Pride (2014) has a larger-than-life legacy (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Ten years after Bafta-winning British film Pride came out, its legacy remains larger than ever for cast, crew, real-life activists and the LGBTQ+ community.
In many ways, it’s remarkable this unlikely love story between two communities – which recounts the true story of the 1984 strike that united the lesbian and gay community with Welsh miners – even exists.
First, there are the challenges of producing an LGBTQ+ film of this calibre and scale on an indie budget during a time when homophobia was still rooted within the mainstream film industry and these themes were seldom explored.
Then (through some miracle) the film effortlessly secured a star-studded cast featuring legends such as Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, Faye Marsay, Paddy Considine, Jessica Gunning 10 years before her internationally-acclaimed role in Baby Reindeer, and countless more.
The spark for the game-changing idea came to writer Stephen Beresford 30 years ago after a chance discussion with his boyfriend introduced him to the unlikely comrades-in-arms.
Years later he revisited the idea.
The LGBTQ+ film secured an A-List cast with an indie budget (Picture: Nicola Dove/Pathe/BBC/Proud/Bfi/Canal+/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
‘Everyone that I spoke to before [producer] David Livingstone quite rightly said: “Look, you’ll never bring a commercial audience to a story about gay people.”
‘It probably was the case, really. Back then, it was difficult. That has definitely changed,’ Stephen told Metro.co.uk.
And former Swansea East MP Sian James, who is portrayed by Jessica in the film, was ‘sceptical’ about the film being made from the get-go.
‘You’ve got to remember it was 30 years after the fact. I didn’t think that the story was worthy of being told. Where had all of these organisations and individuals been?
‘I always mentioned LGSM (Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners) in every interview but people used to just gloss over it. It was really, really strange,’ she said.
Writer Stephen Beresford said every member of cast was their ‘first choice’ (Picture: Getty)
Former MP Sian James was ‘sceptical’ at first but soon warmed up to the idea (Picture: Getty)
Nevertheless, Stephen got the coveted seal of approval for the culture-clash comedy and everything miraculously slotted into place.
‘First Bill Nighy, then Imelda said yes and it built up from there. It was extraordinary, every time we sent out an offer they said yes.
‘It’s never happened before or since, that every single person was really our first choice,’ the screenwriter said.
Stephen’s right-hand man throughout the whole process was director Matthew Warchus, best known for theatre work up until this point.
However, Matthew admitted he almost passed on the film when his agent first approached him.
‘It wasn’t really what I was looking for so I said: “I don’t know”. But they pressed me. After two weeks he sent [the screenplay] over. I read it straight through and I thought it was absolutely perfect. The best screenplay I’d ever read.’
He’s not alone in getting captured by the majesty of the script which centres around the co-founder of LGSM, Mark Ashton (played by Ben Schnetzer).
Jessica Gunning was ‘sobbing’ after she first read the script (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Baby Reindeer star Jessica shared that she ‘absolutely sobbed’ after reading the full script.
‘It was funny because I remember Matthew saying “the thing about Sian is that she’s a real woman” and I was there, nodding along, “sooo real” and then he was like “…no…real as in she really exists”,’ she said about discovering it was a true story during the first audition.
‘I read [the full script] as soon as it came through, I was in a cafe and just absolutely sobbed at so many bits,’ the 38-year-old actor, who described Sian as ‘an inspiration’, added.
It was the same experience for Andor star Faye who played the sole lesbian LGSM founder, Steph Chambers.
‘Pride was one of the most important scripts I’d ever read. It was equally funny and heartbreaking,’ she said.
There were plenty of chaotic filming moments with such a large cast (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
But with a stacked ensemble cast, filming between London and South Wales was often a logistical nightmare. He recalled one time that the cast was ‘all jammed like sardines in a minibus’ while he was ‘squeezed under’ the seats with the camera equipment.
In another scene when the LGSM are sleeping over in Wales, the filmmaker only had half an hour to shoot the scene.
‘As soon as they got into their pajamas and sleeping bags, it was like a kid sleepover. They were all giggling and messing around,’ he reminisced.
The tight schedule led to several one-take wonders, or near enough.
‘The first time we did the famous scene with Bill and Imelda, when they’re buttering bread, we did it twice, but only because we were superstitious.
‘The first take was all it needed, and they did it in one take. They were just so incredible,’ Stephen recalled.
Director Matthew Warchus nearly missed out on making the film (Picture: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)
But no scene is more beloved than Dominic West’s powerful Shame, Shame, Shame dance sequence in the town hall in front of his friends and the sceptical Welsh mining community.
Dominic played HIV/Aids activist Jonathan Blake, who revealed the inspiration behind the explosive and empowering moment.
Recalling the moment he discovered The Crown star was playing him, Jonathan said: ‘I go to the door. This man thrusts his hand out and introduces himself as Matthew Warchus, the director. Over his shoulder I see [Jimmy [McNulty] from The Wire.’
The pair spent time in Jonathan’s garden talking about his life as the actor prepared for the role, and at one point he came across the fateful picture.
Jonathan continued: ‘I never did the dance on the table but there is an amazing photograph of me clapping my hands with glee.
The photo that inspired one of the film’s most famous scenes (Picture: Jonathan Blake)
Dominic West moved countless viewers to tears of joy with his performance (Picture: Nicola Dove/Pathe/Bbc/Proud/Bfi/Canal+/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
‘From that one photograph, Dominic West’s four and a half minutes, shame, shame, shame dance came. I was told that nobody knew it was going to happen.
‘It was this absolute secret. So in the film, when he suddenly jumped on the table and they grabbed their glasses, they really grabbed their glasses. It was surreal.’
The climax of the film on Westminister Bridge, filmed under the shining sun, happened in the nick of time when the ‘blue sky’ came out after a day of ‘gale force winds and rain’.
‘Stephen turned to me and said “You see God is gay”,’ Matthew quipped.
Nowadays Pride (2014) – which premiered at Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim – is a pivotal part of any Pride month cinema line-up.
Jonathan continues to advocate for HIV/Aids awareness to this day (Picture: APA/REX/Shutterstock)
Matthew reflected: ‘What’s really surprising is if you’re a right-wing, more conservative person, you’re almost certainly going to like the film.
‘The one thing we struggled with is getting the film in front of people who didn’t think they were gonna like it because it has a magical power.’
And its ability to bring people together has even made it a target for censorship.
The director continued: ‘The film was banned in Turkey recently and there was a screening in Moscow where the police surrounded the cinema.
‘It’s not a film that needs to be watched by liberals and people in the queer community, although I’m glad that it’s been embraced by them. It’s a film that needs to be watched by everybody else.’
Sian added: ‘The legacy of the film is that those relationships, those friendships, those depictions, are still very important to a lot of people.’
Jessica and Faye both acknowledged its wide-spanning impact (Picture: Pathe/BBC/Proud/Bfi/Canal+/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
And its universal appeal is not underestimated by the actors either.
Jessica described the whole project as ‘so special’, adding: ‘Pride is still one of the things people stop and talk most to me about.
‘So many people over the years have told me how it encouraged them to come out to their friends and family, or how they were part of the gay and lesbian movement back in the 80s and how well it captured that time.’
And she emphasised how ‘important’ it was to see ‘representation on screen’.
‘If people watch the film and see something of themselves in it, then that means so much.
I think it’s also important to realise the fight and struggles that have come before us, and to see how far the world has come since then.
‘There’s still a lot of work to be done of course, but how amazing to have a film out there detailing the brilliant story of the people whose shoulders we now stand on.’
Faye played the sole lesbian who helped found LGSM (Picture: Pathe/BBC/Proud/Bfi/Canal+/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Meanwhile, Faye echoed her sentiment entirely.
‘The fact that this amazing story had never been told, and these people had never been honoured for their incredible kindness and their solidarity to one another was mind-blowing.
‘The whole experience of seeing the film come to life, working with actors of that calibre and learning from them, and being part of that gang, was, and remains today ten years later, one of the proudest moments in my career.’
Matthew ended with an anecdote which, for him, encapsulated the impact Pride has had beyond their wildest imaginations.
‘A couple of years after the release of the film during London Pride, it was screened open air in Hyde Park. Stephen and I met up and were sat there in amongst this crowd of people on the grass, watching them watch the film.
‘And we realised, in that moment, that this film is much bigger than us.’
Pride (2014) is available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video.
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