You play evil headmistress Dame Snap in The Magic Faraway Tree. Was it fun to be mean?
She’s a really memorable character – a bit quirky with a slightly crooked tooth and wild hair! Since it’s a children’s movie, we needed to make the villain clearly mean, but I wanted to show that her harshness came from being a lonely and unhappy teacher.
I’ve been wondering, with your son being nineteen and your daughter just seven, did having a little girl influence your choice to make a movie for children? It seems like she might have been a big part of it, and I’m curious if that’s true.
It’s funny how things work out! Last year, my daughter told me she’d just finished reading The Magic Faraway Tree and loved it. Then, just two hours later, I got offered a role in the movie adaptation – it was completely unexpected and amazing!
You do a lot of serious, grown-up roles. Is it a thrill to do a film that she can watch?
She absolutely loved seeing me in the movie! It was special for her, as she doesn’t usually watch my films. She’s caught glimpses of The Greatest Showman, but I’ve generally tried to keep my work separate from her life.
What films do you watch with your kids?
Growing up, my mother had very specific tastes in what she let me watch. I remember seeing The Third Man when I was a kid! So, when I had my own children, I decided we were going to watch Shrek. It’s funny because when I show my daughter classic Disney movies, it really makes her think. She’ll ask things like, “Why did Ariel give up her voice for a boy?” or “Why do the girls always wear dresses and the boys always wear pants?” Her questions are really insightful and make you think about things differently.
Do you think there’s a future for children’s films, or have we lost kids to TikTok?
It really worries me to see how much technology kids are using these days. I just think about my own daughter, who doesn’t even have a tablet or laptop – we enjoy simple things like watching movies together and then talking about them. When I see children glued to iPads in restaurants, I wish their parents had brought a board game instead. I believe it’s up to us adults to encourage children’s imaginations for as long as we can.
Authors
Stephen Kelly is a freelance journalist who covers culture and science. He’s the editor of the ‘Popcorn Science’ feature for BBC Science Focus, where experts each month discuss how realistic new movies and TV shows are. His work also appears in publications like The Guardian, The Telegraph, and Wired, among others. He enjoys Studio Ghibli films, supports Tottenham Hotspur, and has a fondness for writing about himself in the third person.
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2026-03-25 12:13