Not seen God’s Own Country yet? You’re in luck…
The same-sex British love story, which takes place in the Yorkshire highlands, tells the story of sheep farmer Johnny (Josh O’Connor) who’s life changes with the arrival of Romanian migrant Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu).
Despite initial tension, the two soon become engaged in a passionate liaison in the great outdoors. The film chooses realism over gloss, and has (rightly or wrongly) been lauded by many as a ‘British Brokeback Mountain’.
Having received almost universal acclaim (and currently holding a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes), the film is a must-see for lovers of queer cinema, and it’s about to become even more accessible as it makes it way to Netflix.
So whether you’ve yet to see the award-winning gay drama, or you just want to watch it all over again, the date you should be pencilling in your calendar is 31 March.
With so much buzz surrounding him, and a new Loewe campaign coming up, we caught up with star Josh for our February issue to discuss the film’s success, straight actors playing gay, and the ins and outs (don’t) of the films more intimate scenes.
Because the film has such little dialogue, character development happens almost entirely visually – this made preparations for the role a little more method for Josh:
“I’d talk in accent and we’d discuss Johnny from the day he was born. We’d go through where he was born, what was the name of his first friend, his first sexual experience, his first sexual experience with a man, and we went through everything in such detail so we had a memory bank for him.”
The on-screen chemistry between Josh and co-star Alec Secareanu was what made God’s Own Country so beautiful. In order to cultivate the genuine initial nervousness between the two, the pair didn’t rehearse together until they were on set. Once they had met, however, they based their performances upon a foundation of mutual trust.
“When you’ve got two actors that are engaged and willing to listen and are kind to each other and support each other, you can have so much fun and be wild and take risks and so I never felt – and I don’t think Alec ever felt – unsafe. We had to feel vulnerable because there would be moments where I’d do something a bit mental and we’d have to just run with it – and likewise for Alec. We’d do what we thought was right and Francis would guide us that way.”
Related: 8 things we learned about God’s Own Country from Josh O’Connor
This also helped when it came to filming the love scenes in the film, which while graphic, truly gave an insight into the internalised battles the characters were waging.
“Amazing to think about how safe it felt. One scene, me and Alec had to meet before we shot, so we choreographed it – it was so detailed. There was a twenty-point plan so it was like, ‘Jonny grabs his crotch, grabs Ghoergie’s shoulder, pushes him down, they roll’. It’s like every single detail was planned.”
To read our full interview with Josh O’Connor, purchase a physical copy of Gay Times here or download a digital copy here.
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