‘Homophobia played a part in his early passing’: Midas Man’s Jacob Fortune-Lloyd on playing ‘fifth Beatle’ Brian Epstein

Joe Stephenson: You really became an authority on Brian Epstein. What research did you do? So much is out there about Brian’s work, but was there anything in particular you came across that made you feel like you now understood his emotional life?

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd: Hey Joe! So, there are a few video and audio recordings of Brian that I watched and listened to over and over. They helped with his physicality, his voice, and how he coped with public scrutiny as an introvert. There’s an invaluable book called The Brian Epstein Story which is a compilation of memories of Brian from family, friends and colleagues, and Brian’s own journal entries. Learning about his difficulties in early life was an important foundation. He attended many different schools, rarely felt that he fit in, and wrote of his persistent loneliness. Those formative years continued to shape his adult life, even with his meteoric success. And I listened to all the wonderful music of course, as well as the choices he made for his Desert Island Discs which were interesting. 

I’m always very conscious of the heavy responsibility of telling a true story. Did you feel that weight as the actor portraying a real person? If so, how did that affect how you approached the role?

I did feel the weight of responsibility. I really wanted to honour Brian, and those who knew him and loved him, and I knew that there are so many people around the world today who care deeply and know a great deal. Brian was also a perfectionist, with extremely high standards in everything he did, so I didn’t want to disappoint him! None of that changed my approach as such, it just made me work harder and care even more about getting things right.

Brian’s life was so tragically short, and his use of drugs were the cause of death, but I’ve always felt that indirectly it was the societal pressure of being a gay man at the time it was illegal that really took him from us. Do you agree?

There are several factors I think, but there’s no question that homophobia played a fundamental part in his early passing. He was living as a criminal for almost his entire life and went through a number of brutal and traumatising experiences. His journey of self-acceptance, and search for secure romantic love were made so much harder. 

Being our lead I’m not sure there was a single day you weren’t on set, yet you never felt like you were waning in energy. How do you manage your energy levels with such a highly demanding role?  

Those were long and full-on days for sure! I remember rarely seeing you without a syrupy vanilla soy latte in your hand. I definitely drank too much coffee and ate too many sweets. But I was really enjoying it, and it meant a lot which powered me through. I do remember feeling pretty withered on the weekends, and for weeks after we finished the shoot. 

In the third act, Brian comes face to face with the reality of his relationship with ‘Tex’ (Ed Speleers). It’s an incredibly emotional scene you have to play opposite Brian’s American business partner Nat Weiss (James Corrigan). When dealing with such intense emotions, I’ve always admired actors’ ability to tap into such raw emotion. Do you take that emotion home? Or have you developed a way of having complete emotional separation?

I think I do take it home, or at the very least my body takes it home, and it takes a while for things to feel settled and normal again, particularly if we’ve had to run the scene many times. It’s messy and unpredictable, but I think you can develop your own way of leaving things where they belong, whether that’s physical exercise or some kind of meditative practice. I’m still working out how that works for me, but I did notice that if I did something to consciously acknowledge the shift, I’d feel more settled. 

Looking back at the shoot, do you have a day or scene that felt like the most memorable? For me it’s probably a mix of shooting at the real Abbey Rd, and the BBC broadcast scenes…

I loved those iconic scenes too, and the BBC broadcast scenes falling on our last two days in Liverpool made them extra special. But I also really loved the scenes of simple human connection, like the beautifully written moment between Brian and Cilla (Darcy Shaw) at Clive Epstein’s wedding (Bill Milner), the painful scene with Nat Weiss (James Corrigan) you mentioned above, or the scene with Queenie (Emily Watson) when she’s encouraging her son not to give up. 

Our cast includes some wonderful legends of the industry, such as Emily Watson and Eddie Marsan playing your parents. Do you ever get nervous acting opposite established names? Or has it become just part of the job now?

I was so chuffed when I learnt they were playing Queenie and Harry. I do still get a little nervous, but it’s mostly nervous excitement about being challenged, and having the opportunity to learn. It helped that I’d worked with Eddie before and knew what a mensch he is as well as being an incredible actor. I must confess I was a little intimated to work with Emily for the first time, and come face to face with those mesmerising eyes, but I soon learnt she is also a massive mensch, and such a pleasure to work with. 

Finally, I know that what I want people to feel when they’ve watched Midas Man is a feeling of love for a man they probably knew little about before watching. What do you most want people to take away from the film?

I think the same really, I hope people fall in love with him the same way we all did, for who he was as well as for the staggering things he achieved and helped bring to the world. You have made such a tender and moving film, and I hope it will help remind people that though life can be hard, it is also very precious and beautiful. 

Midas Man is streaming on Amazon Prime UK now