Ryan Whitaker, writer and director of stunning new film ‘Surprised by Oxford,’ talks bringing the emotional and beautiful story to life on screen.
The film follows Caro Drake, an incredibly intelligent but emotionally guarded young woman who arrives at Oxford to attain her PhD. However, after meeting a charming young man, Caro starts to open herself up to new things, including mystery, vulnerability, love, and more.
Surprised by Oxford takes audiences on a journey that explores the beautiful and complex nature of life. Complete with an incredible cast and unprecedented access to Oxford, the film is a stunning escape to a world of dreams, transformations, and romance.
Rose Reid stars in Surprised by Oxford, along with Ruairi O’Connor, Mark Williams, Ed Stoppard, and Phyllis Logan.
The Knockturnal got the chance to chat with writer and director Ryan Whitaker about all things Surprised by Oxford.
The Knockturnal: What was it like to explore the memoir of Carolyn Weber on screen?
Ryan Whitaker: Carolyn’s story touches on so many themes. It’s a coming of age story, it’s a love story, it’s an intellectual journey, an emotional journey, a spiritual journey. It’s quite unique. When I first read the book, I knew there was a movie in there somewhere and I was determined to find it. Thankfully, Carolyn was receptive to the idea of me taking a crack at it. That was nearly five years ago, and she’s been nothing but collaborative and supportive throughout the whole process of bringing this story to the screen.
The Knockturnal: The film is so stunningly shot and offers audiences unprecedented access to Oxford University, can you speak about what inspired you to showcase the story in this way?
Ryan Whitaker: I had a great working relationship with my DP, Edd Lukas. Our hope was that this film
would serve as a cinematic love letter to the city of Oxford. It may be a slightly romantic depiction of Oxford, but we’re seeing it through Caro’s eyes. It’s a strange, beautiful, otherworldly place to her, as I imagine it will be to a large portion of our audience, who have never been there and don’t know the idiosyncratic nature of it. I love the idea that our film gives them “unprecedented access,” as you said. It’s a peek behind the curtain. But we don’t go out of our way to explain everything; we let the audience catch their bearings as they go. I think that’s more interesting.
The Knockturnal: As both the writer and director of the movie, what was the creative process like — from writing the script to production?
Ryan Whitaker: Well, it was a difficult adaptation in some ways, because the book is quite long and filled with narrative detours and a lot of characters. The challenge was chipping away at the marble to find the cinematic version of the story hiding within, which required stripping the narrative down to the basics, losing some characters, combining others, and so on. Once the script was written, it took another three years for the right team to assemble around the project. That started with our producer Ken Carpenter catching the vision for what this film could be. From there, it was about assembling the best team to bring it to life.
The Knockturnal: The film features such an incredible cast — with every actor top to bottom delivering powerful and nuanced performances — what was it like to direct these talented individuals?
Ryan Whitaker: We were incredibly lucky. Rose was the first to attach — then, with our casting director Kate Ringsell, we tried to build out the best ensemble cast possible. I’m still in awe of the results. I don’t think there’s a weak link in the cast. Everyone was there to work and bring their best to the story we were telling, which is an incredibly gratifying thing to witness as a director. To have these brilliantly talented actors like Phyllis Logan and Mark Williams and Michael Culkin arrive on set with ideas for their characters, their backstories, their wardrobe, was thrilling for me. It makes the job so much easier. It doesn’t mean it isn’t challenging, but it becomes challenging in the right ways, rather than a series of unnecessary battles.
The Knockturnal: Did you run into any unexpected challenges or obstacles while filming?
Ryan Whitaker: There were two significant challenges. The first was our schedule, which was quite aggressive. Every day was tight, with a lot of pages to shoot, frequent location moves, and so forth. The second was the logistical challenge of shooting in a city that’s not only a tourist town, but a university town, and one with narrow streets and limited parking. Securing locations was a big hurdle, especially with classes in session, but somehow we were able to get access to almost all of the locations we needed, which was no small feat.
The Knockturnal: Do you have a favorite memory from filming?
Ryan Whitaker: One of my favorite memories was on the third day of principal photography, when we
were scheduled to shoot the big party sequence towards the end of the film, which our production designer Andy Luck and art director Olive Jenkins had been working tirelessly to set up in one of the quads at Exeter College. It was an important sequence with a lot riding on it. When I stepped onto set and saw what Andy and Olive had pulled off with limited time and resources, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was stunning. I knew we were in good hands. From there, it was about blocking and staging the sequence, some of which had been shot-listed beforehand, but it was only a rough guide, because we hadn’t seen the final layout of the party. That scene opens with a long, complicated oner that took significant time to block and shoot, but that’s the sort of thing that’s exciting to me. There was a great spirit in the air that night. We had music playing, nearly all of our cast on set dancing, along with a hundred or so extras. At one point Mark Williams said “something must be wrong, I’m having fun!”
The Knockturnal: What do you hope audiences take away from watching the film?
Ryan Whitaker: Ultimately, my hope is that audiences will be swept away by the story, that they’ll resonate with Caro’s journey of love and discovery, and maybe even begin to ask some big questions of their own. And of course, I hope they’ll rush home to book a trip to Oxford.
Surprised by Oxford premieres at the Heartland International Film Festival on October 8.
