"I like character acting challenges so I took it on. It's a lovely, lovely script. Just
beautiful and very carefully written, and extremely accurate in terms of the history
that John Bayley has written about their lives. The fact that Iëm playing a real person
makes my job much more complex. The extensive contradictions that one builds up in
a long lifetime will always be more than in a fictional character who is drawn in
broader strokes. Creating this sort of fuller character is very exciting for me.
It's quite a famous relationship between John and Iris that ignited in the academic world of Oxford. For forty odd years they were together. John has an air of disbelief that he is actually with Iris. It was obviously a very enduring relationship, and happy by all accounts. The Alzheimer's disease is what ultimately drew them tightly together in a way they had never been able to before. This pure mutual dependence that is a result of her disease gives a purity to their relationship that hadnët been there before.
"I think John was in total awe of her his entire life. He's totally in love with her with a sort of enduring surprise and passion. The excitement of just being in her presence, and how that balance changes for him after her illness sets in, shows how their relationship remains equally strong if not stronger.
I'd never worked with Judi before and it was really exciting and very, very stimulating. It was fun being with her and we definitely worked in the same way. I think we have a similar nose for when things don't quite seem right, or when we struck a false note in a scene. We both seemed to find the humor and emotion in the same areas."