Matt's Blog

I wasn’t a big fan of One Chance (review is here) but I can remember advice given to me by a cinema owner long ago – “no matter how much you don’t like a film, there is always going to be someone out there who does like it.”  The film has pulled in $1.2m in its first 2 weeks at the Australian box-office so it clearly has its supporters.  I therefore thought it was an opportune time to chat to director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) and get his perspective…

Matt:  Where did the idea come from of taking this 2007 reality show contestant and turning it into a movie?

David:  I fell in love with Paul Potts when I saw a clip from the show on Youtube.  I was deeply moved from watching a 2 minute clip.  It never occurred to me that it’d be a movie until about a year later when I got the screenplay that had been developed at Paramount Studios.  It turns out that the Youtube clip was just the very end of the story and that Paul’s journey up until that point was compelling and romantic and funny.  It deserved the big screen treatment.

Matt:  How does the copyright work on a story like this?  Who owns it?  Is it the company behind Britain’s Got Talent?  Do you have to get their permission to be able to make a movie like this?

David:  Yeah.  We had to get the rights from Paul Potts himself and also the rights from Freemantle Television who produce Britain’s Got Talent.  We also had to get the participation of Simon Cowell.  There were a lot of people involved but it all came together last year.

Matt:  Do you know Paul has thought of the film?  I realise you have to a little poetic licence and condense it into a 2 hour running time.  Is he happy with the representation?

David:  Yes, I think he’s very pleased with how the movie turned out.  Of course, it’s surreal to see your life on the big screen but one thing that he was most gratified about is the fact it’s a comedy and that there are so many good laughs in the movie.  His life that has been a roller coaster of challenges, illnesses, accidents and twists of fate… and to be able to look back and laugh is something that he’s thrilled to be able to convey through the movie.

Matt:  You’ve gone with James Corden in the leading role who certainly has similar physical characteristics to the real Paul Potts but I notice you’ve used the real Paul’s voice instead of James’s during the signing sequences.  What was behind that decision?

David:  Yeah.  James is a brilliant comedic actor and a talented dramatic actor and I couldn’t imagine more perfect casting to play Paul.  However, signing opera is a very special skill that takes years, if not decades, of training.  James gave it a shot.  Last summer he took some opera lessons and realised pretty quickly that while he had a beautiful singing voice, he couldn’t train to the point of being able to perform some of these demanding arias.

Matt:  So was that the hope when you started out?  You wanted to find an actor who could do the signing themselves during the movie?

David:  Actually, my goal was to do what we did – to have Paul do all the signing.  I thought that would be a treat for the audience – “You’ve seen the Youtube video where he sings 2 minutes of Nessun Dorma but guess what?  You get to hear a lot more during the movie.”  It was James who wanted to give it a shot to help round out his performance.  I think it took a lot of skill to make it look like he was performing opera and so I salute every effort that he made.

Matt:  With the finale, I notice that you’ve interwoven footage of James Corden on stage with the real reaction shots of the audience and the judges, including Simon Cowell.  Can you talk us through your creative decision to blend reality and fiction there together?

David:  I thought those reactions were so special.  The shock and amazement when they saw this pudgy man with bad teeth bring the house down by signing opera.  The reactions were so priceless from Simon and Amanda and Piers that I didn’t want to risk trying to duplicate them.  It was a technical challenge trying to include the original shots but I hope we pulled it off.

Matt:  The world premiere of your film was at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival back in September.  What was that like?  Given the largely North American audience, did a lot of people already know the story of Paul Potts?

David:  In contrast to screening it in the UK, where a lot of people are familiar with Paul, we found that most people weren’t familiar with him at Toronto.  When they saw James Corden, I had some say that they thought they were watching the real Paul Potts until they got home and clicked on Youtube.

That made the experience as satisfying as anything as we were able to bring the story new and fresh to audiences who don’t know anything about it and aren’t necessarily opera fans.  They can come to the movie and laugh a lot and also find themselves tearing up because they’re so moved.

Matt:  You’ve been pretty busy of late because Hope Springs came out last year and now you have One Chance this year.  What have you got in the works?  What productions are we going to see from you next?

David:  I’m hoping to do another movie with Harvey Weinstein.  He’s a great collaborator, a remarkable man and someone who is so important to the movie business worldwide.  He has a great eye for storytelling and for talent.  It’s been a great collaboration this past year and I’m hoping to repeat it.