I have written elsewhere about how I am not normally a fan of photographic posters, but for this one I will make an exception.

I really like the bold tinting and the minimalist, dramatic use of black space between the two main characters. I also remember the film (about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged for murder in England – spoiler alert!) was very powerful, with great performances from both Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett as the lover she ends up killing.

A few years later, I bumped into both these actors. While working as an account man in advertising in London, for reasons too long-winded to explain here I ended up writing a (very bad) radio script for Pepe Jeans, which somehow got sold to the client. It escapes me now as to exactly why, but we chose Miranda Richardson to do the voiceover, so I was put in the rather odd position of giving instructions to her in a recording studio in Soho. Whatever she thought of me, clearly out of my depth, or the rubbish she was being asked to narrate, she remained a true professional.  

Around the same time, I also went to see Rupert Everett in a play in London’s West End. My friend and I went for a pre-show pint in a pub around the corner from the theatre, and I was both surprised and impressed to see him there, downing pints himself, about 30 minutes before curtain-up. It certainly didn’t impair his performance – he was great in the play.