Arts Interview: A history of violence

Taking a no-frills approach to a difficult story has brought rich rewards for Lenny Abrahamson and Jack Reynor, the director and star of What Richard Did, writes John Maguire.

Jack Reynor and Lenny Abrahamson. Photo: Mark Duggan
Jack Reynor and Lenny Abrahamson. Photo: Mark Duggan

"It is absolutely and completely insane," says Jack Reynor, the 21-year-old star of director Lenny Abrahamson's slippery new film, What Richard Did. "I've wanted to be an actor since I was six years old and to be sitting here having played the lead in a film that people are responding to, that has been really well received wherever we've shown it, that is just incredible."

His director, ...