Billy Barratt

I can't actually remember, but I remember what I was doing when I got a call for Talk to Me. I was in Bethnal Green shooting Invasion season one, when Danny and Michael [Philippou] called me and said that they'd seen Responsible Child and that they really wanted to work with me. Obviously, we couldn't make it happen for Talk to Me, but we did manage to exchange numbers at the premiere. Then Danny hit me up and asked if I wanted to audition for Bring Her Back for the role of Andy, and I said, hell yeah. So, I auditioned I think once or twice, then got the role – which was great!

First, I was sent a single scene, then I auditioned and was sent the full script. Then I did a chemistry read with Sora [Wong]. They wanted me to do it really early, and I’d literally just got back from, I don’t know where, for a different job I was shooting. So, I was really jetlagged and absolutely shattered. We did the chemistry read and Danny said, "Thanks Bill, you can go back to bed now”. I felt so bad, I didn’t realise it came across I was that tired, so yeah. Sorry about that.

I just want to do everything really. All kinds of genres and characters. I like complex ones where you can really get in your character's head and have people manipulate your character because, I don't know, it just takes you on a journey and that's what I find so fun about this job. This one's a psychological horror, and I've loved playing Andy. He's a legend, man.

Do you know what? I'm not just saying this because I have to, because I don't have to say it, it's Talk to Me. Then Hereditary, it's so good. Funnily enough, both A24. I love horror, but it does affect me. When I’m sat in a dark room by myself, I do start imagining the things I’ve just watched or similar things too and it puts me in a weird mindset, but then at the same time, is it worth going through that? Yes.

I hope he hears this or sees this, because I'll say it until the day I die. Leonardo DiCaprio is just incredible at picking his films, and at making relationships with the other characters. He's got a specific way of doing it, which I'm still trying to crack, but it's incredible. And also, he's Leonardo DiCaprio. He's just the best, you know? And Danny and Michael are on their way to being not just my idols, but every kid under the sun is going to want to be a director because of them, or a storyteller or writer, or just some sort of creator. I remember I was on set and saw all the behind-the-scenes, and literally the day after I got back, me and my mates did a bowling video, then we also went camping and did a camping video, which I shot and edited. It was like a little something to remember what we did, it's also really fun to edit. Even in the simplest of things, they have influenced me so much and I love them.

Well, we actually did some stuff in pre-production first, so the ice was broken by that point. Then I guess you're only three weeks in when it started, but we all got on really well and the first scene we shot was me as Andy after he’s wet himself. So, it was me coming downstairs with my wet jeans and pom poms on the side and then I walk down to the end of the corridor and get caught. So that was the first day and that was definitely an ice breaker, I must say.

Incredible. She was incredible. It was her first job, so she was really brave and showed how good she was. She was nervous at the start, I was nervous at the start, but I think with Danny and Michael and, I’d like to say me as well, because I was trying to be the older brother, I think that sort of broke her out of her shell and fear, to just be alright with whatever you're having to do – dance or sing, like in the party scene. And she really, really smashed it. She just developed herself as an actress.

For Andy, the most important thing was that I found that brother-sister relationship between him and Piper. When me and Sora had found that good friendship, that's what helped me so much with Andy. But he's also quite reserved, he's always come second, I think that's left him kind of lonely. Danny locked me in a room once and said, “Just sit there and go through your lines and get into character but just sit there for 20 minutes by yourself”. It felt a like I was on the naughty step, but didn't do anything wrong other than getting too excited on set. But when I ended up sitting there for 20 minutes, by myself, no phone, no nothing, I was just suddenly in this mindset, I was calm, I was focused. When I stepped onto set, there was no like fear of oh God, am I ready for this? I usually listen to music or sort of sit there and talk to someone but being told “You need to sit there and just understand what the scene is about’”, helped so much. So, thank you, Danny. Tough love, but good love.

I'm actually debating getting this film tattooed on my arm because oh my god, everything about it was so fun. But also, everyone was so in it with you. I sounded very excited just then. It was just so great having a set where everyone wants to be there. Everyone wants to be shooting, is okay with not eating lunches and just eat throughout the day. We get as much done as we can, ready for spontaneous changes. We were meant to do a scene, but there's no rain, and so we're like, okay, we don't have the rain machine, then let's do the indoor scene. Or it did start raining and we needed sun, so we had to do a completely different scene somewhere else. It was a bit stressful, but it doesn't matter, and everyone understood that and that's why I just love this whole crew and cast. They're really good friends of mine now.

I didn't take anything back from set. Oh wait, no, I did. I've got some of Andy's shoes. It's the shoes he wears in the funeral scene. They were actually sick, but they're a little bit too small for me now, but that’s alright. I remember in pre-production I get a call from Danny and Michael, and they go, “Hey, we're in the car outside your hotel. Do you wanna come Ding Dong Dashing with us, and Sally Hawkins?” And I said now? So, I just went into my mum's room, and I was like, hey, I've gotta go. I'm playing Ding Dong Dash, bearing in mind it's like 12:30, and we go and play Ding Dong Dash. The funniest bit is that there was a ring door camera, so someone has woken up and gone, “Was that fucking Sally Hawkins knocking on my door?’”

The Hunger is still going strong, we’re taking it very seriously, we love it. But then also not that seriously, because that's the whole point. We love playing live. We're doing a residency actually at Sebright Arms. Me and Cody [Molko] first started making music it would have been five to six years ago. I actually saw a video of Green Day in Chicago in 96 or 94 and I was like I really want to do this. You're in that space for an hour or two hours, and you lose yourself. And so Green Day, Placebo, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age. It's whatever I'm listening to, but those are the main ones.

I mean, there's kids that are coming out and they're not getting their phones out, which I fucking love. I love the fact that they're my age, teenagers coming out and they're just dancing or ramming into each other or jumping on stage to then jumping off the stage back on top of the crowd. It's so much fun. The fact that it’s our music that we wrote in our bedroom is just nuts. There's one song Somewhere with You that they've actually started singing back, and I can't believe it. We managed to get into the movie for about five seconds, I think it's playing on the radio or something.

I don't really. When I'm not working on a film or a series, I'm writing. Cody's always writing, and we write together. I see if I can come back for a day to play a gig and then go back to filming. We just work it out as we go along, but we make it work.

Yeah, a coming-of-age romance or even a teenage romance. When it all passes, like 25 years old, I think it all gets a bit too serious for me — no, I'm joking!

Probably another sort of Fight Club, something that has that impact, meaning and is that cool. People aren't probably going to like it at first because they're being told that this is this, all the hidden messages in there. I just love it. It’s so well thought out and the acting is amazing, and the twist and the way it's shot is beautiful.