's about sexual awakening and whether one is gay or straight. This film is meant to unsettle and, I think, that is what听drama at its best does. At its best, it throws questions at you. At its best, it puts things into the ring for debate. That's why I am very proud of this film.
