“I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning”, interview with actors Joe Cole and Jay Lycurgo

Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Directors’ Fortnight of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning“ is the fifth feature by BAFTA-nominated British director Clio Barnard, adapted by Enda Walsh from Keiran Goddard‘s novel of the same name. Set in Birmingham, the film follows five friends who have known each other since childhood, now turning thirty and navigating the distance between the lives they imagined and the ones they have. Among them are Rian, played by Joe Cole, a property developer who left for London and built a successful career but lost himself in the process, and Oli, played by Jay Lycurgo, the life and soul of the group who is battling addiction as he crosses the threshold into adulthood.

Rian and Oli: loneliness and optimism

Joe Cole describes Rian as a man who has everything on paper: money, a career, a London life and nothing where it counts. He is lonely, stuck at a crossroads, and the only way forward is to go back to Birmingham and reconnect with the people who know him best. “He’s dealing with a loneliness and a crossroads in his life where he doesn’t quite know who he is or what he wants from it. He has to go back to his friends to understand who he truly is”. Jay Lycurgo‘s Oli is Rian’s opposite in almost every way, rooted in Birmingham, proud of where he comes from, the glue that holds the group together. But beneath the warmth there is fragility. “He’s the life and soul of the party, the puppy of the group. But he has got an addiction. He’s very lost as he turns 30, trying to find responsibility in his life and purpose”.

Enda Walsh and the art of adaptation

Both actors arrived at the project through Enda Walsh‘s script rather than Keiran Goddard‘s novel, though the book quickly became an essential resource. Joe Cole, already a devoted admirer of Enda Walsh‘s theatre work, was struck by the ingenuity of the adaptation: the novel is written entirely as individual monologues, and Enda Walsh found a way to intertwine those first-person voices into a single, flowing narrative.

Dancing away inhibitions

Building the familiarity of a group that has known each other since childhood required a lot of work. Clio Barnard brought in an acting coach who led the cast through games, emotional recall exercises and improvised conversations about their own pasts. Then came a ritual that sealed the bond: a group dance to The Streets’ “Don’t Mug Yourself,” rehearsed and performed together every morning before shooting. Joe Cole credits that routine with breaking down barriers. “You kind of have to leave your inhibitions at the door. Once we’d done that, we felt very safe with one another and we all enjoy the process of improvisation and play and being free within the characters”. Clio Barnard rarely called action or cut, locals from Birmingham joined the cast through open calls, and the line between film set and real life dissolved. Jay Lycurgo recalls moments where the cast simply forgot the camera was there. It was, both actors agree, exactly the kind of filmmaking they wanted to be part of.

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