After screening in Cannes earlier this year, and most recently at the BFI’s 57th London Film Festival, Clio 
Barnard’s The Selfish Giant is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated British films to be released this year. Loosely based on the classic children’s story by Oscar Wilde, Barnard stripes the tale of its Victorian setting transporting the audience to a deprived estate in the North of England. The story follows the fortunes of two boys Arbor (Conner Chapman) and Swifty (Shaun Thomas), both of whom find themselves living on the fringes of society, tossed out of their school and working in a local scrap yard for the gruff, and thick-coated Kitten (Sean Gilder).
Gilder is the giant of the piece, most recognisable for his role as Paddy McGuire from Channel Four’s Shameless, he is a familiar presence across both TV, Theatre and Film. We sat down with Gilder to discuss the role and what it was like working with two young first time actors.
Film3Sixty: What was your reaction when you read the script for The Selfish Giant?
Sean Gilder: Without a doubt it was one of the best scripts I had ever read. I was surprised because it was so well written. Being from the North of England I could picture all the images and industrial towns she was describing. There was one sequence that involved the power station; it was such a strong scene that I had to stop reading the script for a few minutes.
F3S: How would you describe your character Kitten?
SG: Misunderstood. It is very hard to explain because so much of this film is subliminal. We did a lot of work on his background because he comes from such a tough environment. We worked on the idea that he had a similar background to the boys, and that is how he was able to cope with it. Clio had written a huge back story for the character, which is amazing, and that formed the basis of the character. Clio wanted me to use whatever was helpful and elaborate upon it in my head. Ultimately, he is a very damaged individual who has developed this armour plating as a result of his upbringing and personal loss. His meanness, which is very apparent in his money grabbing ways, and willingness to exploit others have probably come out of poverty and a lack of generosity.
F3S:Kitten has a compelling character arc, where in particular moments we see through the chinks in his armour, his redeeming qualities…
SG: There is a version of the film, (that will probably never get released), where there is a scene where we get to see Kitten at his most vulnerable; he is alone and he gets very upset. I understand why Clio took it out completely because you do not need to see it. What I was surprised about was how he has a strong sense of Northern humour, which again I think shows a certain tenderness to this otherwise gruff character.
F3S: Could you talk a little more about your research in the scrap yard? Did you talk to many people from the Travelling Community?
SG: Clio had made an extraordinary documentary about the road races held within the Travelling Community. I watched that a couple of times. Clio and I wandered around the areas in which the film is made, and I spent some time with Shaun and Connor who introduced me to some of the locals characters. I just saturated myself in the environment; I spent a few days with a guy called Marvin in the scrap yard and spoke to people in the weighing room. All these elements really helped me develop my character a great deal.
F3S: How was it working with Shaun and Conner?
SG: Absolutely fantastic. We had a couple days rehearsal before we started shooting. Both Shaun and Conner knew me from Shameless and think they were slightly intimidated because they saw me as Paddy Maguire. It was not tricky at first, but the rehearsals unlocked them a bit. There was an idea that I would keep my distance from them, but by day one we realised that was not fair on them, and also they are much better actors than that and knew what they were doing. Also, child actors do come with the baggage that older actors bring, they take a thought and run with it.
The Selfish Giant is available to watch in cinemas from Friday, as well as available on Curzon On Demand and on the BFI Player.
