Scrapper director shares credit with ‘brilliant’ child star Lola Campbell

Scrapper director Charlotte Regan is part of this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, but she’s given a fair share of credit to her breakthrough leading actress, Lola Campbell.

In her heartwarming and gritty debut, Lola portrays young girl Georgie, who lives by herself in a London flat after the death of her mother.

Her life is turned upside down with the sudden arrival of her dad, Jason (Harris Dickinson), who tries desperately to bond with the rebellious daydreamer.

“It was pretty much Lola who made the film,” Charlotte told Express.co.uk.

“I think she kind of deserves a writing credit. We should pay her half my fee, because so much of her personality is in the film. She improv’d a lot.”

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Campbell and Dickinson’s chemistry quickly becomes the emotional crux of the film and, even as a first-time director, Regan had the instincts to take control of their free-flow performances.

“Lola was always the same,” the filmmaker recalled. “She just hated emotional stuff and wanted to undercut it with humour.

“But she had pretty dark humour, so sometimes we had to rein it in because it wasn’t appropriate for the film.

“And if she had to hug Harris or something she hated the scene,” she laughed.

Although Regan’s next film project isn’t currently known – she most recently shot episodes of The Buccaneers for Apple TV+ – there’s a strong chance Campbell will be involved as the pair have stayed close since Scrapper was shot in 2021.

“We stay in touch constantly,” she said. “So it’s less of, like, a year later, ‘Look at you, weird teenager!’

“We went to Legoland after the film, and she’s my excuse to do all the childish activities I can’t do without a child. So I see her quite a lot.

“She’s always been a bit of a granny, she’s quite an old person anyway, even when she was 11. She talks to you like a grandma.”

Regan also touched on the opportunities the Breakthrough scheme will present – other names on the list include The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey, 1923 actress Aminah Nieves and Rye Lane director Raine Allen-Miller.

“It’s incredible, BAFTA is something you look to and aspire to throughout your career. So, just to have the other people on Breakthrough who are at similar stages of their career is pretty invaluable, you know?”

“Just people to talk to and people to connect with about similar things we go through. So, every part of it is amazing, and for sure it helps you feel a bit more like you belong in this kind of world.”

As for the rest of her career, Regan isn’t limiting the kinds of cinematic projects she wants to take on after the success of Scrapper.

“I just wanna do all the over-ambitious, Christopher Nolan films and the arty films,” she said. “Like the Oppenheimers, epics and Star Wars.”

Scrapper is available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV and the Sky Store.

See the full BAFTA Breakthrough list below.

UK BAFTA Breakthroughs:

Adjani Salmon, writer/performer/exec producer – Dreaming Whilst Black

Bella Ramsey, performer – The Last of Us

Cash Carraway, creator/writer/exec producer – Rain Dogs

Charlotte Regan, writer/director – Scrapper

Cynthia De La Rosa, hair & makeup artist – Everyone Else Burns

Ella Glendining, director – Is There Anybody Out There?

Funmi Olutoye, lead producer – ‘Black History Makers’ (Good Morning Britain)

Georgia Oakley, writer/director – Blue Jean

Holly Reddaway, voice and performance director – Baldur’s Gate 3

Joel Beardshaw, lead designer – Desta: The Memories Between

Kat Morgan, hair & makeup designer – Blue Jean

Kathryn Ferguson, writer/director – Nothing Compares

Kitt (Fiona) Byrne, 2D artist/game designer – Gibbon: Beyond the Trees

Michael Anderson, producer – Desta: The Memories Between

Pete Jackson, writer/creator – Somewhere Boy

Raine Allen-Miller, director – Rye Lane

Rosy McEwen, performer – Blue Jean

Samantha Béart, performer – The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow

Talisha ‘Tee Cee’ Johnson, writer/director/presenter – Too Autistic for Black

Vivian Oparah, performer – Rye Lane

US BAFTA Breakthroughs:

Amanda Kim, documentary director – Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV

Aminah Nieves, performer – 1923 and Blueberry (Film/TV)

Apoorva Charan, producer – Joyland

Cheyenne Morrin, senior games writer – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Edward Buckles Jr. documentary director – Katrina Babies

Gary Gunn, composer – A Thousand and One

Jingyi Shao, writer & director – Chang Can Dunk

Maria Altamirano, producer – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

Santiago Gonzalez, cinematographer – Shortcomings

Shelly Yo, writer & director – Smoking Tigers

Sing J Lee, writer & director – The Accidental Getaway Driver

Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, writer & director – Mutt

India BAFTA Breakthroughs:

Abhay Koranne, writer – Rocket Boys

Abhinav Tyagi, editor – An Insignificant Man

Don Chacko Palathara, director/writer – Joyful Mystery

Kislay, director – Soni

Lipika Singh Darai, director/writer – Some Stories Around Witches

Miriam Chandy Mencherry, producer – From the Shadows and The Leopard’s Tribe

Pooja Rajkumar Rathod, cinematographer – Secrets of the Elephants

Sanal George, sound editor/mixer/designer – Gangubai Kathiawadi

Satya Rai Nagpaul, cinematographer – Ghoomketu

Shardul Bhardwaj, performer – Eeb Allay Ooo!