INTERVIEWS

“Writing is Free Therapy.” John Butler on Handsome Devil

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In his new film Handsome Devil, Irish writer-director John Butler urges young people to find their own voice.

The film follows the lives of Irish schoolmates Ned (Fionn O’Shea) and Conor (Nicholas Galitzine), as they are forced to share a bedroom at their boarding school. One is a music-loving loner, the other a popular rugby star. But the film transcends classroom drama, as it explores the characters’ sexual identities.

Creative Screenwriting spoke with Butler about John Butler the personal origins of Handsome Devil, the distinction between autobiography and emotional truth, and importance of exercise to writing

Fionn O'Shea as Ned and Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures

Fionn O’Shea as Ned and Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures

How did you come up with the idea for Handsome Devil?

John Butler

John Butler

It was based on my own school days, actually. I went to a ruby-playing school like the one in the film, and I was really into sports, and I’m also gay. I found those things very hard to reconcile, so that was the point of origin.

It’s not really autobiographical and it’s certainly not a period film, so it’s just a story about trying to be true to yourself.

It’s based on my own childhood, but I think there’s still something to say in 2017. If you look around the world of professional sports now, there’s no out championship soccer player or professional rugby union player. It’s very rare in male team sports.

Are things still basically the same in those schools?

No, I think they’ve changed, but there’s still a lot more work to do.

When you live in a city or you’re in your 40s working in the Liberal Arts, you might think that the battle has been won. But it’s still incredibly shit to be an LGBT kid anywhere in the world.

It’s a very hard world to be LGBT, and people say it gets better. But I think the point is that it shouldn’t have to get better when you’re older, it should get better when you’re young, because that’s when you need the most support. That’s when you’re at your most vulnerable.

Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

In the story, the line seems to be drawn between those interested in music and those interested in rugby. Are those lines also defined by personal experiences?

They were both me. The world isn’t black and white, but when you’re young, it often feels like it. You can be the jock or you can be the music guy. I was interested in all of those things as a kid, but I thought you had to choose.

The point to this film is that you don’t have to choose. You can play guitar and be a physical rugby player. Or you can act and be really good at soccer. You can be gay and be really good at American football. We’re not binary creatures and we like a little bit of everything, so the most important thing is to be true to yourself.

The film presents a very serious message, but often in a comedic manner. What were some of the comedic influences for this film?

John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles) is a big one. I grew up on his films and I absolutely loved them.

If you watch them now, there’s some sexism and homophobia that’s kind of hard to stomach, so for me it was important to update that genre film. But he was a comedy genius and his voice was so warm.

That’s something I have an appreciation for, and I also really like Alexander Payne’s film Election. I love the seriousness of the high school election in that film, and I wanted to do something about the seriousness of the rugby in this school.

I wanted for it to be ridiculously serious.

Judd Nelson as John Bender in The Breakfast Club

Judd Nelson as John Bender in The Breakfast Club

The teacher Mr. Sherry (Andrew Scott) makes a very strong impression right from the beginning. How important is it to introduce a pivotal character like this with such force?

That’s a function of the jobs of teachers. Kids have to be brought to heel. In your first day as a teacher, the stakes are incredibly high because you either get your respect early, or you don’t get it at all.

Andrew’s mother is a teacher, and her motto was “No smiling before Christmas,” which is to say you don’t give them anything until you have them under your control. That sounds really brutal, but it’s the jungle out there. So that was the importance of that scene, and why it was written to be a performance of the moment.

As the writer-director on this film, did you collaborate at all with the actors or add anything while on set?

There wasn’t much re-writing. The script was in working order by the time they walked on set, but if the actor has a different way of doing the same thing, then you should listen. You should listen to anyone’s input if you’re smart.

The actors on this film were all really good, so the idea is to always offer facsimile within the structure, but the structure should remain. There were moments of improvement, and they were great. Each invariably improved the scene, but the structure behind them always remained the same.

I’m not a re-writer on set. It was a low budget film and we had an incredibly tight schedule, so the idea of re-writing scenes while the crew was standing around was one I that think would have made the producers faint.

Andrew Scott as Dan Sherry in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Andrew Scott as Dan Sherry in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

What was the time frame like for the script and then the filming?

The script probably took two years; with breaks, but beginning to end about two years. It took about nine months to outline then another nine months of writing a draft, getting notes and going back again.

The shoot itself was twenty-five days. Four of those days were rugby, so it was really twenty-one days and then the sports shots at the end of the film. It was a very tight shoot so everything written was important and very valuable.

When Mr. Sherry arrives, he tells the children to “own the dullness [and] to reveal to me who you are, if you dare.” Can you elaborate on why he chose this assignment for the class?

I think the scariest thing in the world when you’re young is to say who you are in the clearest terms. I think it’s a big challenge for all of us.

It’s the job of a lifetime to find your voice and proudly say that’s who you are. I think the fact that he puts that on the table the first day is like throwing down the gauntlet and saying, “We’re not just going to be learning poems like in most English classes.” They have more value than that. That was certainly the case in my school days.

My English teacher cracked us open like eggs. He made us see that language is not something like physics where you study, learn, and regurgitate. It binds you. It gives your life shape and color and meaning. That’s the most important lesson you can learn in school no matter who you are.

The gauntlet is laid down the first day, but it’s not until the end of the film that the challenge is risen to, which is when the story comes to life. That’s really the spine of the film.

 Fionn O'Shea as Ned and Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Fionn O’Shea as Ned and Nicholas Galitzine as Conor in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Finding your own voice is also a major problem within writing. With screenwriting, there’s a temptation to write what’s popular today. Do you have any advice for writers on finding their own voice?

I think the distinction that needs to be made is the difference between your own voice and your own story. It doesn’t have to be a direct autobiography, because we haven’t all lived very interesting lives. But the emotional truth of the characters is mine and real in that sense.

I think my advice would be that even if you’re writing a spy movie or something in a galaxy far away, the feelings should be yours. That’s what you’re tying to get at as a writer. Not all of us know what it’s like to be a circus lion tamer, but we all know what it’s like to feel lonely or scared. I think the job is to make sure that you’re in every character.

For writers who want to get their own stories made, do you encourage them to also direct?

Only if you want to, I think. I’ve always wanted to direct and I’ve always directed films, ever since I was twenty. Some of which I’ve written and some of which others have written.

If it’s in you to do it, then I suggest you do it, because obviously you get control of how everything is executed, and you also get the great joy of working with actors and bringing the whole thing to life. So if it’s something you like to do then I would go for it, but I wouldn’t say it’s totally necessary.

If you don’t want to direct, then find a director who is sympathetic and make that your life’s work. It’s perfectly valid to be just a writer. I loved Moonlight so much last year, and that was something that the writer didn’t direct and the director didn’t write, but it was still incredibly personal and beautiful.

I think there’s great proof in the collaborative relationship. It can be beautiful. It’s about what you need and what you want.

Mahershala Ali as Juan and Alex R. Hibbert as Little in Moonlight. Photo by David Bornfriend

Mahershala Ali as Juan and Alex R. Hibbert as Little in Moonlight. Photo by David Bornfriend

What did you find to be the most difficult step in the writing process for this film, and how did you overcome it?

This is a film in which the athlete is gay, and in writing this, you have to bear in mind that that’s not a big piece of information that needs to be withheld from the audience. They’re going to know that this is the film with the gay kid in it.

The important thing is to remember what is yours to hold on to, and what isn’t.

As soon as it comes out, people are going to know it’s about a gay rugby player. So the difficult thing for me was remembering that, and knowing that it wasn’t mine to hold onto. It’s public knowledge.

You have posters and you have reviews, and they always give away everything anyway, so you can free yourself from that idea. You’re not writing The Sixth Sense, so it’s not a film with a big reveal.

Where do you think novice writers waste time in the beginning of their careers, and how can they avoid that?

Not writing truthfully, maybe, or writing like other people. Too many past issues. I’m just as guilty as anybody of writing in the style of other people, but your own voice is the most important thing that you have. The earlier you can get onto that track of putting your own voice into the world, the more successful you’ll be.

It would seem like the more personal it is, the more therapeutic the writing could actually be.

Writing is free therapy, always. If you’re not feeling that, then you’re not doing it the right way. If you’re writing well, you should feel exposed and vulnerable. It should feel like you’re giving something away like you do in therapy.

If it’s working in any way, then it should be therapeutic. And if it’s not therapeutic, then you’re not doing it right.

 Ardal O'Hanlon as Dan Roche, Fionn O'Shea as Ned, and Amy Huberman as Nathalie in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Ardal O’Hanlon as Dan Roche, Fionn O’Shea as Ned, and Amy Huberman as Nathalie in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Can you share a little more about the logistics of your writing process?

I swim in the mornings, and I think about what I’m writing while I’m swimming up and down the pool. I usually get some ideas on how to fix things. Then I’m at the desk for about five hours, from 10am until 4pm with a break for lunch.

That’s really it when I’m writing, but it is outlining that’s the toughest part of the work. I write outlines before the script, and they take all of the work. Once the outline is there, I’m in a good place to write the script and it doesn’t take that long at all.

That’s my routine. It’s evolved over the years, but that’s the shape it’s taken now.

I’ve heard a lot of writers refer to some sort of fitness anchor in the morning. Do you find that the swimming balances out your day to get other things done?

The swimming is really important. Your writing is solitary and you’re also sitting in a bad position, so it’s a vital part of the routine. It feels like part of the work — it’s not wasting time, but an aspect of it. Taking really long walks is also great for working things out in your head and getting clarity. Get the blood flowing.

When you’re writing the screenplay, do you write with the direction in mind?

The job of a screenplay writer is to write in a way that you know every single thing that is happening. If that involves the way that the camera moves, or the way somebody dresses, or whether there’s a piece of music in the scene, then it should go in the story. If you don’t need it, it shouldn’t be there.

So you don’t want acres of direction in a screenplay, but you do need to get the bare bones in order to make the story understandable.

Nicholas Galitzine as Conor and Fionn O'Shea as Ned in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Nicholas Galitzine as Conor and Fionn O’Shea as Ned in Handsome Devil, a Breaking Glass Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

Finally, where did the title, Handsome Devil, come from?

There are two answers. There’s a song by The Smiths called “Handsome Devil,” but I also liked the idea about masculine allure. There are a lot of handsome devils in this film that are persuading each other to do something or behave in the wrong way. So I liked the fact that it had a slightly seductive quality to it.

Handsome Devil is now showing in theaters and on demand.

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Brock Swinson

Contributing Writer

Freelance writer and author Brock Swinson hosts the podcast and YouTube series, Creative Principles, which features audio interviews from screenwriters, actors, and directors. Swinson has curated the combined advice from 200+ interviews for his debut non-fiction book 'Ink by the Barrel' which provides advice for those seeking a career as a prolific writer.

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