British actress Vicky Knight first captivated audiences with her debut role in Dutch director Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, where she portrayed Jade, a young mother and acid attack survivor. Now, Knight stars in Polak’s third feature film, Silver Haze, a work deeply inspired by the challenges, complexities, and joys of Knight’s life after surviving a 2003 arson attack that tragically claimed the lives of her two cousins.
Initially sceptical about acting for fear of revealing her scars, Knight, empowered by her experience filming Dirty God, embarked on her second feature under Polak’s direction, playing Franky, a character loosely based on life.
Courageously revisiting the remnants of her past through vivid storytelling, improvised scenes, and a raw, immersive depiction of working-class Britain, Knight remains committed to conveying her true story, the complexities of her upbringing, and her journey to find a sense of self in the world. Silver Haze brazenly portrays the harsh realities of life after violence and explores queer identities as well as toxic relationships without the usual Hollywood sugar-coating, reducing trauma to digestible tokenism. Silver Haze is fundamentally a realist film, proving hard to watch in instances, and urgent in others, it no doubt leaves a lasting impression, forcing us to revisit our own notions of love, attachment and resilience in the face of violence.
Ahead of the film’s launch in Spain, we spoke with Knight about destigmatising facial differences, the importance of representation, and the vital role of queer narratives in cinema that don’t shy away from the mundane and often less picturesque realities of love, as well as her hopes for new projects that depart from a focus on her past. Silver Haze is showing from today, 23rd August in cinemas across Spain.
Silver Haze is loosely based on your life, specifically your experiences after the arson attack in 2003. What does it mean to you to portray a story so closely tied to your own lived experience as an actress?
It means the world to me to be able to tell my story. Myself and my family have been through so much and to have a bit of positivity injected into our lives is truly special. I have always wanted to tell my story and Sacha gave me this opportunity to do so.
Were there moments during filming that were particularly challenging, given the film's proximity to your own life? Or did returning to difficult memories within the safe and controlled context of the cinematic set feel healing?
Some of the scenes were harder to do, especially the scene where [my character] Franky tells Florence (played by Esmé Creed-Miles), what happened on the tragic night. I made sure I had plenty of time to do this and made sure it was my own story and not scripted. Everything in that scene was true to my life.
Some of the scenes in Silver Haze were improvised, such as the fight between your character and Florence. How did you navigate these scenes? Was it ever difficult to separate the role from your own identity?
The fight scene between Florence and Franky was not scripted at all. Me and Esmé (Florence) had to make that scene as nasty as possible, to show the reality of what couples would go through. I have been in relationships where I have been called awful names and been made to feel bad for what happened. During that scene, I didn’t know what Florence was gonna say [during the improvised scene, Esmé, playing Florence, says to Knight’s character: “no one cares you were in a fucking fire, people are fires all the time [...] just get over yourself”]. It was completely improvised and Esmé after [the scene finished] was very apologetic towards me as she thought she had upset me, [but] of course she didn’t!
Director Sacha Polak also directed Dirty God, a film about a survivor of an acid attack reclaiming her life and redefining her identity. What was it like to work on a second film with Polak?
Working with Sasha was amazing; she saved my life in many ways. Before the Dirty God I didn’t want to live anymore, I was so sad about what had happened [to me] and [was] in a very dark place [that] Sacha pulled me out, giving me an opportunity to be able to live my life. I will forever be grateful for her.
You've mentioned that despite initial fears about having your scars filmed for Dirty God, you ultimately found the experience freeing. How did you find filming Silver Haze?
Filming Silver Haze was amazing, and moving, I had my own family play parts in the film. The film touches on a lot of subjects, not just trauma, it shows a lot about mental health and choosing who are the real people in your life.
Historically, media representations of facial differences or scarring have often been conflated with villainy. What does it mean to you to positively represent facial differences or scarring in both Dirty God and Silver Haze?
Being able to show my scars in a way that doesn’t show I'm a villain means a lot to me. I have grown up with people thinking I did something wrong in my life. People see scars and [they automatically] think you're the bad guy, or you’ve done something wrong in life to deserve this, [which obviously] isn’t the case.
Inspired by Dirty God, the BFI pledged to no longer fund films where facial scarring is used to represent immorality. How did it feel to be part of this change, and what other changes would you like to see within the industry?
The fact [that] the BFI are not funding films [anymore] with this villain subject [where villains have facial differences], is amazing as more people will have the opportunity to play parts that doesn’t show why they have them.
Silver Haze explores the tumultuous relationship between you and Florence. Queer relationships are often depicted idealistically, excluding the realities of queer struggles. What did it mean to represent toxicity in lesbian relationships, as well as the realities of homophobia, in Silver Haze?
Any relationships can have toxicity in them, not just queer relationships. The fact that Florence and Franky are so rocky shows the realism of what couples can go through. I find it very important to show this as it makes people think they are not on their own with it.
You’ve mentioned that while Silver Haze is a queer film, it shouldn’t be defined solely by that aspect, just as straight relationships or sex scenes don’t define a film. What does representing queer relationships authentically in cinema mean to you, especially within a climate of queer tokenism?
I don’t think that there are enough films that show realism with lesbian relationships. Silver Haze is a love story and goes through a lot of different aspects in everyone’s lives [not only in the two leads’]. [For example] my sister Charlotte Knight [who] plays Lea in Silver Haze, converts to Islam. It is important to tell this story because some people don’t know what road to go down. Everyone is different and they have a different meaning in their lives.
Are there any other roles you would like to play in the future? Or any upcoming projects you would like to share?
I would love to continue my acting as far as I can go. I also work in a hospital [as a nurse, and] I would love for both careers to continue but I would also like to play films that doesn’t just tell [the story of] why my character has scars. I am currently filming a short film and would love for more roles to happen.
