Interview: Cush Jumbo on filming

from Style of Wight issue 70 BIOSPHERE SPECIAL

Style speaks: to TV science

“Dark and gut-twitchingly exciting” CUSH JUMBO ON FILMING THE BEAST MUST DIE

Last autumn, the Isle of Wight played host to the production team of psychological thriller The Beast Must Die, filmed across an array of Island landscapes and locations – including (we’ll be watching closely to see if ‘our view’ made the cut) from the Style of Wight office window

Directed by Dome Karukoski, the story follows secondary school teacher Frances who, in the grip of trauma and grief, decides to take justice into her own hands and embark on a journey of maternal revenge.

Cush Jumbo, who plays Frances, explains how it was filming on the Isle of Wight, where the story is set:

“It's always great to do something that's set in the place where you're actually shooting because it makes it a little more creepy. I know all of the people who live on the Isle of

Wight were loving it – that it was all happening in the right place, that they were extras in it and that it was all a little macabre. I think a lot of them have said that the storyline about the police was pretty accurate too - that when you live somewhere where there are fewer people and you know the police in person, then things are done differently. It’s like, ‘Okay, Farmer John, although you've been speeding and I’ve caught you for the fourth time this week, I'm not going to give you a ticket. ‘Cause I know that you've got to take your mum to the chiropractor.’ Stuff like that. Community policing is great, but it’s definitely done a little bit differently in London when you don't know anybody! As for the residents, they were just really welcoming to us. Considering we showed up with a crew of 200 people in the middle of COVID and were blocking roads and I was sailing boats and desperately trying not to crash them, they were really nice!”

The Beast Must Die is available to stream on BritBox from 27th May. “I've loved it. I had all these lessons. It’s all totally alien to me - I'm from South London so I didn’t see a cow until I was about 11. So any time I’m allowed to get outdoors is so great. I can completely see why people like sailing. It's very, very freeing. And once you begin to feel the outdoors, you start to understand where the wind is coming from and how that's going to affect you - you kind of become part of the boat. And I actually really love it. Like, I think I'm going to ask to sail a little bit after this, because I've really enjoyed it.”

Cush Jumbo on sailing

Taste the season: celebrating summer

An abundance of asparagus

At this time of year, it’s all about the asparagus. And Isle of Wight asparagus in particular is as good as it gets, the crowning glory of seasonal produce at farm shops the length and breadth of the Island. Its season – from late spring to June – is short but very, very sweet. Grab it while you can.