We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
And of course, he met with the real-life muse for the film.
All that hard work definitely paid off, and Harwood’s heartwarming performance is gaining the attention it deserves.
I’m from a small town in Hampshire called Basingstoke.
So when did you know you wanted to pursue acting professionally?
I’ve always performed and done acting, but I don’t have any family in the business.
So I went to a sixth form college and did theater.
And I was lucky.
I read that this is your first legitimate professional job.
And when you went to the audition, you didn’t have an agent.
I’ve had … when you say professional jobs, I was a professional.
I was a professional shoe fitter at Shu, which is a retail trainer store in the UK.
I’m totally kidding.
Obviously I did do that.
Like that was a job I did.
I did work in retail.
I worked in retail too, so I understand.
What was going through your mind when you heard that you landed the role?
It was a lot to process.
I was excited; I was nervous.
I think I screamed a bit.
And then I was like, “Can I call my mum?”
Because I obviously got offered this job in the room.
The director offered it to me to my face.
It wasn’t like offered through someone and then, “Consider if you want to do it.”
It was like, “How would you feel if I offered you the role?”
And then me being like, “Well, of course I’ll do it.
I’ve just spent about three months of my life auditioning for you seven times.
I would love to do the role.”
Then you go through a process of being terrified that you actually have to do it.
And then the imposter syndrome kicks in, like, are you the right person?
All of that sort of stuff.
No, it’s a very …
I enjoy the questions that are about process for me.
My preparation for this was so extensive.
I had two months.
So I got really fit.
I worked with an accent coach so I can nail the Sheffield accent because I’m not from Sheffield.
It was just very extensive.
Like the preparation, it was very deep and we did a lot of prep.
How much of Jamie’s life is in the movie?
Is it loosely based on it or is it pretty accurate?
It’s inspired by it.
It’s inspired by me, but it’s not me."
And actually that was really great that they did that, but he’s done the opposite.
I mean I’m telling you a story that I’ve been told.
I wasn’t there, obviously.
They wrote the whole show without Jamie, without even speaking to Jamie.
So there was lots in it that was inspired by the documentary that he made when he was 16.
Whereas I’d say Jamie’s not bookish; he’s outrageous.
Jamie knows who he is.
I do think it’s weird.
What was your high school experience like?
Like in my theater things, I was so happy doing that.
And those are all subjects I really loved.
So, but that being said, I wasn’t bullied at school.
I gave it back as good as I got.
But as a young person, I didn’t come out till I was 18.
So I was a person in school who was scared to try and work out who I was.
And I didn’t really get to do that or start to do that until I was at college.
So a lot of my school life was a lot of pretending.
Which hopefully I’m good at now.
I read anotherpiecewith you where you said that this was your first time dressing in drag.
What was that like?
And were you able to keep any of the costumes?
I got to keep the raincoat from the opening scene that he wears.
It was a hood-up …
I got to steal one of those.
So I tried to behave as much as I could and was very grateful.
And I realized that I should take more because his house is like …
He has so many things from his projects, like decorating his house and his house looks so cool.
So I need to do that more on jobs.
Yeah, inspired, always inspired by Neil.
Neil is such an amazing human being, super inspired by him.
I mean what an absolute legend.
What was that like?
It was wild for me ….
I’ve watched lots of stuff that Neil has done.
And I’m like, “I don’t know what’s going on.”
Like I’m probably responsible for 20,000 views on that video.
Do you know what I mean?
And it’s lovely and wonderful and I’m just so grateful.
And it was a really amazing night.
And now I’m in the Hamptons at Neil Patrick Harris' farmhouse.
That’s pretty unreal.
It’s like unreal.
So what was the hardest scene to film?
And then what was the most fun?
And it’s like flicking between the black and white really fast.
And we’re doing choreography.
But also trying to execute the shot.
And my favorite scenes were pretty much anything with Lauren, Lauren Patel who plays Pritti.
It’s her first film as well.
And she’s just magnificent, and she is an absolute star.
And we actually lived in the same apartment block.
We both moved to Sheffield when we shot this.
Oh, how nice.
I would not have been able to do this project without her by my side.
And there is not one part of me that would …
I’m so grateful that it was her and we met because we get on so well.
That’s so sweet.
Actually, you’re free to see that in the film though.
You guys have a nice rapport.
Oh, thank you so much.
Because she thinks she’s a standup comedian when we get on these interviews together.
What was the atmosphere like on the set?
And Jonathan brought energy to the set in terms of …
The crew on this film was integral to making this film happen.
It’s a story that we all really cared about.
But seven years ago, we really weren’t there.
I would feel more confident with you there because I won’t get beaten up."
And that’s inspiring, just that bravery and that courage to be who you are.
So Jamie feels like the thing he did was really simple.
And in many ways it was.
And it was very specific.
But what I love about the story is that it’s universal.
We all were 16 once and we all wanted to be something.
And I think that’s really special.
And I think in its simplicity, it hopefully will do that for different people.
It could be a role you would like to get or however you want to answer that.
My plans for the future are to continue to work in the film space and the TV space.
And those are the things that make me tick.
So I’d love to do like a biopic of a sports person.
Maybe a diver who knows.
Oh wow, ok.
So you put it out there, so it will probably come true.
Who knows, you know?
No, no, no, that’s not a leader to me being cheeky, like who knows?
Someone call me to ask me to be Tom Daley kindly.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” will be available globally onAmazon Prime Videoon September 17.
