Jessie

FAULT: Can you tell us a bit about how and why you went from art graduate to actress? What attracted you into this industry?

Jessie:I didn’t graduate! I had to leave because I got the part in Harry Potter. Creating Pindippy is a perfect way of using my art and I still draw everyday and all of my props are handmade etc. I have always written, stuff I now realise was comedy although at the time felt like tragedy, and so acting has always felt like an extension of drawing and writing.

FAULT: In what ways (if any) would you say you relate to Biddy’s personality and character?

Jessie: Biddy is patient, loyal and resilient. I’m incredibly impatient and if I am upset, people tend to know, but I am very loyal.

FAULT: ‘Great Expectations’ is a gripping story and touches on many timeless issues such as social mobility and the importance of education. Are there parallels to be drawn from the story and your own upbringing? I’m speaking very generally here – unless you were recently adopted by a blacksmith?!

Jessie: There is a passage in the book when Pip has a week to wait out before he goes to fulfill his ‘expectations’. He can’t sleep, is restless, and can’t make the most of the time he left at the barge. He relies too much on these ‘expectations’ making everything better, changing his life, and he neglects the people who love him and value him right under his nose. I think everybody can relate to that in some way.

FAULT: Throughout the years there have been many film, television and stage adaptations of the story. From the famous 1946 version directed by David Lean to the parody retelling of the story in controversial adult animation ‘South Park’ in 2000. How does this new adaptation of the book differ from all the others?

Jessie: Mike Newell. You can’t help but meet him and fall in love with him and I think that by assembling such a group of actors, including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Sally Hawkins and David Walliams, this film will be wicked! I feel very lucky to have met him and both me and Bebe are besotted.
FAULT: Can you give us any details as to the ending? Dickens himself includes two…

Jessie: I’m not allowed – sorry!

FAULT: In the Harry Potter story, Lavender Brown provided a lot of comic relief to what was quite a dark time in the story. Can we expect to see some of the same comedic flair with your portrayal of Biddy? Or should we expect something very different from you as an actress?

Jessie: I don’t think so. Mike has been economical with the book and the script to create a fast-paced and not overlong but good film, so things have been cut, which is sad but makes sense. As an actress I was just thrilled to work with him and the other actors in my first properly adult, period role. I wear a wedding dress!

FAULT: Tell us about your your blog Pindippy.com. It looks like something you created so that you could still express yourself through illustration and fashion.

Jessie: Fashion is not a part of it at all, but illustration is. It’s a home for my drawings. Most importantly, it is a production team we have going now. We put out videos very regularly, with over 100 and counting. I write all the sketches and I love the idea of web-series and think they are important. I have an editor and a camera lady in the form of my friend Grace and I involve as many actor or comedian friends as I can, along with my sister. It does cost a lot of money to keep it going and to film, but that’s what my acting jobs fund is for so it’s great (for now)!

FAULT: What words would you use to describe the humour of the videos uploaded on the ‘Pindippy’ Youtube channel?

Jessie: Colourful, off-beat, dry, whimsical and squiggly, keen

FAULT: Can you tell us about your upcoming show, ‘Bookworm’, and what people can expect to see?

Jessie: The idea is Book Club. The show is the official launch of ‘Bookworms United’. I am the host and I know everyone in the audience. It is a celebration of the books and the characters who have helped to form my personality and that led me to creating the book club we are launching today. There is perhaps an underlying story of heartbreak.

 

 

Bebe

FAULT: To be fourteen and starring in a Mike Newell directed movie is a real accomplishment. How does it feel to be working with such established names such as Helena Bonham Carter and David Walliams at such a young age?

Bebe:It was so amazing and exciting to be around Mike Newell. He was so nice to me and I loved being on the set and around all the actors and Jessie. Jessie was the one who suggested me for the part, and she took me to the audition to meet Mike, so it was just the best thing ever. I feel very lucky.

FAULT: Does the fact that you and your sister both play the same character do anything to hinder the personal connection you have with the role, or did it make that connection stronger?

Bebe: We are very similar. When Jessie had the first audition for Biddy, she talked to me about the character and so by the time I went on set, we had already talked about Biddy and what she would have been like lots.

FAULT: Tell us about your role in ‘Bookworm’?

Bebe: I can’t sorry! But it is such a lovely show and I can’t wait for people to see it.

FAULT: Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

Bebe: I just played Sheridan Smith’s sister in Mrs Biggs for ITV. I’ve also got my GCSE’s after Edinburgh!

‘You can see Jessie and Bebe Cave in Bookworm at the Underbelly Cowgate throughout the Edinburgh Fringe (2nd – 26th Aug), 2.30pm. Visit www.underbelly.co.uk for more.’

Interviewed by: Miles Holder