Set on a wild and remote Scottish island, The Silent Storm follows the love triangle between an enigmatic outsider (Andrea Riseborough), her commanding Presbyterian minister husband (Damian Lewis) and Ross’s character, a poetry-loving delinquent sent to them for rehabilitation. “It was my first film, so I really wanted to make a good first impression,” says Ross.
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| source the glass mag |
Your fight scenes with Damian Lewis weren’t quite “acting” – you ended up with bruises. Is that true?
There are a couple of altercations in the film. We had a stunt co-ordinator, but Damian and I said to each other, ‘Let’s just go for it,’ and he took that quite literally. He threw me against a tree and I ricocheted backwards, hitting my head. When I woke up the next morning, I had a splitting headache. It was nice to see that in the cinema, and hear the reaction of the audience, which is why we did it – we wanted it to have that effect.
Fionn, your character in The Silent Storm, loves poetry. Where there any poems that appealed to you?
During the initial stages of filming, Andrea [Riseborough, who plays Aislin] and I went through a lot of war poetry, which is what the character would have been into at the time. It was interesting to read what had been written in that period – especially by soldiers. Some poems were about family stuff, but a lot were about their experiences in the war.
In the film, Damian’s character, Balor, has just gone over to the mainland, leaving Aislin and Fionn alone together on the beach. There’s a poem I read about a guy who’s down on his luck, but how he’s just going to push on with things. At the time I felt the opposite: I felt really lucky to be in that position, playing that part, alongside those great actors. But I could relate: before I was cast as Fionn, I was feeling the same. It was nice to have a moment of reflection, lying on the beach staring our over the Mull Bay – which is where we were filming.
Your characters in The Silent Storm and Macbeth are both Scottish, how do you tackle the variations in accent?
The Silent Storm’s Fionn was from the Glasgow docks and I’m from Glasgow myself, so I was able to use more of my own accent than when I was playing Rosse in Macbeth. Rosse is a member of the king’s court and has lived all of his life among royalty, so he’s much more articulate. And of course, it’s Shakespeare as well, so you have to be articulate for people to understand what you’re saying. It’s nice to have variations like that.
How’d Damian Lewis do with tackling his Scottish accent in The Silent Storm?
Damian was doing a particular Scottish Highland accent, which I thought was bang on. It’s a hard accent to do; it’s very broad and musical. I thought he did it brilliantly. I love what Damian did in the film, I think it’s a brave performance. He was just amazing to watch and to work with.
Damian was doing a particular Scottish Highland accent, which I thought was bang on. It’s a hard accent to do; it’s very broad and musical. I thought he did it brilliantly. I love what Damian did in the film, I think it’s a brave performance. He was just amazing to watch and to work with.
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| source damian-lewis.com |
