Barbarella chats with Tom Hughes about SHEPHERD

Hey, friends! Barbara here. After a tragedy, people do all kinds of things to get by. Some turn to drugs and alcohol, some seek out church and community, some track down a therapist, but in Russell Owen's SHEPHERD, Eric Black chooses to escape into solitude by taking a job as a shepherd on a remote Scottish island. While I'm not one to judge anyone's choices, I certainly wouldn't have gone to this particular place to battle some tough memories, but hey, that's just me. SHEPHERD is a stylish reflection on a character dealing with his past and features a captivating Tom Hughes as Eric. The film offers limited human interaction as well as indelible imagery while showcasing Eric's struggle to maintain his sanity. I had the opportunity to speak with the actor about his experience. Check it out.

SHEPHERD was filmed on a Scottish island during the winter. I imagine it must have been very cold. How long was filming and what was the impact of working in these conditions on you as an actor?

"The filming was on the island for five and a half weeks, six weeks, something like that, and then we did a week in Glasgow afterwards, so seven weeks in total. Yeah, it was amazing , actually. I have to say, for me, the one thing about the movie that I couldn't have cheated on was being there on an island and being able to walk away from a sense of what Eric would have lived on that island on his own, so that was amazing. I mean, there were challenges. The only month that there was no filming on an island off the coast of Scotland was definitely February But listen, it was amazing. And the crew, in particular, was committed off the beaten track. I'm sure for them [the island] was horrible, but the commitment to doing it and shooting it was pretty amazing, actually.

Awesome. You had the crew around, but it seems incredibly remote. How isolated did being there feel?

"Well, I really tried to dig into that as much as I could. Obviously Kate Dickie came for a few days. Greta [Scacchi] was there for one day; Gaia [Weiss] was there for two, I For 90% of the movie, I was the only actor on set, so there's a degree of that weird feeling, but that was part of the challenge, and that's what I wanted, probably quite naively, but say, "Okay, can I do this? Am I able to tell this story on my own with just the dog and me or whatever?"

"Also, I felt like I wanted to stay in the vibe of, I guess, Eric. I tried to put my being, my body through as much as possible, so I moved into another hotel that was miles away from the crew, and I would stay in there by myself and go back at night. It was isolation, but that's my job, I guess. You know, you have to do it."

Well, you mentioned your costar, the dog. First, do you like dogs or cats, and what was it like working with the dog that played Baxter?

"In England there's a big debate between Blur and Oasis, the bands, and I like both of them, I think they're both good. You know So with cats and dogs, if you allow me, I'd like to be a fan of both Growing up there were cats in the house all the time, but I once owned a dog, and you fall madly in love. Yeah, I fell in love with Shuggie. Shuggie is her name, the real real dog. Baxter is obviously the dog in the movie, but Shuggie is a female dog, and she owns my heart. I don't think she cared about me the same. On the last day of filming with Shuggie, I was destitute and she just walked away to whoever gave her the next treat. She has my heart, that's for sure, I don't don't think you have his."

I think it's interesting that lighthouses are designed to protect sailors, but movies often cast them in a grim light. Why do you think headlights have such a bad reputation in movies?

"I feel like I can comment on that, having been to this island. I think nature is the most amazing thing. It's the most uplifting thing; it's the the most therapeutic thing, but it can also be the most terrifying thing. There's something about being alone with nature that almost makes you face yourself. And that's kind of a metaphor , I guess, for this movie. I think the image of...