Me Before You is a romantic drama directed by Thea Sharrock.
Advertisement
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the United Kingdom premiere of the film, he said: “The book made me cry then I read the script and the script made me cry again even though I knew what was happening”. And knowing that Moyes was working on a screenplay, she adds, “I was three pages in before I was screaming yes!” The book and film have drawn strong criticism from people with disabilities who say the story perpetuates harmful ideas about disability and suicide; Moyes has said it is “about one man and the personal choices he makes for himself, not a comment about people with disabilities in general”, according to Canada’s CBC News. It was very much, because obviously Jojo had already done a huge amount, and we had an advisor on set at all times. “It was so joyful and amusing”, Clarke says enthusiastically.
“I do love singing, and I was in character in the moment, but I got to it, and I was embarrassed to sing it in front of the crew”. While that film was fine on its own merits (and certainly a tearjerker in its own right), it struck me that another film should be only two years on its heels, ready to steal the same general plot and rehash it to earn a few more quick dollars. “I guess the thing that we were interested in was if someone makes that kind of extreme decision, what’s the impact on the people around him and that’s really what this story’s about”, Moyes explained.
I personally couldn’t stop reading this novel, finding myself still up at 3 a.m. before finally getting to my homework. The Dignitas clinic exists in real life and as you can imagine, there’s much debate surrounding it and the issue altogether. And not even a manic pixie dream girl like Emilia Clarke’s eternal optimist Louisa Clark can convince him otherwise – but not without trying. The movie makes you admire all the more her restrained power in Game of Thrones, in which her eyebrows are largely stationary.
Clarke especially enjoyed letting this side of her personality out, noting that she’s so optimistic that calling herself a glass half-full person isn’t enough.
“I read the book and fell in love”, she said. “Directors are like, ‘Just be miserable!” I did a lot of research, and we really supported each other in that. So one of the guys who came in and we spoke to, I had a packet of Polo mints, and he said, “Can I have one?” She sheds her Game of Thrones character completely and slips into Louisa Clarke’s bumblebee tights easily and authenticity, as if she literally walked out of the book and into our world. Anxious to have the job Lou doesn’t hesitate to accept, that is until she meets the very cut off Will who wants nothing to do with her. Making matters worse is ex-girlfriend Alicia (Vanessa Kirby) visits and he learns of her impending marriage – to his best friend.
Advertisement
I’m wicked smart. Just look at me in a lab with scientists and beakers and stuff.
