Beau Gadson, 15 (Lily) and Eden Hamilton, 11 (Pattie) are two of the stars of new movie The Railway Children Return. They talk to @RogerCrow at key location Oakworth Station about the Yorkshire-made sequel to a beloved classic.
Beau, tell us about new movie, The Railway Children Return
Eden: “Well I’d seen the original and this is the next thing, a few years older. It’s really, really important.”
Beau: “I think what’s great is it has lots of moments from the original, which you’ll soon see, and it’s really clever the way they’ve done it. I’ve seen the original film, I’ve read the book and I’d seen the plays, with a real steam train in actually, so when I went and auditioned for it I was so excited. I mean even auditioning for it was amazing.”
Were you amazed by how good the supporting cast is?
Beau: “Working alongside Sir Tom Courtenay, Sheridan Smith, Jenny Agutter… John Bradley too. They came, they lit up the set.”
Eden: “Oh yeah. On the day we were meeting them all I just couldn’t wait. I couldn’t sleep the night before. It was so exciting.”
Beau: “And meeting these guys too (the rest of the young cast). They’re all amazing to work with as well. When I first met them, we were all in the same apartment complex. Eden I think had arrived before KJ (Aikens) and I, and she took us down to see some ducklings and some sheep. It was so lovely.
“The thing about all of us is we mirror our characters quite a bit. We’re all adventurers but some of us are a little bit cautious. We thought should we go and talk to the parents before we see the sheep. But we thought would we really be the Railway Children if we didn’t climb a fence and explore the Yorkshire Dales, so ‘let’s go’. And we would sometimes take the actual train to set!”
What are you working on next Eden?
“Well I’ve had a lot of schoolwork to do so I’m hoping to get back in the saddle next year.”
And how about you Beau?
“At the moment I’m working on something called The Critic. It’s got Sir Ian McKellen. It’s got Romola (Garai), Ben Barnes, Mark Strong. I’m working with some amazing actors. I’m so grateful and lucky to be working with them. And the day before I started this, I’d just finished a Netflix series I’d been filming called Treason alongside Charlie Cox and Oona Chaplin.”