YEARNING MAN
YOU & ME A fresh, heart-warming comingof-age story of love, loss and resilience…
You & Me, a superb debut three-parter from Casualty star Jamie Davis, follows the repercussions of two meet-cutes: first, journalist Ben (Industry’s Harry Lawtey) finds Jess (Sophia Brown, The Witcher: Blood Origin) at a bus stop, they fall for each other and have kids. Some years later, Ben is interviewing up-and-coming actress Emma (Jessica Barden, The End of the F***ing World) and something stirs…
Where did the idea come from?
Jamie Davis (creator) I wrote this at a time when things were going really well for me, and I catastrophised that: what’s the worst thing that could happen? Can anyone ever come back from that? It’s a love story, but it’s also a sort of thriller in that we go backwards and forwards in time, so you’re trying to guess what happens next and what happened before. Above all, it’s a story about what that love costs you. I met my wife at 17 and I’m aware that at any point it could have gone terribly wrong and I would have been lost. But we did it anyway – that’s the risk you take when you love someone.
Did your characters feel familiar? Jessica Barden (Emma) Sort of, although Emma isn’t jaded like me!
She’s grateful for everything and still believes in the yellow-brick road of being an actor. I loved playing a normal person, a girl not asking for attention or thinking she’s the coolest, which was very different to my usual characters.
Harry Lawtey (Ben) Ben isn’t a million miles away from who I am, although I felt unqualified for parenthood and also some aspects of grief. A good friend became an unexpected young father a year or two ago, and I had a fantastic, illuminating conversation with him. Normally coming-of-age stories are about teenagers, but the idea that personal growth ends when you become 21 just isn’t true in my experience – the more stories about how it’s OK to change direction, the better.
Sophia Brown (Jess) I got quite attached to Jess, and I definitely recognised that London of your 20s, rocking around with your mates without much money. She doesn’t really know what she wants to do in life, but she’s happy enough not to have the answers – I wish that I had that acceptance when I was in my early 20s.
What’s the message of the show?
SB How quickly things can happen, how delicate every interaction is, how beautiful and sad change can be. You just have to try and look it in the eye and embrace it.
JD You & Me asks a big but simple question: is the power of love worth the risk of heartbreak? We answer it with a resounding yes.
‘Is the power of love worth the risk of heartbreak?’
JAMIE DAVIS
YOU & ME IS ON ITVX NOW.