Jane Goldman chats to us about writing Kingsman, Stardust, The Walking Dead and more…
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So I was going to ask who wrote it, hoping it was you!
It was me, yeah!
[laughs] Im sure he does, hes lovely.
Im so touched by that, thats so lovely!
Thats made my day, thats so nice.
Its funny,Stardusthas come up all day.
Yeah, we started talking about it, but only in a really abstract way.
I mean while we were making the first one we didnt really think about doing a sequel at all.
But secondly, Matthew and I have always shied away from sequels.
[laughs]
Big spoilers ahead in this bit for bothThe Golden CircleandThe Force Awakens!
No, thats very true!
But thats the beauty of the universe though isnt it, that he could come back.
I had a similar to discussion with Mark Strong earlier, because I was devastated by the finale.
And he was telling me about the alternate ending.
That was a really tough call.
My son was like You cannot kill Merlin!
Seeing Han Solo shot I mean its one of the things I never wanted to see.
I was so unhappy about that!
My daughter was as well, she was in tears and shes twenty!
[laughs] We were just devastated, it was just hideous.
So youve convinced yourself its non-canon?
[laughs]
Yes, just to deal with the trauma!
[Laughs] No I understand that!
People were just looking at me and I was just filling up my 3D glasses with tears!
Oh god, yeah that was hideous!
So his death had to have impact on the story and have consequences and we wanted to explore that.
Good, thats so much what we feelKingsmanis about.
Its about confounding expectation and if theres any fallback we have, its that.
Whatever you are expecting we like to do the opposite.
Even if you were fantasy casting it, I dont think you would have been that ambitious!
It blows my mind, even just the cast forGolden Circle…
Same, I could not believe it!
It must be then quite a nice surprise if youre not planning it.
Oh God, yeah!
Heres the cast youve got to read what youve written.
But even from day one weve been so lucky.
So, when he said yes it was just [wow] weve always been so fortunate.
My god, completely!
That was early days as well.
We couldnt believe we got both of them onStardust.
Weve always been fortunate.
Oh I couldnt agree more.
Is it a love of genre cinema that motivates you?
Yeah, I adore genre cinema and thats absolutely my first love.
[laughs] Then sci-fi, thrillers I am an absolute genre fan first.
Because when Im really excited about a movie, Ill put the release date in my diary!
[laughs]
Oh really?
But, yeah its all genre for me.
I had just reached saturation point and thought I just cant do this to myself anymore!
Out of curiosity, are you a fan ofThe Walking Dead?
Oh a huge fan, an absolutely rabid fan!
Oh I loveWalking Dead, its amazing!
Some weeks you even forget there are zombies in it!
I always think and the theme that has come up from today is that intimacy is key.
I think sometimes people are very quick to judge if theres something that bugs them.
[laughs] I dont feel like I would have handled it well at all!
You want to say Dont ruin my day with your brash comment!
I also wanted to ask, do you ever write with music in your head?
No, I dont tend to.
So, hell say lets put that in the script, lets mention it, but often thatll change!
I am less musically minded!
When youre writing the more action based scenes do you write them in detail?
You actually needed that.
We realised that from when we had test screenings!
[Laughs] I see what you mean!
Whereas, inGoldeneyeyou had Sean Bean who was his equal in every way, including the physical.
What was your thought process behind bringing Charlie back?
I dont know if it came from anything that concrete.
A personal vendetta always gives it that extra edge!
Jane Goldman, thank you very much!
Kingsman: The Golden Circleis in UK cinemas now.
