Robert Kojder chats with Good Luck to You, Leo Grande star Daryl McCormack…
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande follows a 55-year-old widow named Nancy Stokes (acting veteran Emma Thompson) searching to explore and expand her inexperienced sexual life. In doing so, she hires titular sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) for a series of private hotel meetings where they bond in multiple ways. In addition to being a cleverly funny film, it’s also beautifully moving and intelligently progressive in regards to sex work. Daryl McCormack also shines and charms in the role, so it was a pleasure to sit down with the rising actor for an interview. Please enjoy and seek out the film which begins streaming this weekend on Hulu.
Daryl McCormack: Hi, Robert, how are you?
Robert Kojder: I’m great. It’s wonderful to have you here, especially because we played this movie as a closing night film for the Chicago Critics Film Festival and it went great.
Wow, no way! That’s amazing to hear! And I’m glad it went down well.
This movie is terrific. Often, movies about sexual discovery will take, a shock value comedic route that comes across as gross or trying too hard and just not funny, but this movie is really wholesome even when it’s dirty. So I’m curious if that sophistication and wholesomeness made you feel like this movie would be something special and part of why you wanted to be in it?
Yeah, I definitely think so. It definitely opened my eyes to intimacy in another way prior to working on this, and I think particularly sex work as well. It really opened my eyes to the capacity of that and just seeing a foundation being laid down in a good way for someone to explore that. And seeing how much growth that can bring to someone was really amazing. So to see that captured in a script was super exciting from an actor’s standpoint.
I read that you got the chance to speak with actual sex workers to prepare for the role. So I’m curious if there’s one story in particular that really helped you unlock the key to playing Leo Grande with so much charm?
There wasn’t really a particular story. I was just being influenced by all of the people I spoke to. They all had a common factor, which was that they all had a real sense of self. They all had a real sense of power and identity and strength in what they did. So that was amazing because it’s quite often we see a diminished narrative on sex work and with the people I met it really didn’t feel like that was the case at all. It really encouraged me to stand strong in my embodiment of Leo.
Leo briefly discusses some of his other clients and mentions a physically disabled woman buying intimacy with him. Aside from me also being physically disabled, that moment also moves me because it feels like this movie is promoting the reality that people from all walks of life do desire sexual experiences, which can be forgotten or overlooked. So I’m curious how it feels to be a part of a story that’s actually really universal?
Absolutely! That’s the one thing that the world doesn’t really help us see quite clearly, is that intimacy is packaged in an almost indigestible way. It’s kind of one size; it’s a particular look. I don’t think the mainstream and advertising even gives us healthy access to intimacy, and to know that it’s so individual and that it’s up for grabs for anyone. So I was really pleased. I think what you brought up is one of the most touching moments; he’s speaking about a client that he helps bathe, get into the bath, has a bath with her, and that’s their intimacy. It’s their way of exploring sexuality. That’s actually a particular line to me that shows the work in a capacity that I don’t think a lot of people know. So to expose that and to have it in a film is really new, really fresh, and excited me a lot as an actor.
It’s, it’s a beautiful little moment there. Also, I love how much of the service is a judgment-free zone too. Whether it’s lack of experience or loneliness or age gaps, or just people wanting to do something strange, all of this is presented positively. So I’m curious what your favorite aspect of playing a sex worker was?
I think it was that expansive nature. There is something nice about a character who seems to be so in touch with a particular area in his life, be it, his sexuality, and to see it intertwined in all facets of him with the ability to feel like nothing is off the table. That was amazing because I was very much in response to Nancy. Leo was in response to Nancy and his main wish is to lay a foundation in which she feels anything is explorable. So to be in a room and to kind of bounce off Emma Thompson as an actor was very thrilling. It felt real. Again, just to reiterate about the sex workers that I spoke to, I wanted to know if things adjusted in the room if desires changed, or if fears came up because vulnerability will cause all sorts of things to happen to us sometimes. As an actor, I wanted to know that yes, Leo had to always be in response to Nancy creating that kind of balance so that she could always feel like she could be authentic.
Thank you so much for your time, I think you’re going to be a huge star.
Thank you! I’m glad you responded to the film. It was nice meeting you.
Same to you!
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande here
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
