Alexander Stuart - The War Zone - 20th Anniversary Edition

Tim calls from the Chateau Marmont to tell me that he likes my recent Guardian Questionnaire (a regular feature in the newspaper), and particularly my answer to the question, ‘ How often do you have sex? ’ My response: ‘ Why would anyone want to know? ’

Tim’s comment about my comment: ‘It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit, “Fuck you .” ’

Tuesday January 27, 1998

( Charong and I are now living in Los Angeles, having moved here from Miami in August 1997. )

My birthday today. A videotape of The War Zone screen tests arrives, together with a birthday card from Tim, Dixie, Sarah and everyone in the production office – a great birthday gift. I play the tape, a little nervously but mostly feeling confident that Tim has chosen well.

We have discussed the casting of the parents, Ray Winstone and Tilda Swinton, and I am excited by both, because we want parents who in the first instance appear sympathetic – a father especially who, on first sight, would seem like a good father, a man to be trusted, at least as far as his children’s welfare is concerned.

It is the children who are still to be decided upon, because we want newcomers who have never acted before.

The tape contains two or three options each for Tom and Jessie, from the thousands of teenagers who have been seen by the casting director – although I know that Tim is already fairly clear in his mind whom he would like to use. Ray and Tilda generously offered to take part in screen tests with the kids, and Seamus McGarvey, our brilliant young director of photography, has shot them in the widescreen format we intend using for the film, so when I see the tape, there is a real sense of how the film might be.

I watch the early tests with interest, but I know Tim has saved his favorite family for last, and when I see them, I know he’s right.

Lara Belmont, as Jessie, has the perfect mix of really interesting beauty (as opposed to simply glamour), vulnerability and strength that her character needs, and Freddie Cunliffe has the nervous smile, the awkwardness and what looks like a totally believable potential for trouble that immediately brings Tom alive for me.

It’s funny to think that, like a fabricated Hollywood publicity story, Lara has actually been found by our casting director walking through Portobello Market in London, and Freddie turned up to an open casting only because his friend wanted to play the role of Tom – Freddie merely thought he might get a day’s work as an extra.

Aside from the fact that Lara and Freddie look so good individually, I am encouraged by how believable they are as brother and sister – and how complete they look with Ray and Tilda as a family. At one point in the screen test, Ray tousles Freddie’s hair (and looks as if he might clip his ear, should it become necessary) and Lara makes a joke, then they all gather together – and I can see that the War Zone family I first imagined back in 1983, when I was about to become a parent myself and first outlined the book, has become a flesh and blood reality.

I call Tim and Dixie at home, to tell them how happy I am with the screen tests. Tim seems relieved. There are only a couple of weeks now before I fly to England to meet the cast and crew, and go down to Devon to look at our locations. Our start date for the film is Monday, March 2 nd. It’s finally happening!

Friday February 20, 1998

I fly into London early this morning, tired after the long haul from Los Angeles. I never sleep well on planes.

I go straight to Dixie’s flat in Hampstead, where I’m staying. I take a bath, then make it back into the West End just in time for The War Zone production meeting/pre-shoot cast and crew party at the Berkeley Square Cafe.

I feel somewhat jetlagged and slightly dazed as I sit listening to various members of the production discuss their needs and expectations. With Lara and Freddie in mind, Tim and Dixie have deliberately assembled a crew who are as friendly and positive as possible – in Tim’s words, people the kids would want to hug, if necessary.

This is a difficult subject to deal with, so we want the process of making the film to be at least bearable, and at best a memorable experience for all involved. Most of the crew has made a huge effort to work on the film and feels it’s an important subject that needs to be addressed. Lara and Freddie’s parents have read the script and are aware of what’s involved, as are Lara and Freddie themselves. The last thing any of us wants is for the production to scar the kids in any way.

After some words of encouragement from Tim the meeting breaks up and the party begins. Christine and Christine, two friends of mine who have a chocolate shop in Brighton, have made a special War Zone cake for the occasion. I am introduced to everyone, but after a while the faces and identities start to melt into a jet-lagged blur.

Tilda and Freddie aren’t there, but I am especially interested to meet Ray and Lara. Ray is instantly likeable, a big man with a nononsense East London accent and a face you could love or fear in about equal measure. I sense him sizing me up, deciding whether I’m all right, and I reckon I’ve passed the test when he calls me ‘Al.’

Lara is simply beautiful – slight, deceptively vulnerable at first, aware of all the difficulties the film might raise, but at the same time confident and excited. She has a great laugh – more than anything, I remember her laughing at the party. I have a very encouraging conversation with her younger sister, who has read the script, too, and thinks it important that Lara does it.

I meet Kate Ashfield, who will play Lucy, a local Devon girl who cleans house for the family, and who must suggest the subtlest sense that something is wrong, while also dealing with Tom’s teenage crush on her. And I talk to Aisling O’Sullivan, the Irish actress who has the highly challenging role of Carol, Jessie’s London friend and mentor.

Aisling has a seductive accent and a powerful personality. She seems puzzled by Carol’s motivation. I try not to answer her questions too specifically (not difficult, given how tired I am), because her unease is exactly the quality we want.

I also meet Paul Webster, who has succeeded David Aukin as head of Channel Four Films – now renamed Film Four. Paul is a good friend of Tim’s – he produced Tim’s movies Little Odessa and Gridlock’d – and is someone I knew when he worked at Palace Pictures, which released my film Insignificance . He seems genuinely excited by The War Zone, and I am relieved that it is in such good hands.

Sunday February 22, 1998

I drive to Devon with Dixie, who endures my tired and grumpy mood (I blame the jetlag!). We arrive at our picturesque collection of cottages, which are a few miles from Bideford and very welcoming, in time for dinner with Tim and Ray – ‘the Top Man,’ as Tim calls him. I meet Freddie for the first time, and find him encouragingly bright and enthusiastic about the film – he’s read the novel as well as the script, and seems to understand what Tom is about.

I have a great time talking to Ray about everything from Sinatra and Sammy Davis (he loves the Rat Pack) to Stoli vodka and my script for Among the Thugs . Ray knows all the old football hooligans, like Harry the Dog, not to mention various East London hoodlums.

Ray himself is an intriguing mix of balls and heart: he loves the whole gangster chic, whether East End or Lower East Side, and I’m sure could handle himself in a tough situation, but he’s also a real family man, surprisingly considerate (only surprising because of our stereotype of a certain kind of man) and in touch with his emotions. I think he’ll be a perfect Dad, largely because the role scares the shit out of him.