What did Michaela Coel learn from working with Sir Ian McKellen on The Christophers?
Michaela Coel was struck by Sir Ian McKellen's inquisitive approach during the making of Steven Soderbergh's new movie The Christophers.
Michaela Coel has become a lot more inquisitive about scripts after working with Sir Ian McKellen on The Christophers.
The 38-year-old star features alongside the legendary Lord of the Rings actor in the new movie from Steven Soderbergh and was struck by the way McKellen "scrutinised" the screenplay provided by Ed Solomon.
Coel – who penned the acclaimed TV series I May Destroy You – told Collider: "He scrutinises a script in a way that I haven't seen or done.
"He encouraged me to ask questions. I remember just sitting there watching him ask Ed, 'What does this mean?' What does this mean?' Then he would say, 'Michaela, does that make sense to you?' I'd be like, 'Oh! Uh, let me think. Let me maybe turn my brain on.'"
She added: "I think I just trust writing, and actually, sometimes, it helps a writer if you don't, if you kind of question it. It helps us as writers get to an even better place for the script, because the scripts can always be made better.
"I learned from Ian that we can really help the writer by asking questions. I never thought that was, I guess, my place as an actor, but actually, it's okay to sometimes ask questions."
The Christophers centres on ageing painter Julian Sklar (McKellen) - who hires assistant Lori Butler (Coel) to dispose of his works – and the latter finds it "crazy" that she was given the chance to star opposite the celebrated Shakespeare performer.
Coel said: "It's crazy that this is my life, that I got to do this.
"I think for all of us, being around him, you have to keep refocusing on, the present moment because you kind of want to look to your neighbour and say, 'Whoa, what a thing we're witnessing. This is incredible that we're around this energy. Oh my goodness! Who gets to do this? Who gets to soak in Ian McKellen whilst he's turning pages, breaking down the scripts, asking questions?'
"It's insane. I don't think I can ever pay them back, I know that much."
Coel explained that she signed up for the film without reading the script because it gave her the chance to work with McKellen.
She said: "I knew even before the script was sent to me. When I knew that it would be myself and Ian McKellen, I knew that I was going to do the film.
"When I read it, I thought, especially when you get to the end because you don't know where it's going, and then when I got to the end, I was like, 'Oh yeah. Let's f****** go.'"
Michaela also learned valuable lessons from Soderbergh during the making of The Christophers and says she will take them into her upcoming TV series First Day on Earth, which she is co-directing.
The Chewing Gum star said: "I learned a lot from Stephen during that shoot. He is a very confident person. He doesn't overthink, he doesn't ruminate, and he trusts everybody he's employed, and that level of trust makes you trust yourself as a performer.
"So, I've tried to carry that into how I'm approaching my current project."
