'All or Nothing': The trials of life in suburbia

For two young actors looking for a big break, landing parts in a Mike Leigh film was a dream come true

Everyone knows that Mike Leigh demands a lot from his actors. There's the lengthy rehearsal periods, the endless improvisation, the strict rules about not discussing their characters among themselves. Yet, for all the commitment required, one can imagine few people turning down the chance to work with Leigh, an actor's director, by anyone's standards.

That, surely, goes double for young actors looking for their big break. "I've certainly wanted to work with Mike for as long as I've wanted to be an actor," concurs James Corden.

He's just one of a clutch of new faces to be seen in Leigh's new movie, All Or Nothing, which screens at the Edinburgh Film Festival tonight. Set on a south-east London council estate it follows the trials and disappointments of a family marooned both geographically and emotionally. Parented by acting heavyweights Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall, the kids are played by newcomers Corden – as Rory – and Alison Garland – as his sister Rachel.

"I've idolised Mike since I first saw Nuts In May and Bleak Moments," says Corden, who can also be seen during the festival in Damien O'Donnell's Heartlands. "So working with him, it's like wanting to be a footballer and signing for Man United or playing for England. It's that kind of feeling.'

The off-screen rapport of the young actors couldn't be more different from their on-screen interaction. In All Or Nothing, Rory is a fat, frustrated layabout, brimming with angry self-pity, but incapable of motivating himself beyond watching television and stuffing himself. Rachel, on the other hand is the silent sibling, soaking up the emotion and tension in the family and suppressing her feelings. In real life, Corden is bright and articulate, though he occasionally flirts dangerously with luvviedom, while Garland, sharply witty, is happy to gently tease her co-star over his unfettered exuberance.

"The first time we saw the film," recalls Corden. "It was a screening for 10 or 12 of the actors. Afterwards people were coming up to me congratulating me and telling me I was great. But I was like 'Oh no. No' And Mike came up to me and said, 'Look James, you're terrific in this film. You're brilliant. So It's kind of offensive to me and anybody who tells you that to deny it. Just say thank you very much...'."

"...And get over yourself," interjects Garland, smiling and rolling her eyes.

Corden's is certainly the showier part: lumbering and furious at the world, Rory is constantly at odds with his family and peers. Eventually, his weight, his smoking and his high-octane temperament combine in a heart attack. Corden's performance is admirably unselfconscious.

Garland, however, quietly steals the show. Rachel hardly speaks, yet Garland imbues her performance with such subtle, genuine compassion, you are thoroughly moved by her emotional prison. It's a strikingly convincing portrayal (matched elsewhere in the film by newcomer Sally Hawkins as Samantha, the daughter of family friends).

Nevertheless, Garland admits that she wasn't always sure of herself: "'I had a mantra for those times when I was feeling afraid and paranoid. It was: 'No, he has not made a mistake in casting you, because he does not make mistakes'."

Corden agrees: "You realise, once you start working with Mike, that he's not going to let you be bad because his whole approach is designed to pull these performances from you."

This approach includes not allowing the cast to learn anything about the rest of the film that their characters wouldn't ordinarily know. As, for example, Rachel's family have no idea about her work in a care home beyond what she tells them, neither were Spall, Manville or Corden aware of the disturbing advances made on her by a middle-aged fellow cleaner.

"Nobody knew about that stuff," nods Garland. "It's quite horrible isn't it? But it's all ever so slightly ambiguous and, while I have days when I think he was a dirty old man, other times I think that he never actually did anything, that she just didn't have a clue what was going on."

"It's strange," proffers Corden. "You don't realise how in character you are. When we were making the film I didn't notice that any of this stuff was going on with Rachel. But you're so in character, you don't notice because it's part of who Rory is. Rory doesn't really notice Rachel as a person at all."

Being the more passive character wasn't an easy option: "It sounds so wet," says Garland apologetically. "But it is quite exhausting just sitting there, because it's all about almost saying something and then never actually managing it. I think Rachel uses up a hell of lot of energy just keeping it all buttoned down."

They are both justifiably bursting with pride about the film. Leigh has orchestrated a compassionate, at times desperately moving portrait of lives not so much lived, but evaporating.

"I have absolutely no reservations about saying that it's brilliant," insists Corden, banging the table. "Sometimes you have to be a bit reticent about what you think of the work you're in. Bollocks to that! This is bloody terrific."

And, though she doesn't join in the tub-thumping, Garland nods her hearty approval.

'All or Nothing': tonight at 7pm at UGC, 18 Aug at 8.30pm at the Glasgow Film Theatre and 21 Aug at 9.30pm at the Filmhouse. www.edfilmfest.org.uk