The two-time Oscar winner\u2019s sad death came just after she\u2019d finished filming her final film The Great Escaper<\/a>, and with it now arriving in UK cinemas this weekend, RadioTimes.com<\/a> spoke exclusively to its writer and director about working with the screen icon.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, both were full of praise and fond memories, with director Oliver Parker calling her a \u201cforce of nature\u201d.<\/p>\n He explained that she was instantly won over by playing the character of Irene \u201cRene\u201d Jordan \u2013 the wife of a World War II veteran who secretly left his care home to attend a D-Day commemoration in 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cTalking to her, she absolutely knew who the character was,\u201d he said. \u201cAbsolutely from the beginning, she was talking about her as a complete, fully formed character, and had opinions which were undeniable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one criticism she gave of the script was virtually the second thing she said to me\u2026 She said, \u2018Well, it wouldn\u2019t say she slouches on the sofa. She wouldn\u2019t slouch, she\u2019s done ballroom dancing, I know these people!\u2019 And she had this kind of incredible clarity and empathy for this character.\u201d<\/p> He added that Jackson inhabited the character so strongly that many people who have watched the film ahead of its release have almost forgotten it was Jackson playing her.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMy mother-in-law saw a screening the other day and she said, \u2018I kept forgetting \u2013 it felt like it was absolutely them\u2019, Which is a hard thing to do when you\u2019ve got icons. And the characters merge in this because it\u2019s so fortunate really to find actors and characters with such similarities.\u201d<\/p>\n Screenwriter William Ivory added that Jackson added so much depth to his script that he was pleasantly taken aback by the surprising way she delivered some of the lines he had written.<\/p>\n \u201c[She was] very incredibly modest, but also really clear and clean in her thinking,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cAnd you know it\u2019s funny because now I\u2019ve seen it a few times, it\u2019s astonishing the detail that\u2019s in the performance that I\u2019ve seen more and more of every time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are very few lines that, when I was on set, she needed explaining or wanted explaining, but there were also a couple of lines that she did in ways that I was so surprised by.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd sometimes when you\u2019ve written a script that can be a bit derailing. But with her, it was really, really interesting because she just knew the character. And she just gets to the same point exactly where I always wanted to be but by different means.\u201d<\/p>\n Parker added that although Jackson was an incredible screen presence, her approach in some ways was more like that of a stage actor \u2013 in that she did not seem \u201cthat bothered by the camera or anything like that\u201d.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cShe\u2019s just in her own bubble that she\u2019s created, which is absolutely invulnerable, she\u2019s just this forceful creature who could be anywhere [but] as soon as action goes, she\u2019s just completely there and completely present and you almost couldn\u2019t put her off. And that was so wonderful.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cEven in the edit, I hadn\u2019t realised how funny her stuff was, then you put it together and realise she had more of a master plan than I did! All credit to her that she joined up the dots. When you\u2019re grabbing stuff on quite a fast shoot, you\u2019re going \u2018That\u2019s good. That\u2019s good. I can put this together\u2019. She just had this absolute sort of thorough grasp and wit, as she was working on a different level from everybody.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when you see the way she challenges the patronising characters in the care home at times, this was nearly all actually just her own doing as an actress \u2013 it wasn\u2019t even obvious in the script nor in my directions, she would just have this attitude. It was fabulously kind of merciless.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then actually, when you see her at the end, it\u2019s like she thaws and she\u2019s so kind of generous and sympathetic, and beautiful. It\u2019s a remarkable performance.\u201d<\/p> ![\"Glenda](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/glenda-jackson-e3e883f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"glenda-jackson\\"\/")
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