A Not-So-Old Story: Interview with John Crowley

“I’ve always liked being around old people”, states John Crowley, director of Is Anybody There? “I enjoy their life experiences and what they pass on, especially in a profession like acting. There’s something about the dignity older actors have, they usually can smell out the truth in a scene. It’s astonishing to me.”

As a director, Crowley enjoys new challenges, desiring to never conform to genre stereotypes. A quick glance at his back catalogue confirms this - after bursting onto the scene with gritty Irish drama Intermission, and gaining fans on both sides of the pond with the suspenseful Boy A, one could be forgiven for not expecting Is Anybody There?, a character-driven film set in a retirement home. Crowley recognises there are few similarities in his work, noting “Intermission had a crazy manic energy to it and it did have very strong plot lines to it. With Boy A it was all about the suspense.”

With Is Anybody There? Crowley had the opportunity to move a bit slower - sometimes out of necessity. “The tone was very different [to my previous films]. One of the actors said it was like a party for them every day. It was a very happy set”. And with such a great ensemble cast of older actors, it is no surprise there were some great stories to be told. “I was always the one who wanted to get started and stop the actors being nostalgic” laughs John. “The nostalgia was like this continuous river flowing, and I’d have to go ‘okay guys, enough fun, we’re going to shoot a movie’.”

Surely after successfully managing former casts that have included the likes of unruly wild-child Colin Farrell, this ensemble of older, character actors should pose no problems? Or maybe not. “It was like being in charge of a bunch of unruly school kids!” states John. In contrast, the one real child onset, Bill Milner, impressed his director. And perhaps a bit of older mentality had passed on to him. “We needed a kid that had that sort of ‘twelve going on fifty’ thing about him. His attitude suggested a maturity beyond his years”.

Despite the whimsy, Is Anybody There? is also a touching and very poignant film, examining a serious social issue - what do we do with our old people? So it is impressive, and heart-warming, to see such a talented selection of older actors still working. “They were professional, they wanted to work”, confirms John. “It was a very happy set”.