We spoke with British filmmakerJoe Stephensonamid the release of his new Hammer Films releaseDoctor Jekyll, which sees the great Eddie Izzard tackling the famed dual role in modern perfection. Stephenson has kept busy with another buzzy British-centric project of late:Midas Man, the highly anticipatedbiopic about Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
“The cast is fantastic,” Stephenson told MovieWeb. “We have Emily [Watson] and Eddie [Marsan] playing Brian’s parents, and we have Jacob [Fortune-Lloyd], who’s a star in the making. I don’t know how much people know; Jacob has been in some great stuff, on some terrific shows and things, and he’s really wonderful. His performance [as Brian] is outstanding and so beautiful… It was a joy to be around everybody. They were all fantastic.”
Jay [Leno] has a really cute cameo. He just pops in. We have that sort of little moment of Brian with Ed Sullivan [played by Leno].
Stephenson also detailed his unique experience in joiningMidas Manas director, as two previous directors had dropped out of theonce-delayed projectbefore he signed on. “I went into it later,” said Stephenson. “I ended up shooting about 90-something percent of the movie. But I was able to luckily bring on my crew and, you know, find my version of the film.” He went on to describe the film:
“It’s tragic in lots of ways, but it’s very much a love letter to Brianand very much a celebration of his life without shying away from the more difficult parts of it…And my Beatles, they’re fantastic. I can’t wait for you to meet them. It’s been quite a journey. And it’s a journey that I haven’t been on from the beginning. But yeah,it’s finished. It’s locked. It’s starting to go out, and I’m excited.”
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Joe Stephenson Directed a ‘More Radical’ Jekyll
UntilMidas Manis finally released in North America, moviegoers can enjoyStephenson’s throwback-style horror featureDoctor Jekyll, which was just released in the U.S. As the titular character, trans actor Eddie Izzard plays an openly trans Jekyll, though the story doesn’t bring this element to the forefront of the film a lot of the time. It’s introduced early on to viewers and then remains in the background.
“It was never designed to be about gender as a story,” Stephenson told us. “We looked at a variety of different actors and talked to people, had conversations. And so when it came to Eddie joining, it was a case of like… ‘We want it to be a trans character because all that just makes sense… But at the same time, do we want to change the story? Should the story be affected by the character’s trans-ness?'” He continued:
“And it just simply felt like… historically, there are versions which have kind of been… perhaps not very sensitive to the issue. However, there are versions which have the male/female kind of versions of the character. And I just felt like,actually, there’s something far more radical in just having a trans character and their trans-ness not affecting the story and not being part of the story, in the same way that trans people will just live their lives as trans people, and their trans-ness shouldn’t affect their daily life.”
100%. From Hammer Films,Doctor Jekyllwill open in U.S. theaters and on demand Aug 24, 2025. You can get it on digital platforms like Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and on Prime Video through the link below:
