Harris Dickinson Talks Directorial Ambitions, Working Up the Courage to Ask ‘Babygirl’ Co-Star Nicole Kidman: “What Was Stanley Kubrick Like?”
Harris Dickinson and producer Archie Pearch were in attendance for a Film Talks conversation at the 73rd San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday, where the actor will screen his directorial debut, Urchin. The duo, who together launched production company Devisio Pictures in May last year, were speaking with Wendy Mitchell, the fest’s U.K. and Nordic…
Harris Dickinson and producer Archie Pearch were in attendance for a Film Talks conversation at the 73rd San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday, where the actor will screen his directorial debut, Urchin.
The duo, who together launched production company Devisio Pictures in May last year, were speaking with Wendy Mitchell, the fest’s U.K. and Nordic delegate, about breaking into a busy industry and the 20+ projects they have lined up on their slate.
Dickinson, star of Babygirl, The Iron Claw, Triangle of Sadness and Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles biopics at Sony, was asked about picking the brain of his A-list co-stars who have also launched production outfits. “It is hard to derail someone [during a shoot],” he said, recalling working on Halina Reijn’s erotic drama Babygirl with Nicole Kidman, founder of Blossom Films in 2010 and star of Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
“When you work with someone of that caliber, it takes a while,” continued Dickinson. “I remember on day 20, I was like, ‘So… what was Stanley Kubrick like?’ You can’t start with that. You have to get there slowly.”
Dickinson and Pearch —formerly a producer at Working Title and mentee of David Heyman’s —were discussing their new film, Urchin, helmed by Dickinson and made for around $3 million with help from BBC Film, the British Film Institute (BFI) and Tricky Knot. Frank Dillane stars as Mike, a drifter in London sleeping on the city streets and attempting to patch together his life while caught in the throes of addiction. The movie had its world premiere on the Croisette in Cannes in May, and Dickinson hopes for a similar raucous reaction in San Sebastian.
“The amount of heart and time and true creative investment that we put into this film,” he said, “we don’t believe in being able to do that on a half measure. I think that kind of speaks to the way we want to carry on.” Pearch added: “It’s a really good first film for us, because I think it shows the ambition that we’re wanting to take and the boldness, [the] taking risks. It’s a perfect platform for what we have coming,” though the two couldn’t share more details on what’s ahead.
Dickinson confessed that despite his small role in Urchin, he doesn’t want to direct and act in the same project again anytime soon. “It made sense, but it was hard,” the British actor said. “I don’t think I would do it again because there was moments where I was really in two zones, trying to rely on other people to tell me what was wrong —not just with my performance but with the whole frame, you know? What’s that person in the background doing? What’s the lamp doing? I admire people that do it, your [John] Cassavetes’ and [Rainer Werner] Fassbinders and Bradley Coopers. I’m really impressed by it.”
But the star was certainly not dissuaded by the experience and already has another script for his next feature —even if it came more abruptly than his loved ones had hoped. “It was bad,” Dickinson said, “When I finished [Urchin], me and my partner went on holiday… She was like, ‘Right, you need to not work now. You’re off for a second.’ And I had another idea, I’ve got to write, and she caught me. I couldn’t help myself. I’ve got a script, but who knows if it’s good —we’ve got a long development [process] to go with it.”
Pearch predicts “a shift” toward mid-budget movies in independent film is on the horizon. “I definitely think we’re going to be seeing more mid-[budget] films come through,” he said. “That’s the conversations we’re having with financiers. Weirdly, they would almost prefer to finance something at like, $7 million, $8 million than they would $3 million or $4 million because there’s less risk if they’ve got [a big] cast attached. So I think there’s going to be a shift, personally.”
While the gritty street-set drama Urchin proves the perfect example of the kinds of films Dickinson and Pearch are passionate about, there is one genre they won’t be getting mixed in with anytime soon and that’s horror. “I don’t think we’re avid horror people,” Dickinson said.
“It’s obviously a very attractive genre, a lucrative and illustrious [genre], and if a great horror came along and we were intrigued by it, sure, but it’s not necessarily what we’re going out and looking for.” If Guillermo del Toro approached Devisio, posed Mitchell, might that change things? “Sure,” responded Dickinson.
The San Sebastian International Film Festival 2025 runs Sept. 19-27.
