The audience that I made this film for, they're not going to see a film that's hugely violent 
Julia Taylor-Stanley has taken an unusual route into filmmaking. She was a successful songwriter and record producer until a riding accident left her with a broken wrist and unable to play the piano for six months. She used the setback to her advantage by trying her hand (the unbroken one) at writing. Her first script, Nothing But The Blues, was subsequently optioned and will go into production after Julia's finished her second British movie, Twitching, later this year. Her directorial debut is These Foolish Things, an old-fashioned 30s romance, starring newcomers Zo毛 Tapper and David Leon, plus the considerably more experienced Anjelica Huston, Terence Stamp, and Lauren Bacall.
These Foolish Things is a project that came close to being made several times before now. Tell us a bit about the history...
Well I actually had Anjelica Huston and Lauren Bacall attached on September 11 2001. I was actually on the phone to my travel agent trying to book a flight to America and she said, "Obviously you haven't seen the news, a plane has just hit the Twin Towers." That should have been the best day of my life, getting those two stars, but of course instead it was just devastating. After that the finance fell through, and it took me three more years to get the finance back. But Anjelica and Lauren stuck by me.
Given that this was your first time as a director, why did you set yourself the problem of making a period piece?
I love period movies myself - I loved the movies of the 40s, especially the Anna Neagle/Michael Wilding movies. I'd watch them on TV as a kid, and I loved that white-gloved elegance, the grand pianos, the Martinis. The 30s in particular I always thought was the most wonderful era. So for me it was a no-brainer when I read the book [There's A Porpoise Close Behind Us, by Noel Langley], although I must say that very little of the book is actually in the film - Terence Stamp's character, Baker, appears for one or two scenes in the book and now of course he's a stalwart presence in the movie. I had an incredible production designer, Chris Townsend, and we worked together on creating this amazing period detail. You just lose yourself in the clothes and the elegance - we had a ball making it, an absolute ball.
How did you get the authentic look on a relatively small budget?
We shot the movie in and around Cheltenham, and we also used Bristol as London. We were also using big country houses where there was already a huge amount of period dressing. We were very lucky because, as you can imagine, period dressing is phenomenally expensive. I have seen a couple of my props turn up in Mrs Henderson Presents and De-Lovely as well, though, having said that.
You've got big names in the smaller roles and lesser known names as the young leads. What was your approach to casting?
The approach to casting initially was, "Who's bankable?" When you're setting out to finance any British movie it's about bankability. And what Anjelica and Lauren brought was absolute credibility for me as a first-time director. After them it just grew and grew. Having Joss Ackland, Julia McKenzie, Haydn Gwynne, Roy Dotrice, Nickolas Grace... they just loved the script and bought into it. The most difficult thing was finding the young leads. Andy Lincoln I'd always loved. I thought he was brilliant in Love Actually, so he was my first choice. But the younger leads were very, very difficult. When the movie was first being financed back in 2001 I actually auditioned Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller - on the same day - when they were unknowns. It was very difficult to find a beautiful young ingenue who could carry off this love triangle without appearing manipulative or threatening and Zo毛 [Tapper] managed to do that beautifully - I thought she was like a young Kate Winslet. David Leon I thought was a real find. I screen-tested him and I just thought he was absolutely gorgeous. I just felt he had something very different.
What was the chemistry like between the actors on set?
They all got on very well, but there was a great chemistry between David, Andy and Zo毛, which really helped the movie. It was quite interesting [laughs], because I would shoot these scenes with them and think, "I wonder which one she actually fancies?" She never actually told me but there were some interesting moments! The Hollywood greats - Anjelica and Lauren and Terence - were fabulous. It was the first time they'd all worked together. Terence was amazingly supportive, my absolute hero. Talked to me about working with Fellini, and some of his experiences in film, and really got me through some very challenging times.
Given her own experience as a director did you ever turn to Anjelica for advice?
Oh, absolutely. The first night she arrived we had dinner and I was a bit like Bambi in the headlights. We talked about directing, and she was amazingly supportive all the way along. I owe her so much.
How wary were you that modern audiences might struggle with the movie, given its old-fashioned style?
But that's exactly why I made the movie. There's a huge audience for this movie - it's the Gosford Park/Ladies In Lavender crowd, it's the people who want to go on a Saturday afternoon and be taken away from fast-paced, violent films. The audience that I made this film for, they're not going to see a film like V For Vendetta, or something hugely violent. I think that the movie industry is vast, that there's room for everything, and I think the fact that box office numbers have been down is largely due to the fact that cinema has become very limiting. Distributors and studios have a tendency to pitch things towards the obvious audience. I think films like Brokeback Mountain and Walk The Line show that it's starting to open out now.
The hardest thing for many British directors is not making their first movie but actually getting to make a second one...
Thank God I haven't found that to be the case. We start shooting my second film in the autumn. I've made a very interesting departure with the next film, because I was going to shoot Nothing But The Blues next but there's a particular A-list Hollywood star that we're waiting for, and I decided to wait for his schedule to open up. Twitching is my next film, and it's about a bunch of bird-watchers, I haven't actually written it, it's been written by a first-time screenwriter who is an expert in the world of extreme birdwatching. It is a comedy, Terence Stamp is going to be in it, and it's absolutely fabulous!
These Foolish Things is released in UK cinemas on Friday 10th March 2006.
