Jamie Campbell \u2013\u00a0who the film’s title character is inspired by \u2013 chats to RadioTimes.com about the true story. <\/p>
This week, the film adaptation of hit stage musical Everybody\u2019s Talking About Jamie<\/a> debuts on Amazon Prime Video \u2013 with newcomer Max Harwood delivering a terrific performance in the title role.<\/p>\n The stage show version has been a huge word-of-mouth hit ever since transferring to the West End from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2017, but the full story of Jamie\u2019s journey to the big screen doesn\u2019t begin with the musical, but with a documentary.<\/p>\n In 2011, BBC Three aired a programme titled Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, which followed the true story of Jamie Campbell, a teenager who dreamed of becoming a drag queen and was determined to attend his school prom in drag, despite some opposition from peers and teachers.<\/p>\n It was this documentary that inspired writer Tom MacRae and songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells to create the stage show, and although some changes were made in adapting the real-life story \u2013 including basing it in Sheffield rather than County Durham \u2013 the new film version retains several key similarities to Jamie Campbell\u2019s story.<\/p> Speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Campbell explained that while he wasn\u2019t creatively involved with the film, he regularly visited the set \u2013 even making a small cameo appearance while holding the door open for Jamie.\u00a0And he added that despite some differences, the film is fairly accurate to his own experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that actually did happen but it\u2019s not a direct retelling of my story, it\u2019s more inspired by it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of me in there and a lot of Jonathan [Butterell, director], Dan [Gillespie Sells] and Tom [MacRae]. There\u2019s a lot of Max [Harwood] in there too and a lot of John [McCrea], who was the original Jamie on stage. I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s such a universal character, especially with gay people because we can see ourselves in him. So even the stuff that\u2019s made up rings true.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what aspects of the film were made up, he responded: \u201cI never said to my mum \u2018No wonder Dad left you\u2019. It\u2019s really hard to see that scene because I would never, ever say anything like that to my mum. Although we do fight, I\u2019d never be that harsh. But I get that it\u2019s a drama and you need to add things for dramatic effect.\u201d<\/p>\n He also says that the dress Jamie wears to prom in the film is rather more glamorous than the one he opted for himself \u2013 explaining that he made a last-minute change to his outfit in real life.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in a black, lacy, see-through number. I was going to wear something big, pink and ridiculous, then last-minute I was like \u2018Scale it back a bit. You\u2019re already going in drag. You don\u2019t want it to be all bells and whistles\u2019. That black dress was me being subtle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Jamie\u2019s own story isn\u2019t the only way in which the film reflects real life, either. A new number brought in specifically for the film sees Jamie\u2019s mentor Hugo (Richard E. Grant) reflect on his life as a drag queen in the \u201980s \u2013 including scenes portraying both the AIDS crisis and Section 28 protests \u2013 and Campbell believes that including a nod to LGBTQ+ history like this was vital.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s really important to me because there\u2019s so much people have gone through in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit where Jamie says: \u2018I can\u2019t do this. People actually died. I just want to dress up, be a little bit famous, and have some fun. Drag\u2019s so much more than that.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Pritti says: \u2018What do you think they died for? They died for the new generation so you need to carry the torch and pass it on.\u2019 That\u2019s what I feel like I\u2019m doing now. I owe so much to the people who have gone before us and the people who unfortunately are not here. I will always be thankful to my gay ancestors for fighting for me to be able to do this. Even for me to be able to go to the prom in a dress, let alone have this film come out.\u201d<\/p>\n When it came to portraying Jamie, star Max Harwood made sure to speak to Campbell on a handful of occasions while preparing to take on the role \u2013 but he said the purpose of these conversations was to look for inspiration and insight rather than direct advice.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know what he didn\u2019t give me any advice,\u201d Harwood explained. \u201cIt was more like, getting to know him and observe him.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to put that pressure on him to have to tell me the ways of the world, but also as I got to know him he became open and I\u2019m so grateful that he was on board with this process, so I could deepen the role and you know, show that queer people on screen can be 360 and complex, like we exist in life. So it was just really great.\u201d<\/p>\n And for his part, Campbell was delighted with the portrayal. \u201cHe\u2019s absolutely incredible,\u201d he said of Harwood\u2019s performance. \u201cWe met up a few times and he asked lots of questions, and he said he wanted to be honest and accurate in his portrayal while still doing his own thing with the character.<\/p>\n \u201cConsidering he\u2019s not really had a big professional job before he\u2019s handled it so well and he\u2019s such a superstar!\u201d<\/p>\n Jamie Campbell interview by Simon Button.<\/em><\/p>\n Everybody\u2019s Talking About Jamie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from Friday 17th September. While you\u2019re waiting, check out our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on, or check out our Movies<\/a> hub for all the latest news and features.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Jamie Campbell \u2013\u00a0who the film’s title character is inspired by \u2013 chats to RadioTimes.com about the true story. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4427,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-true-story-real-inspiration-for-movie-musical.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Jamie Campbell \u2013\u00a0who the film's title character is inspired by \u2013 chats to RadioTimes.com about the true story.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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