Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me follows its titular star from London to Australia and back, taking in trips to see old friends, her on-stage performances, and even an encounter with royalty.
BAFTA-winning director Simon Draper filmed Margolyes on his phone over two years, but a doc was not part of the plan. He set out to make a podcast with the star, who is well-known in the UK and beyond as an actor and also for her lively appearances on TV and talkshows, usually turning the air various shades of blue. Margolyes didn’t disappoint as she told Deadline the new one-off film was an accident of sorts.
“I didn’t know what the fuck was going on,” she said about the early stages of the project. “I would open the door, or take my knickers off, and Simon would be there filming. I was a willing participant, but very unaware, really, of what was happening.”
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Over time it became apparent that what started as research for a podcast was becoming something else. What ultimately turned into a one-off film has been picked up by the BBC, which will play it on iPlayer and BBC Two.
It is a story about Margolyes, but also reveals Draper’s story. He has a long list of credits, but like many freelancers in the UK television biz, was having a hard time finding work when this project evolved. His story is one that will resonate with many in the industry.
“I just instinctively tried to keep busy by doing something that I’ve trained in,” he explains. “It was taking something that I felt comfortable doing, trying to document things, with the hope that I might be able to make a podcast with Miriam.
“Gwyn Jones is the editor and he looked at the podcast rushes and the material and he said: ‘You haven’t got a podcast, you’ve a film here, mate. I didn’t know it at first, but it was a film about how Miriam transforms lives, including mine.”
In the doc Margolyes sparkles when in company, whether that be royalty, celeb, or Director Simon. It’s not all laughs in the film, there are tender moments, including when she visits a sick school friend, but throughout, she is effortless on camera. It transpires that it’s because she wasn’t really making an effort for the sake of the camera. “I love being with people, I need people” Margolyes says. “I didn’t have any brothers and sisters, and I am a very good friend. I take friendship very seriously.”
The star, who can currently be seen in Oscar-nominated short A Friend Of Dorothy, adds: “I’m just very good at being who I am. I don’t find it difficult to be Miriam. I answer questions honestly and thoughtfully. Sometimes I’m naughty and funny, and sometimes I’m sad and reflective, just like everybody else, but I find it very easy to put my emotions and my thoughts up front.”
At this point on our Zoom interview, Draper talks to directly Margolyes: “You gave me the opportunity, Miriam, to just see what happens,” he says about the making of the doc.
Back in interview mode and talking to Deadline, he explained that filming a doc on a phone had its advantages. “So much of TV and film has got such a predictable ending that the real excitement here was not knowing what’s going to happen next.
“Miriam allowed me to tag along and because I didn’t have the constraints of crew, it started to sort of become this thing where I realized you could have a brutally honest portrayal of my relationship and friendship with her. Crucially, it had humor, but it also had depth. It had this authenticity, which is what Miriam’s all about.”
He adds: “What was great was being able to not hinder it with the normal conventions of documentary making. I was making it up as I went along, but also knowing that it wasn’t futile, because every time we met, I’d learned something new, or I’d be reminded of Miriam’s personality.”
Lana Salah, Creative Director at Rex TV, took to the project and the indie label got on board as Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me morphed into to a full-fledged doc. Rex is part of production and distribution group Zinc Media. With a BBC sale already in the bag the film is being sold internationally by Zinc Distribution.