Lenny Abrahamson explains how fatherhood helped him with new film Room

Room the most recent offering from Lenny Abrahamson may be tipped for Oscar and Golden Globe success but it was the task of working with 7 year old Jacob Tremblay that proved to be one of his most testing challenges.

The success of the film rested on the shoulders of whoever played the character of Jack. This gave Abrahamson his first task of finding the right actor to play the part, his second was working with a child actor as a lead character, something he had never done on this scale before.

When talking about Jacob, Abrahamson claims that directing him was intense. He continues to explain the challenges of working with a child actor - "I'd always be on my knees beside the camera, talking him through things, parroting lines, and doing really long takes where we'd run the scene five or six times within the take - because you'd loose the kids attention when you stop." Abrahamson goes on to say "it was amazing to see Jack turn into a real actor, learning these acting muscles he had and just running with it."

Jacob also credited Abrahamson's parenting skills helped by saying "Well Lenny's a Dad - he understands kids really well so he's really nice".

Being a father not only helped Abrahamson with Jacob but it also helped him to understand the story better stating "My little boy Max was nearly four at the time, so I could see him in the story - that strange and gorgeous little optimism the child has, and that openness and vulnerability."

To read the full interview with Lenny Abrahamson where he discusses his love for Ireland and his hectic schedule pick up a copy of the Hot Press Annual, on sale now.
You can Buy the Hot Press Annual Online direct from hotpress.com
.
Or download the iOS app for iPad/iPhone
Or download the Android App