The Great Escaper director on working with "remarkable" Glenda Jackson

Unsurprisingly, both were full of praise and fond memories, with director Oliver Parker calling her a "force of nature".

He explained that she was instantly won over by playing the character of Irene "Rene" Jordan – the wife of a World War II veteran who secretly left his care home to attend a D-Day commemoration in 2014.

"Talking to her, she absolutely knew who the character was," he said. "Absolutely from the beginning, she was talking about her as a complete, fully formed character, and had opinions which were undeniable.

"The one criticism she gave of the script was virtually the second thing she said to me… She said, ‘Well, it wouldn't say she slouches on the sofa. She wouldn't slouch, she's done ballroom dancing, I know these people!’ And she had this kind of incredible clarity and empathy for this character."

He added that Jackson inhabited the character so strongly that many people who have watched the film ahead of its release have almost forgotten it was Jackson playing her.

He said: "My mother-in-law saw a screening the other day and she said, 'I kept forgetting – it felt like it was absolutely them', Which is a hard thing to do when you've got icons. And the characters merge in this because it's so fortunate really to find actors and characters with such similarities."

Screenwriter William Ivory added that Jackson added so much depth to his script that he was pleasantly taken aback by the surprising way she delivered some of the lines he had written.

"[She was] very incredibly modest, but also really clear and clean in her thinking," he said, adding: "And you know it's funny because now I've seen it a few times, it's astonishing the detail that's in the performance that I've seen more and more of every time.

"There are very few lines that, when I was on set, she needed explaining or wanted explaining, but there were also a couple of lines that she did in ways that I was so surprised by.

"And sometimes when you've written a script that can be a bit derailing. But with her, it was really, really interesting because she just knew the character. And she just gets to the same point exactly where I always wanted to be but by different means."

Parker added that although Jackson was an incredible screen presence, her approach in some ways was more like that of a stage actor – in that she did not seem "that bothered by the camera or anything like that".

He added: "She's just in her own bubble that she's created, which is absolutely invulnerable, she's just this forceful creature who could be anywhere [but] as soon as action goes, she's just completely there and completely present and you almost couldn't put her off. And that was so wonderful.

Read more:

• The Great Escaper 'revived Michael Caine in some ways', says director
• Michael Caine "sort of retired now" after The Great Escaper

"Even in the edit, I hadn't realised how funny her stuff was, then you put it together and realise she had more of a master plan than I did! All credit to her that she joined up the dots. When you're grabbing stuff on quite a fast shoot, you're going 'That's good. That's good. I can put this together'. She just had this absolute sort of thorough grasp and wit, as she was working on a different level from everybody.

"And when you see the way she challenges the patronising characters in the care home at times, this was nearly all actually just her own doing as an actress – it wasn't even obvious in the script nor in my directions, she would just have this attitude. It was fabulously kind of merciless.

"And then actually, when you see her at the end, it's like she thaws and she's so kind of generous and sympathetic, and beautiful. It's a remarkable performance.”

The Great Escaper is released in UK cinemas on Friday 6th October 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast