Original Cin Q&A: Holy Days Director Nat Boltt and Nuns-on-the-Road Jacki Weaver and Miriam Margolyes
After years of acting in hits like District 9 and Riverdale, Nat Boltt steps behind the camera for her first feature film, Holy Days, about three nuns and a young boy on a road-trip mission in New Zealand..
It’s an ambitious New Zealand-Canadian co-production that managed to wrangle a dream cast including Judy Davis, Jacki Weaver, and Miriam Margolyes. The film, which was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a vibrant 1970s period piece that is as much about hijinks as it is about the heavy lifting of grief.
Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, Jacki Weaver in Holy Days
Bonnie Laufer spoke with Nat Boltt, Miriam Margolyes, and Jacki Weaver about road trips and learning a thing or two from their young co-star Elijah Tamati.
Holy Days opens in theaters on March 27.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Nat, the film is based on your close friend Joy Cowley’s book. Clearly when you read this book, something touched your heart because you did make a short film about it. What made you think that it was going to make such a wonderful feature film?
NAT BOLTT: Joy was a little bit like my surrogate mom and my son's surrogate grandma. When we were in New Zealand, we had just arrived and had no family and no friends, and she welcomed us with open arms.
So when I made a movie of her short story she loved it so much and it did so well that she trusted me. I think it was our relationship that made me run with it. I read all her novels and we both thought this is the most visual. So, as much as it was a unique and unusual story about nuns on a road trip in New Zealand, it also had so much heart.
O-C: Jacki, the three of you as nuns was so much fun to watch. Nothing makes a bond stronger than a road trip. You ladies had never worked together before, so what was it like bonding with Miriam and Judy? Was it immediate when you all got on set together?
JACKI WEAVER: We got along very well and it was pretty immediate. We're very different from each other. Well, maybe Miriam and I are a bit more similar than Judy. Most people are frightened of Judy. (Laughs)
She's a wonderful actress. I mean, she's really in another stratosphere as an actor and has always been one of my favorite actresses. She's right up there with Cate Blanchett and even Meryl. She's that good.
O-C: You are all really good!
JW: It makes you feel really secure when you're working with people who you think are marvelous, like Mary and Judy. And having Natalie as our director was heaven.
Director Nat Boltt
She knew exactly what she was doing, and she was sweet natured the whole time. There was no nastiness. Trust me when I say you often get some directors who can be very short tempered. But no, this was a very happy, even soulful experience. I think there's a big component of the Maori spirituality there that I found very touching.
O-C: Miriam, it was such a joy to see you in this film as Sister Luke. Your heart really goes out to her. You have played a nun before in the series Call the Midwife. What was it like putting that habit back on?
MIRIAM MARGOLYES: It was very uncomfortable. It's not my favorite costume to wear because once you're in it, you're in it.
I mean that, it's very difficult to go to the loo. So that's what I remember. But the experience of being in this sisterhood was lovely, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.
O-C: Another central character in the film is Brian the young boy who goes on a road trip with the nuns. Where did you find the young actor Elijah Tamati? He seemed like a consummate pro.
NB: We were lucky that he actually had already done some parts in films and his mum is an experienced actress. So the local casting director said, you'll want to see these two.
They both came in and Elijah and his mom did one of the key scenes together, and there was not a dry eye in the house.
I had seen a lot of great kids already, but then, because this was my first feature, a lot of advice I had gotten was. “It's not just about the kid, it's about their chaperone,” and how they were going to be with him the whole time. So, the fact that his mom was so lovely and such a great actress herself, and also would be there coaching him, and that she really wanted to be there, that really clinched it.
You can bring kids in, and they can do a good audition. But for them to be front and center in every single scene for five weeks, in their snowsuit in the middle of summer, that's a big ask. Most kids would probably just fall to pieces and he just convinced us that he wanted it.
O-C: Jacki, what do you as a veteran in this business learn from working with a young lad like that?
JW: He was very different from most other child actors I've worked with. I was saying to the gals that some child actors can be irritatingly precocious, but he didn't have an ounce of that in him.
And I think a great debt is owed to his mother. She's obviously a great mother, and she's taught him already how disciplined you have to be. He was only a little kid, you can't expect them to be on the same level professionally. But he was actually, it was marvelous.
O-C: Miriam, what about you? Your characters have a lovely relationship in the film. What was it like for you to work with this young lad?
MM: I don't like children!
O-C: Your Harry Potter fans are not going to be happy to hear that! (She played Prof. Pomona Sprout)
MM:: Tough titty! I’m telling you the truth. However, I will say that, for this film, Elijah was a sweetheart, and he was very caring with me.
I'm in my 80’s and I can't walk very well and I'm old and fat, and reaching the car door was difficult, and winding the windows up and down was hard. He was a dear little lad, and I'm very grateful that he and his mother were absolute treasures. So it was very easy.
O-C: Natalie we know you in front of the camera well and you're also in the film. But how did being an actor help you with your feature film directorial debut?
NB: I directed some episodes of Riverdale, and some various projects before that. My takeaway is that the only time things get tricky with actors, being one myself, is when you're not listened to and when your director doesn't trust you.
I've dealt with young stars who have not done much more than the big role that they had in a very successful series. They come from a very different place than consummate professionals like Miriam and Jacki and Judy, our veterans and icons of the stage and screen, who really know what they're doing and there's absolutely no point pushing them around.
But in all cases, even with adjustments to the script, it's a case of you listen and you adjust the script and you show them that you've done that so that they know they can trust you. There’s nothing worse you can do as a director than to break the trust with your actor.
Jacki, I was just wondering if you have a memory of a road trip that stands out for you?
JW: Yeah, I've done road trips in Australia. You know, it's such a big place! It's not as big as Canada, but it's the sixth biggest place in the world.
Back in the 50s, driving from Sydney up to Queensland for school holidays with my parents.
We did a lot of driving in an old Holden FJ, which would mean nothing to a Canadian, but Australians would go, yes! What a car! (Laughs) There was a lot of driving in my childhood, and long drives because Australia is such a huge place.
O-C: Miriam, what about you? I loved watching your road trip series going through Scotland with your pal Alan Cumming. You are two peas in a pod! I wish you would do more things together!
MM: We both want to and he's very special, but you know he’s a big, busy star.
O-C: Especially with the success of (the reality series) The Traitors!
MM: They wanted me to go on that Traitors program, but I wouldn't do it. I won't do anything like that. I don't like elimination programs.
O-C What about as his guest co-host?
MM: I don't think I like that sort of thing. I mean, what I'm tempted to say is, I'm better than that! I don't want to do those kinds of programs.
He asked me to do the comedy bits at the BAFTA’s, and I wouldn’t do that. I just think it's sort of grubby somehow to do it. I want to talk to people, and I want to be with people that I like. I prefer making movies and TV, otherwise, it's not much fun.
O-C : Nat, the scenery in the film is stunning. Was it difficult for you to shoot in those locations especially during the road trip scenes?
NB: We did a lot of location scouting, so when we knew we had to make it look like North Island crossing the ocean and then South Island (of New Zealand), we had a second unit team that helped to get some of the big landscapes because we had such a tight schedule.
We knew exactly what we needed, and it was all written into the script what areas we needed to reference.
Of course, Kiwis who will watch this film and will know where you are and in what order, and we were sensitive to that. We were not going to string them along and make it up. It actually has to be correct.
So the challenge was trying to make it look like the ‘70s. I always wanted to have a visual point of difference, and that's where the stop motion scenes came in. So the ferry terminals and those sorts of things are not the same. We made that more Brian's imagination, which I really loved about that aspect of the film.
O-C: By the way, the soundtrack is also fantastic.
NB: We have Tami Neilson, who is a Canadian-Kiwi to thank for the incredible music in the film.
She's just been touring with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, and was such a huge fan of Judy, Jacki and Miriam’s she immediately came on board and gave us the rights to her music.
It was thanks to those ladies that we were able to use her music. It’s an indie film with no huge soundtrack budget. I am happy to say she's seen the film and absolutely bawled her eyes out. She posted a picture the other day of her ugly crying.
O-C: Jacki, it’s lovely to see such a female centric film in front of and behind the camera. But what do you look for in a script when you get something presented to you at this point in your career?
JW: I look for humor and a bit of sadness. I like films that are like real life, that make you cry and make you laugh. Aside from the fact that there were so many women working on this one, I thought this had terrific dialogue and a wonderful story. Most important - I love not wearing makeup! (Laughs).
O-C: Miriam, how about you? What gets you to take on a project these days?
MM: Mostly it’s the location. I mean it's never the money, because they never pay me what I want!
O-C: Or what you deserve!
MM: What I deserve? That’s what they pay me (laughs)! When I heard that this film was shooting in New Zealand, I knew that I wanted to do it, and then afterwards, when I heard who my co-conspirators were, I was deeply grateful and thankful, because they're the best of the best.
It was just thrilling and I learned from being with these fabulous ladies. People should come and see this film, because it's good, it's really good!