Performers: Alex Reynolds, Pandora Blake, Thomas Cameron
A young reporter is visited by her ex-bosses who know she's been working undercover to blow the whistle on their corrupt organisation. 50 strokes of the tawse should ensure her silence.
We were coming up to the end of Alex's shoot with us, and we wanted to make it a big deal. I'd talked to her earlier in the week about scene ideas and proposed ending on a nastier, edgier scene than we'd done previously, with Tom and I playing the bullies who gang up on and intimidate her. Everyone in the UK was talking about Murdoch's phone hacking scandal at the time, and so a whistle-blowing scenario seemed like a good place to start.
"I'm not sure," said Alex, "I don't generally enjoy playing scenarios where my character is defeated or silenced."
"Okay, that makes sense. But would you feel the same way if your character won in the end? Not just morally, I mean, but in terms of actually getting the better of the bad guys?"
"Hrm," she said. "Let me think about that."
So she did, and we talked some more, and on the day, she said she was good to go ahead. We were all nervous going into it, and the dialogue proved tricky for all of us (look out for the forthcoming behind the scenes video to watch all our many, many flubs). While we were cut between takes of the opening conversation, Alex asked, "When you get started, are you guys going to use physical force? Because that would be hot."
Yes. Yes we were.
The resulting scene turned out far more intense than I had anticipated. Tom's and my characters are just relentlessly nasty, in a horribly smug, self-satisfied way. We hadn't planned a total number of strokes, and I was shocked when I came to count them and realised that Alex had taken a brutal 50 strokes with my two most severe leather tawses. No wonder she was shedding real tears by the end.
Alex Reynolds is an incredible talent, and her courage and conviction make her a perfect match for the role of the idealistic, determined whistleblower. This is one of my more edgy films to date, and I only cast performers I trust completely in this sort of scenario. Alex played it with a combination of sympathetic vulnerability and inner strength that blew me away.
Photography: Nimue Allen
You have to be logged in to comment. Click here to login to your account. If you don't have a username yet, it's free to create one - click here to register.
Still life
tawse
Glad you enjoyed it, I love this sort of dark scene where the spankee is in the right and Alex played it perfectly.
Of all the actors who work for DoS, Thomas is the one who I most see turning up in some mainstream thriller, playing a villain perhaps. His performance is this film is so deadly serious and paranoia fueling.
Wow!
Will there be a Part 2 of this.
Pandora, Thomas and Alex you were great in this. Again I hope you can make a second video.
Thank you Kevin
Print
p.s. I've never seen Alex look so innocent before.
I love that painting. The print is there all the time. I love that you saw a resonance!
Behind the Scenes
*["look out for the forthcoming behind the scenes video"]