Sharon Small as "Marie"
Interview transcript from the "Dear Frankie" movie DVD *** Contains movie spoilers!
What is the story of the film about?
Basically there is a lady, played by Emily Mortimer, who comes to the place where I live, the village town where I live, and she brings her son, and they move next door to the chip shop that I own and run. I play the character of Marie, who owns the local chip shop. They come, and she's hiding something and I get to meet her, and I'm quite nosy as a character, so I take an interest in her. She has a son who's deaf, and she seems to be very defensive about this. Basically I befriend her and offer her a job in the chip shop, and as our friendship grows she reveals to me the secret that she's hiding.
What was it like to shoot the entire film in Scotland?
We had amazing weather, and that was a real bonus. I think it gave the film an unexpected sort of look to it because I don't even know how much they anticipated that's what the look would be, and the colors and stuff like that.
What was your favorite scene to film?
The most enjoyable scene for me to film... I really enjoyed the dance, really, because I got to whistle which I practiced all as a child. I always wanted to whistle on film. [laughs] There you go, that's childish...
Tell us a bit about Marie, your character.
I think Marie is the sort of character you kind of enjoy, but you don't really take on board until perhaps the end, and then you suddenly realize maybe, 'Gosh, she was a really good friend there, and very warm, and helped an awful lot that film to move along just by her deeds rather than asking for anything for it in return,' or whatever. She just was a good person in a pivotal role.
How was working with the director?
Shona had a real clear vision of what she wanted, and I think that really shows in the film as well. The pictures are beautiful. So it was just how to put that into operation, really, and bring the words to life within that. I enjoyed very much doing that. She had very strong ideas. So it was just to bring those together. And she's very gentle, Shona.
Tell us about the character of Frankie.
The character of Frankie, who is obviously the sort of biggest feature in the film in terms of story-telling, has such strong wonderment about him, and such fight and fire as a character. He's hugely independent and very bright, and against adversity makes you kind of forget that he is deaf, not that that's a bad thing, but he's just got a great spirit. Everybody's focus is to make Frankie happy and secure. Everyone is very concerned that he will believe that the stranger is his father and not be very upset by it. So there is a huge kind of focus on giving him some happiness, or not breaking his fantasy, I suppose perhaps. And the wonderful irony, obviously, is that at the end he knew all along, and that's bright. That's a great moment, and what my mother in particular just really enjoyed. [laughs]
