Rhys Ifans and Laura Linney did not need a conventional chemistry read before making Onwards and Sideways. Their first project together required them to portray a relationship tested by Parkinson’s disease, including night terrors, gambling addiction and moments of extreme emotional distress. Despite the intensity of the material, both actors say they quickly developed a sense of trust.
Directed by John Madden and set in Norfolk, the BBC film follows Tony, a teacher played by Ifans, and Emma, a musician portrayed by Linney. Their characters are in their fifties and share a diagnosis that affects their bodies, behaviour and relationship in very different ways.
The performers prepared by attending dance classes for people with Parkinson’s. Linney joined sessions connected with Dance for PD in New York and also attended classes at Juilliard, while Ifans took part in weekly sessions at Pontio, an arts and innovation centre in Bangor, north-west Wales. Both described the experience as inspiring and a way to understand how movement and music can help people living with the condition.
Linney said the classes revealed the contrast between the freedom of movement during dancing and the physical difficulties that can return when the music stops. Ifans recalled dancing alongside people from very different professions who were confronting the same diagnosis, describing the sessions as a great leveller.
The film was written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who co-created The Vicar of Dibley and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 58. His own experience directly shaped the story and its tone. Mayhew-Archer has also worked to raise awareness of the condition through the Movers and Shakers podcast, alongside other people living with Parkinson’s.
Rather than treating the subject solely as a tragedy, Mayhew-Archer wanted the film to find humour in the reality of a life-changing diagnosis. One scene, in which a doctor tells Tony that he has Parkinson’s, draws on the writer’s own experience. After being told that difficulty smiling could be a symptom, Mayhew-Archer replied that the diagnosis itself might explain his expression.
Ifans said he was drawn to the project because of the way it balances devastation and comedy, as well as because Parkinson’s has affected people close to him. Linney likewise noted how widely the disease touches families and communities. Parkinson’s UK is cited in the film’s discussion as estimating that 166,000 people in the UK live with the condition, with one new diagnosis every 20 minutes.
To develop the physical aspects of their performances, the actors worked with the Neuro Heroes, specialists who provide physiotherapy for people with Parkinson’s and related conditions. They helped the performers understand both the muscular effects of the disease and the way its symptoms can vary from one person to another.
The film also explores the effects of medication, which can include changes in libido and appetite, as well as compulsive spending and gambling. Ifans described Parkinson’s as a kind of physical language that the actors had to learn, using images such as moving through tar or sand to translate the condition into performance.
Mayhew-Archer said the production faced a responsibility to represent Parkinson’s accurately while acknowledging that the two central roles could not be played by people with the condition. The story includes a medical procedure that changes Emma’s symptoms, creating practical challenges for casting actors who might not be able to stop certain involuntary movements.
For Ifans and Linney, the possibility of misrepresenting Parkinson’s added to the pressure of the work. Both said that concern brought them closer and made the production especially demanding. Linney described the experience as forcing her to remain unusually present and vulnerable, saying it had profoundly changed her approach to acting.
Onwards and Sideways is scheduled to open in UK cinemas on 6 November. It will later be shown on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer.
Sources: The Guardian Film.