FILM 1935: THE FAVOURITE

FILM 1935: THE FAVOURITE

TRIVIA: Olivia Colman gained 2.5 stone (16 kg. or 35 lbs.) to play Queen Anne.

Costume designer Sandy Powell intentionally used anachronistic fabrics. Laser-cut lace and vinyl was used for many courtiers' clothes. The servants' dresses and britches are made from denim recycled from thrift store jeans from throughout England. Queen Anne's dressing gown is made from a chenille blanket that Powell found on eBay.

Kate Winslet was originally cast, but dropped out.

The wigs had their own trailer.

The film was shot mostly with available sunlight or practical lighting, such as candles and fireplaces. Robbie Ryan kept backup lighting equipment on stand-by, but used very little additional light, mostly due to unseasonably warm weather during filming.

Most of the costumes and wigs were made from scratch. The budget was very tight, so renting them was not feasible. The early 18th century is rarely depicted on film, so few costume houses had much appropriate stock available. Clothes and wigs were custom built, then deconstructed and re-used in other scenes.

This is the first time Yorgos Lanthimos directed a film in which he is not the screenwriter and nor is his regular partner, Efthymis Filippou.

Costume designer Sandy Powell had to divide her duties between this film and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Fortunately, both productions used adjacent workspaces at Pinewood Studios.

Winston Churchill was born in the palace Queen Anne built for Sarah Churchill in 1874, 166 years after the movie takes place. The Churchill family continued to live in Blenheim Palace for 300 years.

According to makeup designer Nadia Stacey, Nicholas Hoult named all of his wigs. His main wig was Barbara (or, more frequently, Babs). The orange wig he wears when he watches courtiers throwing pomegranates at a nude Tory is Lulu. Another was named Hattie. Hoult also became very attuned to how Harley might wear beauty spots, depending on the situation or the message his character was trying to convey. "Nick and I would sit every day and look at the scene and say, 'We should do it here now because you're going to see the Queen,'" said Stacey. "We really played with that."

This is the second film that Rachel Weisz and Nicholas Hoult have starred in together. The first was About a Boy (2002).