Harris Dickinson's directorial debut at Cannes born of gut feeling

By Hanna Rantala

CANNES, France (Reuters) -British actor Harris Dickinson, who made a name for himself in "Babygirl" and "Triangle of Sadness," did not have a blueprint for making a film when he set out to direct his debut feature "Urchin," which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

"You could call it stupidity or ambition or naiveté, I'd never made a film, so I didn't have an algorithm for it, I was just doing it," Dickinson told Reuters.

British actor Frank Dillane of "Fear the Walking Dead" is Mike, a homeless man trying to find his footing in London and break free of cycles of self-destructive behaviour.

Dickinson, who also wrote the film, based the character on several people he met while working with homeless charities.

"Ultimately I wanted to tell a story about a man that was struggling with cyclical behaviour," said Dickinson, who grew up on the social-realist films of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.

It was important to show the "full picture" of Mike's life, which included levity and humanity as well, said Dickinson.

Dillane recounted preparing for the role by visiting a prison and speaking with a lot of advisers with Dickinson.

"When you're playing fragile people, I certainly feel a great responsibility to do the fragile person justice," he said.

"I just tried to live with Mike's feelings as much as possible and the themes that he was feeling, and the themes that were in the film and lent myself to him," he said.

"Urchin," which has earned rave reviews, is competing in the second-tier Un Certain Regard category that this year has a particularly strong pool of competitors, including debut films from fellow actors Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Stewart.

Adding to Dickinson's rising star is his upcoming turn as John Lennon in one of four films about each of The Beatles planned by director Sam Mendes for release in April 2028.

The 28-year-old actor said he was grateful about how things were going but was focused on what comes next. "I'm always thinking to keep me from dwelling too much on things."

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Nick Zieminski)