Actors | The Holiday Season #5 Transcript and Credits
[00:04] SAM: Welcome to The Holiday Season, my name is Sam Clements, and this is your pre-Christmas booster shot of seasonal cheer, courtesy of Nancy Meyers’ 2006 film, The Holiday, the festive house swap rom-com, starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black.
The Holiday was described as “the ultimate self care flick” by Refinery29 as well as ‘comfortably upholstered and primed to tug at the heartstrings’ by the Denver Rocky Mountain News. In the film, Jude Law’s emotionally raw character Graham says… “A Good Book, A Great Film, A Birthday Card, I Weep”. In real life, when I see Jude Law deliver those lines, I too shed a tear. I love when a film can take the audience on an emotional journey, and for me, The Holiday is my soul stirring Everest.
It goes without saying, but there will be spoilers for The Holiday in this podcast. Please do pause the show if you’ve not seen the movie - go and watch it - you will have a fabulous time - and we’ll be waiting for you when you come back.
In episode 5 we’ll be looking at the cast of The Holiday, and what it was like to appear in front of the camera on this project. The Holiday has a remarkable cast of characters to guide us through the highs and lows of a festive fling.
For those of you unfamiliar with Nancy Meyers’ work - her casting is always spot on. As a filmmaker she is known for working with the best of the best. Her films often feature an impressive ensemble, playing real human characters, amid various personal dilemmas.
During her 2015 BAFTA Screenwriters Lecture with Briony Hanson, Meyers was asked about whether she writes with an actor in mind…
NANCY MEYERS: Almost always. In my opinion.
BRIONY HANSON: Can you think of specific examples where you've done that really dramatically?
NANCY MEYERS: Well, this movie, which you haven't seen yet, The Intern, opens next Friday. Robert de Niro plays the nicest guy. He's really, um, he's really, a very centered, calm, patient, non-threatening person, totally against type because in every comedy he's in, he's sort of trading on his threatening stuff that people know him from. Scary. He'll do you know, in the Fockers movie, you know, he'll put Ben Stiller in a lie detector machine, you know. He's not nuts in my movie at all. So I think that's very much against type. Mel Gibson in What Women Want, you know, pretty macho guy becomes a feminist. Jack falls in love with a woman his age, hello! I'd say this is my trademark. Now that I'm thinking about it.
SAM: We all know the cast of The Holiday, the four leads who feature on the poster, and who are currently staring at me from my DVD shelf - Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black.
But the film features a much broader cast to realise Nancy Meyers’ story, supporting actors, day players, and a tonne of extras. These roles are integral when making any movie, to add texture to the reality on screen, and to help move our lead cast through the action. These sorts of roles typically don’t get interviewed on the red carpet, and in most cases won’t even be invited to the premiere, but for 1000s of professional actors out there, this is the job.
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SAM: We often hear from film stars whilst on the publicity trail for a new release, but I was keen to talk to a professional actor who might work on just one scene, in a major motion picture. I caught up with one cast member in particular, who I’ve been looking forward to speaking to for quite some time…
SARAH FLIND: Sarah Flind is my name, and I was a shopkeeper.
SAM: Sarah shares one scene with Cameron Diaz’s character Amanda, when she drives into the village to find supplies. Sarah has a single line of dialogue, which lasts for about 4 seconds in the film, BUT for fans of The Holiday she’s highly recognisable - as she was featured in the trailer, delivering the same line that she gives in the film.
[THE HOLIDAY Clip]
MARKET CLERK: Oh, haha, someone’s having a party tonight!
AMANDA: Oh yeah!
SARAH FLIND: I'm the queen of one or two scenes, I do it a lot. I really have paid my mortgage doing small parts, always speaking, in very luckily, often quite good films. So I was in Les Misérables behind a post for weeks.
SAM: Sarah is a very experienced actor, her IMDb page lists over 40 film and television projects, and she’s a regular presence on the stage, acting in many well known West End theatre shows. I was curious to find out what Sarah remembered from shooting that brief scene almost 15 years ago.
SARAH FLIND: Very little really. I was doing Mary Poppins in the West End at the same time, and had young children. So I was basically exhausted. I remember two days in a very comfy caravan with Radio 4 on. And I remember, it was very easy. That's what I remember. And everybody was very pleasant and calm. It's not always the way, very calm, very organised. I think I was standing by for a day, possibly two, so they didn't know when they were going to do it. And it didn't take more than a day. It's not uncommon or they'll have a change of schedule or something would have occurred and then they lose their nerve and they book you for more days than they need you. But those little scenes, they can take longer than you think. Depending on the director and depending on complexity, and it was a small store. And often if you're in a very small confined space, it takes longer.
SAM: As discussed in our previous episode on locations, the production took over the Surrey villages of Shere and Godalming to realise the picture perfect version of the English countryside we see in the film. The scene Sarah features in was shot in a luxury candle shop, hired by the production, and set designed to look like a grocery store.
SARAH FLIND: It was a charming looking High Street covered in snow, masses of pretend snow, which I don't like very much because I'm worried about breathing in. And they made a beautiful shop. And both Cameron and I were saying how hungry we were. Starving, she was starving because I think she doesn't eat so much when she's doing a film. Then relaxes a bit when she's not, fair enough.
SAM: And how much information do you have when you start a job like this?
SARAH FLIND: I can't remember in the case of The Holiday, but you have the script, you have the scene. And I think with The Holiday I met, I did meet the director because she's quite specific. She knows what she wants. I think I remember her as quite specific. And I think I met her and I think I got it on that meeting.
But I do find if I meet the director I've got a better percentage chance of getting a job. I don't know why but I do believe that to be true. And even a tiny part they like to know that they can give you notes. Don't forget how long they've been working on this. They're obsessed with their projects. Even the minutest detail they're obsessed with so it's good for them if they feel they can manipulate you into a way they want to.
If you think about it, huge amounts of money spent on that moment. So it will have been there for a very good reason she will not have kept that in unless, because she wrote it as well didn't she? Yeah. So it would have been there for a very good reason. And she would have taken even the tiny part very seriously.
I remember her being obsessed with the look, the director. It looks lush. People are in cashmere a lot and she had a real eye for the look. And I think that stands the test of time probably.
SAM: Nancy Meyers, of course, famous for her on-screen knitwear.
SARAH FLIND: I didn't know that you mean she's well known for…? Because I remember that about her, that she was obsessed with what jumper I was wearing. Because she also came to the costume fitting which was very unusual
SAM: After you’ve wrapped, are you kept up to date with the film's production?
SARAH FLIND: They tell you when it's coming out, you normally get an invitation to cast and crew screening and then probably get a couple of tickets to the press night. But I must admit I missed all of that. And indeed I'm embarrassed to say I have not seen the film yet. It keeps coming on at Christmas but I want to sit and watch it from beginning to end.
I've seen my scene with Cameron. Because that is the only thing I can remember about it. Before the film came out they used my scene as part of the coming shortly. So I had a massive amount of interest and got some jobs out of it because people thought I was in it a lot. I couldn't understand how people knew I'd done it because it hadn't come out yet. And in America and on the planes and everything they were using that, do you want, are you having a party, whatever it is, she says my character, as part of the coming shortly, whatever you call those things. Very zhuhsy people were saying to me at interviews, oh, I think I saw you, you're in The Holiday.
SAM: 15 years on, what’s your favourite memory of working on The Holiday?
SARAH FLIND: You're not gonna like it. Lovely sleep in my caravan. Lovely, lovely. young babies at home. Mary Poppins at night. Head down in a caravan.
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[09:38] SAM: It’s a cliché but when discussing acting, my brain veers into the Stanislavski quote: "There are no small parts, only small actors." With The Holiday, we can see that even the smallest parts were treated incredibly seriously.
A “BIT PART” is a role where the actor has a spoken interaction with one of the principal cast, but has no more than five lines. It’s a role that’s more involved than an extra, but not as much work as a “SUPPORTING ACTOR” would do.. Sarah Flind, played a bit part in The Holiday. Her scene with Cameron Diaz made it into the final cut. But movies often shoot much more footage than what makes it into the finished film, and as scenes are cut in the edit suite - maybe to improve the pacing of the project or reduce the final runtime - some BIT PARTS may be cut entirely. It sounds dramatic, but this is quite a common thing you hear from actors. “I was in X, but my scene got cut for time…” or something similar.
What is RARE however, is for an actor who didn’t make the final cut of a movie to be included in the publicity for the film - and whilst making this podcast, we noticed an oddity in popular British TV Guide, The Radio Times. For international listeners, this magazine is huge in the UK, and the Christmas edition is the most popular issue of the year.
In this year’s magazine, much like the 2020 and 2019 editions before it, under the TV listing for The Holiday - broadcast on ITV - the magazine printed a brief synopsis on the film, the key characters and who played them…Amanda - Cameron Diaz, Iris - Kate Winslet, Graham - Jude Law, Miles - Jack Black, Arthur Abbott - Eli Wallach, Ethan - Edward Burns, Jasper - Rufus Sewell, Peter - Nicolas Downs.
SAM: Who the heck is Peter!? I’ve watched The Holiday more times than I care to admit, and there is nobody in the movie called “Peter”. I even checked the end credits of the film, and watched the extensive cast list scroll through - Nicholas Downs’ name was nowhere to be seen. I was confused. I thought I knew The Holiday like the back of my hand. This is a legitimate mystery.
So I called actor Nicholas Downs to clear this whole thing up!
NICHOLAS DOWNS: I’m Nicholas Downs and I played Peter in The Holiday.
SAM: WHAT?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: OK, yeah, my character probably shouldn't be listed here, but also my character is listed here and I'm actually not really super visible in the film, which is just kind of funny. In one particular part you can actually see me in the background, but I'm out of focus and then like over Kate Winslet's shoulder or something like that.
SAM: So who exactly IS Peter, and what happened to him?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: So Peter worked at the newspaper that Kate Winslet's character works at at the very beginning. All my scenes were shot specifically around that holiday party that's happening at the very beginning. And the reason why Peter doesn't exist as much in the film is because that scene really the way it was written was twice as long, half of it ended up on the cutting room floor.
And so my scene that I played with someone somewhat starting out in the newspaper business and trying to hobnob and make the best and make myself look good, so at some point I go around and I give Kate Winslet and the other character that she's speaking with for the most part in that scene, and I give them champagne. Because it's a party, you know, it's the end of the year, everyone's letting loose. It's one of those office parties and everyone's drinking and having a good time, except for Kate Winslet's character where she's not really having the greatest time right? She's moving around the party and because she's moving around the party, he's I think they're trying to find a quiet space to discuss what's happening right with the boss and all these people keep coming up to her and doing things. Now my character does something nice to give them champagne, but another character comes up and talks to her about a report that's due and a job that needs to get done before the end of the year, you know, at the Christmas holiday party, which is nice right?
I think that, you know, they probably felt on the cutting room floor that they were like, well, we told the story, we told, we set Kate Winslet's character up, we know what's going on. We know that she's pining over this character. And then something big happens like the proposal. Okay. Now we can move on with the rest of the story and we don't need all this ancillary stuff. I mean, they could have used my stuff, but, you know, I might just be biassed a little bit.
SAM: I had to ask Nicholas, what was his line?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: “Hey ladies, champagne?”
That was it. So it's like, that was pretty much it, you know, but I think because you have to keep coming back and working every day, because you never know when you're going to see or want to shoot that moment from a different angle or whatever. So it did take a week to, well, I think it took longer than a week because even after I left and wrapped from the set, they were still shooting scenes. So, but then I worked a week on it. And so it was a week to shoot that at least, just shoot that entire opening scene and to also, you know, get that one line. But just because you have one line, you know, they can't just have you come in and do it because they may find the next day they were like, wait, Peter walks by in the shot, where's Peter? Oh, we didn't call him back for more than one day, you know. Independent films probably have to do that. But a film like The Holiday, when you have the budget you do, you just say, well, let's just have the person be here for a week and we'll use them whenever we need them.
Even though I was there for a week and I only had one line, I felt like I worked my butt off. I felt like I was constantly working, which is good. Everyone was working really, really, really, really hard. So my stuff was, we shot it one particular way and we spent probably a good half day or more trying to get it one particular way and it just wasn't working. So they had to completely come in and change the whole setup around.
They wanted me to walk and land in between Kate and the other actress and land literally right in between them with the camera behind me and I had to hand them the champagne and say my line. We spent hours and hours and hours and hours trying to get that one shot and just wasn't working. I think she really probably had it in her mind and she mapped out the shots and she really wanted that, that shot. And so they worked very hard to get it, but they just couldn't get it. So they had to move on and try something new.
SAM: Do you remember your audition? What was the casting process like?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: Auditions can just be one audition and sometimes cast that way. But generally for the most part, it's one audition to weed down the number of people and that's usually just with the casting directors. And then the second one generally is with the director.
And I just remember Nancy being there. And of course I knew her stuff and so I complimented one of her films, which might've been sucking up a little bit, but I did it anyway! And she was very appreciative of that.
She was just very easy going and laid back and you know, she was very present in the casting room. Sometimes you can have experiences where you go in and not so much the director per se, but other people, producers and such can sometimes be distracted or busy or have many other things going on other than you being in that room in that moment but they just have to be there for it. But she was present and focused and there, and didn't just sit back. She actually stood the entire time next to the casting directors, while I was in the room. So that was pretty cool. Maybe it's just kind of an old school thing as she has going on.
She's very thorough, very, very thorough. Different people work different ways. Right? Some people could maybe get a similar result and not have that, but everybody has their own vibe. I've kind of learned that on set, from sets throughout the years is some people have what they need to get job done and it's not always going to be the same as the next person, but with her it's being there every step of the way.
SAM: What’s it like being directed by Nancy Meyers?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: She's very thorough. She's very specific, very thorough. Down to just the most specific moment, hand gesture, the way you hold a glass, it was all very specific and it makes you completely have to be on your toes. That's what I'm saying, like even though it was one line, when you were physically on set, you had to really just be present, because, as much as she was focused on, of course the directing, she did know everything that seemed to be going on in different departments and where things should land. And she does have a sense of what she knows, what she's talking about. She's not a director who doesn't know camera angles, or doesn't know specific things like that. She's, she's learned these things. She's picked up on them throughout the years, right, so she seems to have control and command and respect on the set.
And I do remember, you know, get myself in trouble, but she would have post-it notes or some kind of yellow pad. And she was taking notes during the scene, and then she'd come over and she would have like a whole thing filled out of just notes. And I'm thinking like, how could those all be for me? Like, am I really that important? Like, wow, like you just gave me like five things and I'm like, I'm just giving people champagne. Again, like we talked about earlier, it's just a process, right? It's everybody has different processes, everyone. I always feel like whatever your process is, as long as we get there and we're collectively doing the same thing and we can kind of have a meeting of the minds and there's no major conflict, whatever your process is to get there is your process, right? There's no judgement of all of that. It's just, it was just very thorough and very specific and never have I had an experience like that on set before or since.
SAM: When did you learn Peter was cut?
NICHOLAS DOWNS: I got to go to a screening of it, which was kind of more of a cast and crew type screening. It wasn't until then, and, you know, right away, because I'm in, it's the first scene, right. It's opening scene. So then I was like, okay, well, I'll just sit here and enjoy the rest of the movie, you know, because I was a part of it, but, you know, that was probably the first time that I actually got cut like that in a film. So that was a little disappointing because it was with Kate Winslet and it was the movie that it was. Anytime you do get cut, it's unfortunate. And many, many, many actors have been cut from projects. But now it's been enough years, I'm over it. I think.
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[19:40] SAM: Speaking of the Radio Times, I did post this anomaly on my Twitter feed, to which Andrew Collins, the film editor at the magazine replied…
“I wouldn’t like to stake my reputation on it, but I think it’s possible that this is a mistake, made by a human being working very hard.”
And despite me tweeting this in 2019, Peter is still listed as a lead character in the 2021 edition of the magazine. It’s true, not all heroes wear capes. Some edit TV listing guides.
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[20:14] SAM: When Cameron Diaz’s Amanda, and Jude Law’s Graham first meet, the pair have a wild night together.
The morning after, Amanda - and the audience - are led to believe that Graham might be seeing other women, but it’s revealed that he is a widower, and father of 2 small girls. The scenes with Jude, Cameron and the young actors are some of the most memorable in the movie. Miffy Englefield was just 6 years old when she played Graham’s eldest daughter Sophie. I caught up with her a couple of years ago - when this podcast started - to ask what she remembered about making The Holiday and how she got the part.
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: I remember so much of it because it was such a big part of my life for so long. It was such an amazing experience to do the whole thing. It was the first sort of thing I ever did properly. So it really sticks with you at that age
Me and my dad, when we made the decision, mainly more his decision, we got into the whole acting thing when I was about four years old. I was carrying myself a bit differently to other kids and I’d do things like put on shows in Doctor surgeries and I just loved attention. And we came from quite a rough background, we were homeless at the time and we had just come out of that sort of situation. And he decided to get enough money together to start acting, expecting a couple of adverts or some theatre or something like that. And just to sort of help with other acting classes or school trips, or you know, things that you can't really afford when you're from a working class background. And then about a year or so in we heard about the auditions for this film that didn't have a name at the time. And we started the audition process from there.
And so we went to this audition, not really thinking too much of it. And then we got another one and then another one. And then yeah, it wasn't up until I think the third or fourth audition, it might have not even been The Holiday at the time, but we got a name, I think we might have got a director as well. And I think it then hit us like, oh, oh, this is like a relatively big thing we're doing, this is huge. And yeah, it was out of 2,500 girls which is craziness to think about, but it was a long audition process.
On the last audition it was a room of, you know, six or seven girls and it was a lot smaller than these other auditions we'd gone to. I think my dad was a little bit nervous, but I was still doing the same old chatting and singing and dancing around and making an idiot out of myself. My dad does a really, really good job and did throughout my whole career, of showing me work that these people had done so that I could prepare. They were just people, they weren’t these huge big icons to be scared of. So I knew of these films that she’d done. I think The Parent Trap was the main one about age that I was like, Oh, this is a thing that Nancy's done. But it didn't really scare me at the time. I was sort of fearless at six years old, I wish I could say the same now.
SAM: This is a big Hollywood film on a huge film set, in America, what do you remember of actually making the movie?
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: Originally, the first time that we flew out to America, we went out purely for a wardrobe fitting. I don't think anyone realises that it's a solid week of, you know, 12 hours of just trying on these clothes in these big warehouses. So that was the first thing that we did. And at six I had no idea, I didn't really know what was going on. All I knew is that I was trying on these very pretty dresses and these very woollen jumpers in the middle of LA in summer, it was very weird.
The audition process itself was very long. But I remember it moving very, very, very quickly and it was a bit of a shock to the system for me and my Dad, especially because he's a single parent as well, he's got two other kids, so it was very overwhelming for all of the family.
When we got out to America, and even when we were filming in England, the sets were so elaborate and beautiful and wonderful. And you know, you see these huge lights and it was crazy. I was in the middle of this little tiny village. They’d covered it in fake snow and there were these huge lights everywhere. And yeah, it was amazing. It was very, very surreal. It still doesn't feel real talking about it.
SAM: Do you remember the first time you met Jude Law and Cameron Diaz who of course you do your scenes with in the movie?
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: When we filmed the film, we actually filmed it back to front. So the last scene in the film where you've got all of the cast in that one room they're dancing around, that was the first scene that we shot. So my first day on set, after doing all this wardrobe stuff, and doing a little bit of rehearsal was going into this room with these four incredible, incredible actors.
I think it was a really good scene to start filming with, because it just sort of chucks all of the characters, the main characters into one room. And it was a great way for all of us to sort of get to know each other and start working around each other. And it's such a light hearted scene as well, there wasn't any sort of element we had to worry about. It was just a case of have a bit of a dance, you know, act like kids for a little bit. So it took a lot of the pressure off of me and Emma when we started because we started off with this lovely, wonderful scene, where we could just be little girls and dance around and you know, it really, really helped that the rest of the cast was so welcoming and just so great with us.
My dad did a really, really good job of, you know, sitting me down and being like this is what Jude Law's in and this is Cameron Diaz and this is Kate Winslet, but at that age, I was obsessed with School of Rock, absolutely obsessed. So the one person that I was a little bit nervous about meeting was Jack Black. And we were sat on the sofa together and chatting away, and he's the loveliest person in the world. They're all amazing, they're all so lovely. But I remember telling him that I knew from Tenacious D at the age of six, and he sort of looked at me and he looked at my Dad and he was like ‘good job!’.
My dad has always been so good at preparing me for things when it came to acting and it always came so naturally to me as a kid to try to do these things. So I loved it. I loved every second of it. I loved doing the retakes. I loved it when they changed the camera angles. I loved being able to talk with Nancy about lines. She was so good with cutting lines and changing lines and putting in ad libs and things like that. I loved every second of it, there was nothing that really sort of shocked me while I was doing it, it was everything that I expected and more, it was great.
SAM: How long were you in LA doing the shoot, do you remember the time period?
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: Overall with filming in Shere as well, the parts that we did, bearing in mind a lot of the film was cut. We filmed for six months. Oh yeah, so there was a lot of stuff that me and Emma did that didn't make the final cut. Originally there was quite a lot in there which is devastating because there are some scenes that we cut that would have been fantastic and it was so good to film. But obviously when it comes down to a final cut with storylines and getting things flowing, you need to make sure that an audience is keeping their attention, you don't want to drag out something for longer than it needs to be. It's telling a story. It's understandable why but, I mean, yeah, when I tell people that we did six months of filming, everyone's a little bit shocked, because obviously, we're not in it for too long in the actual final cut. But yeah, good six months of hard, hard work.
And obviously, you know, if you are a child actor, you do stuff to keep up with schoolwork as well. So not only were we doing the shoots from 5am, we were doing school work around it. So it would be a case of right, start your scene, as soon as we change the camera angles around, get to the trailer, do as much school work as you can in that time, get back into it. So yeah, a good six months of that was just, you know, chopping and changing between going into professional mode and learning about multiplication for a while, so yeah, it was good!
SAM: After spending 6 months working on a huge Hollywood film, coming home, was coming back to reality for Miffy.
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: Even though we'd come and done this amazing film and got treated like royalty for six months and worked so so so hard, when we got back we were still a working class family that lived in a council house in Andover in Hampshire. Still exactly the same. So we've come from this wonderful high of seeing these beautiful film sets and eating this wonderful food and, you know this lovely weather to you know, coming back to same old, same old and catching up with brother and sister and then going back to school like nothing had happened. And then obviously, there's a very, very big period where they’re editing where you can't talk about it at all, you've got to be so hush, you can't tell anyone about what you're doing or especially with our characters as well where they were surprises in the film. We couldn't talk about it at all. So I was seven years old with this big secret and just had to carry on with life for a while. We couldn’t say anything to anyone. So it was just sort of quiet excitement all very internal within our little group. And then after that once the film had been shown it all sort of skyrocketed after that.
SAM: Miffy went on to tell me about her experience at the premiere.
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: It was actually in Leicester Square at the Odeon, and they had a white carpet instead of a red carpet, a little bit of fake snow everywhere. It was great. I remember staying in this beautiful hotel the evening before and getting my makeup done, my little sister getting her makeup done and my whole family had never done anything like it. So to be able to take my very working class family to this wonderful event was just the best experience and we were treated incredibly that night. Especially my dad, especially with the champagne!
We could sort of see Leicester Square and we could see everyone filing in for the premiere. And I think at that point, it hit me and my dad like, Oh my god, this is this is huge. This is like a BIG premiere. This is something that you'd see on TV, and we're here, we've been part of this. So it wasn't really up until we'd got to Leicester Square, and there were cameras everywhere, and I'm sure you've seen what premieres are like at Leicester Square, it's like another world. It's crazy. So it wasn't until we got you know, as we were pulling in to get out and walk down the carpet that we get out and it was just so surreal. That part has always been surreal. It never ever felt like it was a real thing. And it was such a fantastic night as well.
I think it was really really lovely that Nancy did let us attend as well. At our age because she could have just gone No, which I wouldn't have blamed her, it’s more of an adult themed night. But she let us attend and watch the whole final cut, which is fantastic, so so good. But watching myself on the screen was just, I think I had my head in my hands a few times, even at six and obviously all my family were like ‘Oh my goodness!’ Yeah, it was, it was crazy.
Me and Nancy kept in contact after the film. We used to exchange emails, you know, every few months or whatever. So, it wasn't just the fact that I've worked with her. She was a big part of my life and she was so so lovely. We got along so well. I see her as more than just someone that I worked with, you know, she was a friend to me and my dad, she was just the loveliest person. So I think when you care about someone sort of like that you want to support everything that they do. I think Nancy's work is fantastic and she has such a brain for what she does so being able to see other films that she carried on to do and watching that was all very, very exciting and being able to send her a little email saying ‘I’ve seen what you’ve done’ is great, really really good.
She's so family orientated. When we were sort of doing the rehearsals and stuff for the film and discussing things, she actually invited me and my dad over to her house. So we saw, you know, photos of her and her daughters and things like that. And she told us about inspirations for the film and things like that, that she's so family orientated. I think she always will be. And I think that's why she tried so hard to make sure that we all got along as a cast together, instead of just casting girls that, you know, either looked a certain way or could follow direction, she really wanted to have us be able to get along and fill that time and get on as a cast. And even when we weren't filming, we really really did. We all spent so much time together. It wasn't a case of cameras off and you know, we don't talk anymore. There was a lot of, a lot of craziness, a lot of ridiculous jokes and things like that.
SAM:I couldn’t resist asking Miffy about Jude Law’s infamous Mr Napkinhead.
[THE HOLIDAY Clip]
SOPHIE: Amanda, you’re gonna love this. It’s so funny, I mean, you’ll fall off your chair it’s so funny.
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: I’m now of drinking age and anyone that knows in any sort of pub is, it's the worst, everytime I’m out, especially in my hometown as well. Andover is quite a small town, especially when you look like this as well as you know, oh, that weird looking girl is the girl from The Holiday sort of goes hand in hand. I'll be down the pub or whatever, seeing some friends and my friends are, if they get egged on by enough people to do something, they definitely will. So yeah, I'll turn around, and there'll be someone with a napkin over their face. Happens all the time. My dad does it in restaurants. Yeah it’s awful! But it is, it is lovely. Especially after a few drinks and you can laugh it off, it's fine. But yeah, I love the fact that that is such an iconic part of the film because that scene was written in. But there's a couple of lines in that, that were just completely ad libbed. And a lot of that, which is back and forth between the characters, which I think you can definitely see, I think that's why that films stick to people so much, is because Nancy really did try to keep a family dynamic with it all. She really wanted it to come across as being natural. So she took lines out and she, you know, made me and Emma chat and she made me and Jude chat in between little bits. So instead of writing in these bits of dialogue while he's getting ready and putting the napkin on, she just sort of let us do whatever we felt was necessary, which is great. And I think that that really plays across. But no, it still haunts me.
SAM: The Holiday has got this life of it’s own now. Is that surprising, that people are still talking about it, making podcasts about The Holiday thirteen years later?
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: You know, you see Christmas films growing up, you see these films that are on every year, and then when you do a film like that, you never think that that's going to end up in the bunch that people will watch. I get so many messages around Christmas from mums and ladies and men and young girls and young boys, and all for different reasons why they liked the film and why they want to reach out to me. And that I think is the best part of the whole thing is, is really, really heartwarming to know that 13 years on this film still holds a place in people's hearts. And you know, I get messages from mums being like, when my daughter comes home from uni, that's the film we watch, or, you know, I've had a lady base her wedding around The Holiday. And that to me is just, it's insane that the film can really do so much for people and it can really fill their hearts and that for me fills my heart so that's all I could ask for.
SAM: How do you feel when fans of The Holiday reach out to you on social media?
MIFFY ENGLEFIELD: I love it. I think obviously, I've changed quite a lot as well since the film. I think you're going to change no matter what in 13 years. But I've done a lot of change, I think for most people now when they see me and they see what I'm up to, it's quite a shock to the system. At the moment these days, I'm very, very, very, very into the punk scene. Anyone that thinks it's dead is completely wrong, very much alive and kicking. And it's wonderful. It's the best community. I got into making music about 12 years old and now I write very rowdy, very sweary songs. Which is probably horrible for anyone who's listening who still wants to picture me as a cute girl in The Holiday, I'm sorry. No matter what film I was in, I'm still a working class girl from Andover. So I'm never going to be able to shake that and that's always stayed with me. So to be able to be on social media and talk about the fact that, yes, I did this film, and yes, it's amazing, but still be able to remind people, but that's not what it always seems. And, you know, you can see these actors, and it's not always as glamorous as that. I try to be really, really open on my social media. And I like to do a lot of question and answers. And I talk about things like mental health, and if you are different then own it, and I think that that's really, really good that people can reach out and I do get quite a lot of, especially young girls reach out and say, I loved you in the film, and I wanted to see what you're doing now and to see that you're doing this whole thing and you look a certain way and you're doing music and you're very outspoken and it's really really inspiring. That to me is you know, I've succeeded in everything that I want and hopefully it'll carry on. Fingers crossed.
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[35:49] SAM: In the film, Eli Wallach plays a famous screenwriter called Arthur Abbot who uses movie terminology to give Kate Winslet’s Iris personal advice.
[THE HOLIDAY Clip]
ARTHUR ABBOTT: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies, and we have the best friend. You I can tell you are a leading lady, but for some reason, you are behaving like the best friend.
To stretch the metaphor and link this back to what we’re doing now, Arthur’s right, we do need leading ladies, and the best friend, BUT we also need that rich patchwork cast that breathes life into a movie; the young daughter Sophie, the market clerk, and Peter… who didn’t even make the final cut.
SAM: The aim of this podcast is to shine a light on the contributions that went into making The Holiday the film that we know and love. And whilst literally 1000s of people were involved in bringing this film to the screen, I was keen to talk to some of the cast who were there at the time, who worked with Nancy Meyers and the principal actors, but would never usually get the spotlight.
Thank you for joining me in my trailer today. In the next episode our conversations with the cast continue as we’re joined by one of the stars of the film, Graham Simpkins himself, Jude Law
[THE HOLIDAY Clip]
GRAHAM SIMPKINS: Yes. I am Daddy.
[37:17] SAM: If you enjoyed the show, please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, and tell your friends, word of mouth is such a great way to spread The Holiday cheer.
The Holiday Season is written, produced and edited by me, Sam Clements, and Louise Owen.
The sound mix is by Maddy Searle.
You heard contributions from The Holiday cast-members Sarah Flind, Nicholas Downs and Miffy Englefield.
Our music is by Martin Austwick and our artwork is by Olly Gibbs.
You can find us online at 90minfilmfest.com/theholidayseason
You can follow me on Twitter at @Sam_Clements.
If you like what we do, we have another podcast, called the 90 Minutes or Less Film Fest, why not give that a listen?
The Holiday is available on DVD, Blu-ray, Netflix and many other streaming services.
Thank you for listening, see you next time.