The role was Scott’s first, but he initially sent his audition tape for a smaller part, a character called “Lad One”. When the team received it just six weeks before filming was due to start, they asked him to come in and try out for young John.
“I was like ‘I’ve never done any acting before’ and then I went in and got the role. Then I went on holiday for two weeks to Florida and I couldn’t get a tan so I was wearing a cap and factor fifty, and I was sat in the shade.”
He spent his holiday on video calls with voice and movement coaches, and when he returned he had two weeks to “lock in”, learn his lines, and how to imitate John’s movements and tics.
He and John worked “closely together” to get the portrayal right.
He says he felt a huge sense of responsibility to John. Touchingly, afterwards John sent him a card, writing: “Thank you so much for being me so well in the film.”
“Everyone was working together, making sure we did it right. I think they called it a passion project – so rather than it being for cinemas it’s for John and for awareness.”
Playing the part when he was just 13 years old also came with its own difficulties.
Some of the words and phrases he had to shout out were embarrassing and inappropriate, particularly in one situation where he had to shout an explicit phrase to a female cast member around the same age.