Freddie Fox has been a compelling figure in theatre, TV, and film for years. He’s well-known for roles in White House Farm, The Crown, Slow Horses, Year of the Rabbit, Pride, and The Great, and was recently seen as Loki in Netflix’s The Sandman.

While many may know him for his chameleonic performances, Fox is also steadily building a name for himself behind the camera. His directorial debut Hero, a short film, premiered to a strong reception and went on to win the Grand Prize for Directorial Discovery at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Fox has recently returned to the director’s chair with The Painting & The Statue, a poignant short film set to screen at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival. The story takes place entirely within a single room yet spans over 250 years, capturing a “romance” between a painting and a statue. With rich visual storytelling and a theatrical flair, the film reflects Fox’s fascination with history, memory, and the silent emotional lives of objects, showing a progression in his directorial voice since his debut short, Hero.

Ahead of the premiere, we caught up with him to talk about stepping into the director’s chair again, his process as both actor and filmmaker, and what audiences can expect from this next creative chapter.

View of the Arts: The idea of a love story between a painting and a statue is such an unusual and beautiful way to explore longing and connection. What drew you to this theme, and why did you choose to tell it in such an unconventional way?

Freddie Fox: I’ve always had a deep love of old buildings and the artefacts inside them. They’ve always spoken to me, and since I was a kid I’ve always imagined what these places/objects have seen in their long history. I actually had a Godfather, now sadly passed away, who always encouraged me to go and explore around his house, and when I saw an object or a sculpture that interested me, not to be overly reverential of it, but to pick it up, feel it and make it personal to me. I think that’s why the story appealed to me, as later in life those objects took on a much larger significance to me than I could ever have originally imagined. They were the silent observers to my entire life, and provided beauty, consolation, memory and significance as time passed. 

VOA: The film remains confined to a single room but spans over 250 years. How did you approach capturing the emotional shifts of time without changing location?

FF: Light was a big factor. I was determined – even whilst we were in eras that were often a long way away from our contemporary world – that I still wanted them to feel immediate and real, yet clearly set in a particular period (so the story was being told effectively.) We went for an evolution from sepia candle-lit tones, into warmer gas-lit tones, ending in something starker and brighter with a more electric feel.  

Costume and MakeUp were of course a big part too, as I never wanted to show a date on screen of the time period we were in. That would have made it all too literal. A good example is the red scarf worn by the character of Johnny in the film… without that scarf the audience might not know who he was as the eras elapse from one to the next, so that one piece of costume not only provided a crucial piece of plot, but also a strong emotional shift through time as we see a man go from 8 years old to 80 in only a few minutes.  

VOA: The statue stays still and silent for most of the film, until that final, powerful moment of movement. What inspired you to save its expression for the end, and how did you work with the team to make sure that this dance said everything it needed to, without words?

FF: The idea of the dance came late in the writing process. We were already well into pre-production, and I was actually going to play the Statue myself…. (a terrible idea!)… and there would have been no dance at all. I suddenly realised that we needed to have movement – for the Statue to express everything his body had been sculpted to do (ie, be an athlete), but had been denied him his whole existence. We therefore incorporated a lot of sporting movements into the dance to give a feel of this guy revelling in being finally able to fulfil his purpose, whilst also peacocking for the Painting to impress her. My choreographer – Arthur Pita – and dancer – Andy Monaghan – did the most beautiful job in bringing that to life, far better than I could ever have imagined. And thank god I didn’t try to do it myself! 

VOA: From the glamour of the 1920s to the shadow of wartime, the film elegantly traverses British history. How did you balance period detail with the film without losing the soul of the story?

FF: A lot of the job of getting the detail right was done for me, firstly by the location itself, and secondly because I had the most amazing team: Production Designer – Violet Elliot, Costume Designers – Annie Symons & Lucy James, and Hair & MakeUp Designer – Jules Chapman, who all have amazing eyes for detail. They wouldn’t let me get away with cutting corners. We also got all our costumes from CosProp & Angels – the best period costume houses in London – who make sure everything is absolutely period correct, and I think the soul of the story lives in that level of detail. In my writing, I tried to make sure the dialogue felt period correct without making all the period stuff too starchy, and all the modern stuff too knowing. Hopefully, we got the balance right. 

VOA: It’s been several years since your first short film, Hero. What led you back to directing now, and how do you feel your creative voice has evolved between then and The Painting & The Statue?

FF: I just felt it was time. It takes a lot out of you putting a short together as you have to be across absolutely everything, but enough time had passed from the last one to forget the agonising bits, and I had an idea in my head that I really wanted to make. Also, I want to ultimately direct features, and I was like: “You can’t call yourself a director unless you’re directing something”, so I just felt it was time to get back on the horse. 

I think my voice as a director, I hope, has become a little more refined, and my taste has improved a bit. The last film has so much I would change about it now, proud though I am of the achievement and the ambition. I really wanted to try and do less. Less proving I could do clever things with a camera, and focus more on performance and story. Being an actor myself, performance is my strength, so I really leaned into that aspect of it, and I had so much fun with my remarkable actors in this one. 

VOA: The look and feel of the film are so good,  from the way it’s shot to how it’s edited. How did you work with your cinematographer and editor to create that sense of time and emotion, all within one room?

FF: I created a tone/colour/reference board that I felt would provide a good narrative evolution for the film, and Ryan (my brilliant DoP) took that on and improved it immensely. He was so receptive to what I wanted and never tried to overrule my ideas, despite my relative inexperience. His fidelity to the vision was amazing, and what he added to the look of the film was incalculable, along with being the most beautiful team player on set. We wanted to try and achieve a slight ocular effect with the lenses, to feel like the Painting & Statue’s eyes were watching, whilst also using spherical lenses so we could maximise how much of the vertical axis of the room we could see. Ryan found some amazing lenses, and I think he achieved that effect beautifully. 

Paulo – my amazing editor – I had worked with before, and we have a really easy shorthand. We experimented a lot by moving sections around, and trying to put the end at the beginning, etc, to see what that would do. In the end, we left the structure as scripted, and we tried to let the film breath as much as possible (as the Painting & Statue contemplated the unfolding lives before them) and not be rushed between the eras. In that way, I hope it feels more like a short feature than a long short. 

VOA: As both an actor and a director, how do you think your performance background influences the way you tell stories visually?

FF: This film has so much theatre in it, and that definitely comes from my experience as an actor. I’ve always admired movies that can lean into theatricality whilst also remaining cinematic and truthful… Kind Hearts & Coronets, Dr Strangelove, and The Grand Budapest Hotel were three big references for me in that regard. I really wanted to embrace big make-up choices and a multi-rolling cast, as I knew what fun that would be for the performers and audience alike, as it’s something so rarely attempted in cinema these days. I also love actors. They are the most brilliant, hair-brained, exciting people to be around, so with any film I make, celebrating the actor’s range & skill will always be a primary focus. 

VOA: You’ve worked across stage, screen, and now short film directing. Does storytelling feel different in each medium, or do you find a common creative thread between them?

FF: It’s all about the story. If you have a good one to tell, working in any medium has the common theme of trying to deliver it as purely as possible, for actors/directors/technicians alike. There’s a theory that, in very broad terms, the stage is the actor’s medium, TV is the writer/producer’s medium, and film is the director’s medium. There’s some truth in that, but I definitely want to have my cake and eat it, so the films I make in the future will, I hope, celebrate the work of actors, writers, and directors alike.  

VOA: You’ve mentioned in the past how much you enjoy writing. Do you see yourself writing and directing a feature next, or do short films still feel like the right format for your vision?

FF: I definitely want to make features, for sure. They – along with plays – have been my greatest love and inspiration, and I have several penned, with one in particular ready to go. The Painting & The Statue is very definitely a short, and was only intended to be so, and I would love to come back to making more shorts again in the future. However, at least for now, I hope the next one can be a feature. We’ll see, I guess… 

Written and interviewed by Maggie Gogler

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}