Screenwriter Julian Fellowes, known for penning the masterpiece screenplays for Gosford Park (garnering him a Best Screenplay Oscar win in 2002) and the much-loved TV series Downton Abbey (nominated for multiple Golden Globe and BAFTA awards). Creative Screenwriting Magazine chatted with Julian Fellowes about his latest film The Chaperone, focusing on the relationship between dancer Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) and Norma (Elizabeth McGovern).
Fellowes has always been fascinated by the 1920s. It followed WW1 and ” it was a period of extraordinary change. Most of all, it represented a change for women. WW1 changed their world. I liked the emerging culture of the 1920s. It the beginning of the New Age.” Julian was particularly attracted to The Chaperone bcause it was “not a generalized story of the time, but rather a particular story about how two women, at very different stages of their lives, wake up. Louise finds her direction and finds faith in herself. Norma, a middle-aged housewife, realizes she has the right to be happy.”
Julian tracks these two strong women, who both possess a strong set of values defying the non-traditional passive-active, teacher-student character dynamic. Louise teaches Norma to grant herself the right to happiness, without obliterating Norma’s values. While Norma facilitates Louise’s passage through dance school.
Julian Fellowes: Photo by Nick Briggs
Despite Fellowes’ fascination with period pieces, he delves into themes that are both universal and and timeless. “It’s very difficult for most of us to understand our own power to shape our lives. We still accept the class we were born into, the economy, the nation, the sex… It’s only later when we are in our twenties and thirties that we start to question that whether the life handed down to us is really right for us… Are we ready for something different? That takes a degree of courage to seize and act on… even in 2019. This makes the period story feel modern. Norma is having to fly against the morality of her own time and create her own world.”
The Chaperone was adapted from the novel by Laura Moriarty. Julian was asked about his adaptation process. “There is always a lot left behind in the book, you know. The first stage of adaptation is to find the movie in the book. Sometimes, there are two or three films you can make out of the same book. What interested me was the journey that these two women make when they spend a summer in New York together.” The novel extended its reach after the summer, well into the 1950s. However, Fellowes didn’t feel that was what the film was about. “What the film was about is how one summer in New York changed their lives,” he concluded.
On a screenwriting note, Julian was asked about the respective character arcs of Norma and Louise. In terms of who is the main character, “Norma has the most to break through, but Louise’s journey is a long one too. Louise was an abused child despite her good air bravado, you know. Although she puts on a good show, it doesn’t mean she isn’t reasonably bruised inside. She needs to find the courage of her own excellence. There is a marvelous moment in her life when she discovers what she’s good at. She spent so much of her youth trying to find it. The lucky ones are finally told what they’re good at. And from that comes the strength to deal with the other issues in her life” he mused.
“Norma is taking on the morality of a civilzation in which she grew up. She is a respectable, middle-class housewife from Wichita, KS. We can only applaud that level of courage.”
Michael Engler, Elizabeth McGovern & Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes has a particular ‘Britishness’ in his screenwriting. We asked him how he translates his writing style to a broader audience. “Well I am British, you know, but I’ve spent quite a lot of my life in America, so I consider myself reasonably familiar with America and its ways… If I write an ‘American’ screenplay, I always get various American friends to read it. They might say,’we wouldn’t say or do that.’ They give it an ‘American sound.’ There is a particular rhythm to the way English is spoken in America. I also ask people who are familiar with the content of my screenplay to read it. For instance, if I wrote a story about a ship at sea, I’d ask a sailor to read it to see where it jars with what would really happen at sea. In the end, you need advice from the people who live the life you’re writing about,” he said.”
We asked Fellowes about his screenwriting process. “You look for the most interesting emotional journey. In The Chaperone, it was about two women’s journey of self-discovery. They are together for pragmatic reasons, rather than love. Norma wants to spend a summer in New York and Louise wants to study dance at the Denishawn School, but needs a chaperone. They both have a reason to do it, but it’s not mutual love. They don’t even know each other in the beginning. Then I analyzed the incidents in the book that told their story and decided the principle scenes from the book that would go well into the film. I wrote a synopsis of what the film would be. Finally, I wrote the screenplay. I start at the beginning and keep going until I write ‘The End.’ I then go back and rewrite practically everything.”
Until there is a full script that exists, it’s all a sort of dream. It doesn’t feel real until you have a screenplay on paper that covers the whole story. After that, rewrite as much as you like. It’s like carving in wood, where the wood is the screenplay.”
With respect to the types of stories that attract Julian, “I prefer stories where everyone has a point of view… where you’re not instructed by the novelist or the filmmaker as to whose side you’re meant to be on… who are the goodies, who are the baddies? I like to leave that for the audience to decide. I put forward everyone with their own arguments. If two characters in a movie are having a fight, some of the audience should be on each side. In superhero films, audiences are told who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. That’s not really what I do. There are no good guys or bad guys in my work. There are just people trying to get through their lives.”
“I don’t write violent fights or eye-stretching sex scenes. On the whole, I’m interested in what’s going on in their minds rather than in their beds. It’s all about people’s mental journeys. That’s what interests me. How did they get from A to B? How did I get from A to B? Today, I look back at myself at age twenty-three and disagree with half my opinions.”
Fellowes took a long pause to consider the major influences that informed his writing style and voice. “Of course there have been moments of great change in my life. When I was twenty-eight, I was cast in a television play with Sir Anthony Hopkins as an actor. He changed my view of acting and films. He made me think about it much more. Before then, I simply wanted to be famous and have a jolly time, you know. He made me more aware of the pursuit of excellence. Working with Robert Altman on Gosford Park changed my career one hundred percent. Altman was a very skillful filmmaker with an extraordinary clear vision of what he wanted. He took my screenwriting career and lifted it five notches. Progress came from being near him and learning from him.”
Elizabeth McGovern
Julian waxes lyrical about his personal philosophies on how screenwriters can better position themselves for success. “So many screenwriters have ambitions, but they’re not very defined. They simply want things to get better. They aren’t clear about they need to do to bring this about. The clearer you are in your head about what it is that you want, the more likely you are to get it.”
“You also need a little bit of luck. You can’t arrange your own luck, but you can recognize it and take advantage of it when it happens. It may come in disguise. It may come in a form different than you anticipated. It doesn’t mean it isn’t your luck. Stay open to the possibility that the chance you get will likely be something different to what you expected. Nevertheless it will be a gateway.”
“You have to be a beauty in the period where your looks are fashionable. You just have to hope there is an audience for your writing gifts when you come along. Much of it is out of our control.”
“A storyteller is an observer of life. Watch people around you every day of your life. You pick up instant stories wherever you go and refashion them into screenplays. I am a of conveyor things I’ve seen and heard and I bring them out into a film or TV show. Human beings are pretty similar the world over. What’s driving people nuts in Wichita, KS is pretty similar to what’s driving people nuts in Knightsbridge, London. It’s only the superficial stuff that is different really.”
Once again, we stumped Julian Fellowes with our final question requesting a personal quote that defines him as a successful screenwriter. “I hope I was worthy of my life. I’m aware I was given some wonderful chances and I hope I’ve done my best with them. On the whole, my fortunes have smiled on me. I grateful for that.“
