An Exclusive Interview with Tim Key and Tom Basden, the Writers and Stars of The Ballad of Wallis Island

      Robert Kojder speaks with writers and stars Tim Key and Tom Basden of The Ballad of Wallis Island...

      In 2007, director James Griffiths, along with screenwriters and leads Tim Key and Tom Basden, produced the award-winning short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island. The narrative follows a man residing on a breathtakingly beautiful remote Welsh island who hires his favorite musician for a private performance. This story has now been expanded into a feature film titled The Ballad of Wallis Island.

      As I convey to Tim and Tom in our discussion below, the film is both humorous and heartwarming. It also successfully avoids the pitfalls of feeling like a short film that has been unnecessarily elongated. Carey Mulligan joins the cast as Nell, the former musical and romantic partner of Tom Basden’s Herb. Herb accepts the gig amid financial difficulties and the pressures of his solo career without being informed that Nell would be performing, making this a reunion. Nell has moved on from that life and is now with someone new.

      Tensions rise and complex emotions develop, with Tim Key’s enthusiastic yet wholesome fan Charlie providing comic relief with his jokes as a way to mask his inner sadness and ease the tension between Herb and Nell, largely because his character is inherently silly. This endearing humor sets the tone for the beginning of our conversation.

      I enjoyed discussing the writing and acting in this feature adaptation, which holds significant artistic significance for both of them. Over the past 18 years since the short film, they have demonstrated personal, writing, and acting growth. With touching music complementing the sharp humor and excellent performances, The Ballad of Wallis Island is definitely worth watching. Enjoy the interview:

      Robert Kojder: Hi, I’m Robert Kojder with Flickering Myth. I’m from the Windy City, you know, Portland.

      [laughter]

      Tim Key: That’s a great opener!

      RK: I have to ask, who came up with that joke?

      TK: Him! [Pointing to Tom Basden]

      Tom Basden: No idea, was it me? I’m not sure. Some of that scene was improvised. Charles just gets everything mixed up. He doesn’t know who he’s referring to.

      TK: I managed to infuse as much as I know about America into my character.

      RK: [laughs] Those jokes seemed enjoyable to improvise or write, especially the bit about Reese’s. That had me laughing.

      TK: Yeah, that was a fun film to be involved in. There’s definitely a lot of narrative and dialogue to get through, but there’s also space to enjoy the process. And our director is very accommodating, so all the interactions in the shop are great. You have around three hours in the shop where you need to follow the script but can also casually look around the shop and comment on what you see. It’s a very enjoyable experience.

      RK: In light of that, can you speak about your approach to balancing comedy and emotion?

      TK: Yes, that’s the tricky part. We’ve been at this for about 20 years, so we would be disappointed if we didn’t manage to get the comedy across on screen. While it’s not guaranteed, there’s a good chance of making it work. For the emotional aspects, it requires hard work with the script to create a captivating story. Once that’s established, in the scenes, you can listen and try to act with authenticity, which helps uncover the emotions. I also believe there's an advantage: if the comedy succeeds, the emotion can be unexpected, emerging from nowhere. As an audience, you might be surprised during a scene that becomes emotionally engaging, and then my character can shuffle away, and we dive back into comedy in the shop. We were fortunate to have 18 days of shooting to work on both elements, making them enjoyable and challenging.

      RK: Tom, I’ve read that you’ve written comedic songs in the past. While these are quite different, can you discuss how that experience influenced the writing of these songs?

      TB: I’ve been writing various kinds of songs for a while—some for performances on stage, others just for myself that I’d play secretly in my bedroom, feeling apprehensive about anyone hearing them. Like many actors, I’m probably a bit of a frustrated musician and would have liked to be a musician. However, all that prior experience didn’t directly help this time. It did allow me to create the music for the film relatively quickly and commit to it. With projects like these, you eventually need to decide, okay, these are the songs we’ll use. Now, I’m going to send this demo to Carey Mulligan, and she’ll listen to it. That’s just how it is [laughs].

      RK: How nerve-wracking is it to hit send on an email to Carey Mulligan?

      TB: It’s terrifying [laughs].

      TK: The