My Policeman: Gina Mckee on how she, Emma Corrin navigated Covid to discuss playing the same character at different ages

Romantic drama My Policeman, based on Bethan Roberts’ bestseller is all set for release. The film explores the lives of three people and the consequences of their choices in two different timelines. Gina McKee, one of the stars of the film, spoke to Hindustan Times, about what drew her to the project and how she and Emma Corrin coordinated during lockdowns to play one character in different times. (Also read: The Crown’s Princess Diana Emma Corrin looks unrecognisable at My Policeman premiere)

My Policeman stars Harry Styles as a bisexual cop in 1950s Britain caught between the duty towards his wife (Emma Corrin) and the love for his paramour (David Dawson). The same characters’ older selves are played by Linus Roache, Gina McKee, and Rupert Everett respectively. Talking about what drew her to the project, Gina told us, “When I read the screenplay, the thing that attracted me to the project was that you have this whole triangle of people who meet when they are young and the choices and decisions they make link them forever and shape their lives quite profoundly. Then, the decision to bring these three characters together to face their past is a really interesting element to explore.”

In a screenplay based on a book, Gina and the other actors had the luxury of studying both texts to understand their characters. “If you are ever going to adapt any book as a film, you need to distill. We were lucky that the distillation here was well done. So, I felt that we had the core of the story absolutely in place. But it’s always interesting to read around projects and research because you sometimes find things that validate your instinct. You can find details that help,” she added.

But perhaps the trickiest part of shooting My Policeman was that it was all done during the height of Covid in Europe. With Covid protocols in place, the actors playing the same roles couldn’t meet to discuss them. Elaborating on how they went about it, Gina said, “We had to do it in an unusual way because we shot this in 2021 so there were Covid protocols in place. So, we used Zoom and we obviously spoke on the phone. The 1950s material was shot first so I was really fortunate that I had three or four scenes that Emma had already shot that I could watch and study for reference.”

My Policeman, directed by Michael Grandage, has received rave reviews from critics after being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and the Adelaide Film Festival in October. It releases on Prime Video on November 4.