ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In 2007, a short film explored a classic question - what would you do if you won the lottery? In this story, the answer was invite your favorite musician to play a gig on your remote British island.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ONE AND ONLY HERB MCGWYER PLAYS WALLIS ISLAND")
TOM BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) This doesn't make sense. Where will the - where will people be? You said there'd be a hundred.
TIM KEY: (As Charles Heath) No, Herb.
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) Well, yes, you did.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) No, I said there'd be less than a hundred.
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) How many less than a hundred?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Huh?
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) How many less than a hundred?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Ninety-nine.
SHAPIRO: The comedians Tim Key and Tom Basden wrote and starred in that short film, and they just couldn't get the characters out of their heads. Here's Tim.
KEY: It's been on our radar ever since. We both have, like, a lot of love for the film and a lot of love for making the film - the short film. So whenever we'd meet up with Griff, the director, we would always talk about it after a couple of pints.
SHAPIRO: So nearly 20 years later, they've revisited the characters and the premise in the new full-length feature "The Ballad Of Wallis Island." Their friend James Griffiths directed both. Tom plays Herb, the cranky, too-cool musician, and Tim plays Charles, the goofy but lovable lottery winner.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND")
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) What do you do?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Hm?
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) You a banker? Or oil? It's oil, isn't it?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) I'm retired.
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) 'Cause I'm not playing a private gig for some oil tycoon or whatever.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Where's oil come from?
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) I'm - you know, I'm anticorporate, famously.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) I'm anticorporate. Believe me, I hate bloody - I can't think of one, but...
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) 'Cause, you know...
KEY: (As Charles Heath) IKEA.
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer) Bad example.
SHAPIRO: They both joined me to talk about the long journey since the short and the film that ultimately came out of it.
BASDEN: This is Tom. I think, you know, it's funny because we were far too young. When we made the short, we were far too young for those characters. It didn't really make sense, actually. And now having, you know, rightly or wrongly waited 19 years...
KEY: (Laughter).
BASDEN: ...We're the perfect age to play these sort of slightly (laughter) careworn characters who've been kind of, you know, spat out by life in various different ways. There's something that's really kind of lovely about the fact it's taken this long.
KEY: We have had a lot of interviews where afterwards, we're worried we've given the impression that we've spent 18 years (laughter) clocking in at our office every...
BASDEN: (Laughter).
KEY: ...Five days a week, trying to work out how to make this feature. We've definitely done stuff in the meantime.
(LAUGHTER)
SHAPIRO: The story is largely built around three characters. And there is no way for me to ask this without sounding rude, but the third character is played by Carey Mulligan, who is far more famous than either of you.
(LAUGHTER)
SHAPIRO: So how did she get in involved?
KEY: You could have had more of a stab at making it less rude.
(LAUGHTER)
KEY: Yeah, no, it is crazy that Carey Mulligan's in our film.
BASDEN: It's one of those things, when you're writing something like a feature, which you don't know if it will ever be filmed, it's much easier - rather than just carry on writing and polishing it, you just make a wish list of who should play her. And Carey was on top of our list.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND")
CAREY MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) Do you have anything of mine?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Yeah.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) What? Is it creepy?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) It's hair, yeah.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) Hair?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) It's a lock of your hair. Yes.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) Oh, my God.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) Whose hair are they selling you?
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Your hair. Is it - no? Is it not yours? No.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) No.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Ah.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) No. You've been scammed there, Charlie. I've never, never auctioned off any of my hair.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Mis-sold hair.
MULLIGAN: (As Nell Mortimer) Yeah. I can hack some off before I go, if you want.
KEY: (As Charles Heath) Oh, fantastic. Thank you.
Amazingly, we asked her to do it, and it was just potluck as to whether she knew who we were, and she did. But we were very, very fortunate that we were sort of pushing on an open door, as in she was aware of what we do and was very, very kind about the script.
SHAPIRO: Yeah. I genuinely did love the music that you wrote for this film, Tom.
BASDEN: Oh, thanks, Ari.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GIVE YOUR LOVE TO ME")
TOM BASDEN AND CAREY MULLIGAN: (As Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer, singing) If you need some affection and you're feeling all alone.
SHAPIRO: And I'm curious whether you were trying to write it in the style of the character who you are playing or if it is the kind of music that you authentically write when you sit down to write a song as yourself.
BASDEN: I mean, it's the closest I will get to releasing an album as a musician (laughter) because they're sort of songs that I kind of believe in musically.
SHAPIRO: You don't think this is going to launch a solo touring career for you?
BASDEN: I mean, that's the aim, obviously...
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
BASDEN: ...'Cause I can't be bothered with this acting nonsense. But, like, for now, anyway, I'm happy to kind of, you know, play the character of a musician as a kind of, like, you know, workaround. But yeah, the music is certainly - I guess I tried to write what I felt like made sense for the characters, but I also - you know, I guess I wanted the music to sound and feel like the kind of music that Charles' character would have really loved and therefore be the kind of music that I might listen to.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GIVE YOUR LOVE TO ME")
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer, singing) Sink into each other's eyes.
BASDEN AND MULLIGAN: (As Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer, singing) Stay inside as though the sun will never rise. Oh, give your love, give your love to me. Honey, give your love, give your love to me.
SHAPIRO: Although the film is very funny, it has a lot of heart. Can you tell me about, as you were writing it, how you balanced that sort of overt comedy and the relationships that bolster the narrative?
BASDEN: We knew that we wanted the film to go somewhere beyond being just a collection of sort of comic moments or kind of, like, funny but difficult interactions between these two guys and then, when Carey turns up, through her character as well. And I think that we quickly found - this is when we're writing the script, by the way, and there's something about getting older and your relationship to music that means that your relationships with people and your relationship with music is very, very closely linked. And actually, it sort of allows you to tap into emotional periods of your life instantly. And I still feel that when I listen to certain music, and I think a lot of people do.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OUR LOVE")
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer, singing) Sometimes when you smile...
BASDEN AND MULLIGAN: (As Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer, singing) I can see how you would have looked as a child.
BASDEN: So I think there's something specific about this story that we quickly realized was a real opportunity to find a sort of emotional backstory and language for the characters that's often very difficult to achieve in a comedy.
KEY: I think that's why both of us are quite proud of it because you've finished writing it, and that's what you've tried to do, is make it have some kind of heart and depth - and you think maybe you've got a chance when you start filming it, then you don't know until you put it in front of an audience. So actually, when it first played out in Sundance, it was completely (laughter) - I mean, Tom will tell you, I mean, I was a mess. It's a very overwhelming experience.
BASDEN: Yeah, Tim was in pieces.
KEY: Yeah, I was in pieces.
SHAPIRO: To see that an audience responded and it hit them the way you wanted it to.
KEY: Exactly. It was kind of amazing. And I think we're really proud of that because...
SHAPIRO: Yeah.
KEY: ...I think it's quite easy to mess up. And actually, we might try and make another film and not be able to get that perfectly. And in this one, I do think, like...
BASDEN: (Laughter).
KEY: ...We're both, like, really happy that we've at least come some way to getting that - both the humor and the warmth in the mix somewhere.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND - BONUS")
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer, singing) You open my eyes, help me remember.
SHAPIRO: Well, gentlemen, it has been so good talking with you. Thank you very much.
KEY: Lovely to talk to you.
BASDEN: You're welcome. Thanks for watching the film.
SHAPIRO: Tom Basden and Tim Key wrote and star in "The Ballad Of Wallis Island," which is out in theaters now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND - BONUS")
BASDEN: (As Herb McGwyer, singing) I'm tired of lying to myself. I needed a friend to throw me a lifeline. Remember to lend, not to keep taking all the time. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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