100 Nights of Hero director Julia Jackman talks queering the fairytale and the impact of casting Charli xcx

Prior to creating 100 Nights of Hero, Alberta-born writer-director Julia Jackman had predominantly worked on short films. In 2023, she directed her first feature-length piece Bonus Track, a coming-of-age romance penned by actor Josh O'Connor. While that was a teen love story set in the early noughties, Jackman's latest film takes on brand new reins in the form of a playful, fantasy-romance period piece.

The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg – itself based on the Middle Eastern folktale One Thousand and One Nights. It follows the story a young woman named Cherry after her avoidant husband Jerome decides to test her by leaving her for a hundred nights with his mischievous friend Manfred. 90 minutes of technicolour chaos, storytelling and desire soon unfolds between Cherry, Manfred and Cherry's maid – the titular Hero.

Almost a decade after being recommended the novel by a friend, Jackman assembled a spectacularly unique cast – from the likes of Princess Diana alum Emma Corrin and modern-day scream queen Maika Monroe, to contemporary heartthrob Nicholas Galitzine and brat summer architect Charli xcx (which was actually released during filming, if you recall Galitzine doing the Apple dance). Alongside some stunning locations – such as Knebworth House in Hertfordshire – brought to life by cinematographer Xenia Patricia, and a soundtrack penned by Olivia Coates, Jackman curated a whimsical gem of a film, which is finally arriving on UK shores this week.

Just as it arrives in cinemas, we managed to catch up with Jackman to discuss everything from her eclectic casting choices to the adaptation's exciting visual approach.

I've read that you were first introduced to the graphic novel after a friend introduced you to it. Was there a specific part of the novel that you were most drawn to, initially?

I think I was quite drawn to the fairytale elements. Definitely. It's rare to see a queer fairytale. And I was definitely drawn to the fact there is this whole world and parallel universe to escape to, but that it feels relatable to our world.

And of course, I just loved the pace and wit of it, and sense of fun and camp, even though the subject material is, you know, as with a lot of fairy tales, quite deathy.

The original story of One Thousand and One Nights has been retold a lot over the years, generally under a very male-centric lens. What was it like for you to adapt this traditional story from a feminist, queer perspective?

I think it was so interesting because you're part of this developing tradition basically, at this point. And Isabel [Greenberg]'s book was already a homage in so many ways to One Thousand and One Nights, which I also love. But I think that the joy of stories like that, and slightly more archetypal stories, is that you can keep infusing them with your own details and what feels relatable to you.

And that was a a real joy to carry through the foundation of that story, and that sort of brilliant premise, but to also have the freedom to ask myself 'what would this look like now?' and [in] the mid-2020s. What would a villain look like now? What would this story feel like if it was happening now?

Because even though it's a period piece, that parallel universe quality gave a lot of freedom to build your own world.

I think this film is very deliberately cast, in that everyone feels very suited to their roles, despite how eclectic they may seem as individuals.

They are all very eclectic, aren't they? [laughs]

You've got Maika [Monroe] with her horror background, and Emma [Corrin] has a more dramatic background as an actor. What made you think those two would be a good pairing for this story?

I was already a fan of their work, both of them. So with Maika, with her horror background, I felt it would be really interesting because Cherry is sort of of living this as a thriller. In a world where you can be put to death for what other people might consider small infractions. Even a stranger showing up and kissing your hands, it feels like you could live that like a thriller or a horror film.

And then when I met Maika and she had this brilliant, dry sense of humour and this warmth and loveliness to her, I thought that it would be a great chance to see what we could do together, and that she could bring so much.

She could do so much with her micro-expressions and hold that tension in her body. But I think it was also, hopefully, fun for her to explore like a role with more levity. And even though Cherry is terrified most of the time, Maika has the ability to lend this kind of dry humour to her little glances and her exchanges with Hero.

And with Emma, it was a sort of similar thing meeting them and, knowing what I knew of their work already, meeting them and seeing what spoke to them about the role. And it was the chance to do something a little bit different from what they'd done before.

I think everybody came into this hoping to do something a little bit different. And [Corrin] has this incredible voice and gravitas, but also like a huge amount of playfulness to them.

And it was the same with Nick [Galitzine]. He's incredible and has chemistry and charm with anyone. And I felt that would make him a very dangerous villain, if he's the type that you feel like he could very well win. And to bring a sort of softness that could maybe get people rooting for him in some ways and then examining why they're doing that. I thought that would be fun to play with.

You've also got Charli xcx in there, who came from a completely different professional background to the others. When you were thinking about her for this role, is there anything that specifically stuck out to you, or anything that she brought to Rosa that was different to how someone else might portray her?

She's wonderful. It was this sort of similar thing, when I met her and and started speaking to her, because we had a bit more of an open conversation - we were sort of creatively match made. We met up and I was seeing these different facets to her in person than the ones that I would have seen on stage or at her concerts, and seeing how thoughtful and subtle and dry she can be. Like a really dry sense of humour.

I was really interested in seeing her play that, that sort of quiet hopefulness and something a bit delicate. But I thought what she also brought to it is that Rosa is someone that people project a lot on to. And she has this magnetism and I thought it would be a kind of interesting, meta thing to have.

Rosa was always playing the guitar, like before Charli was even a conversation, she was practising her guitar. And I even considered changing it after because I wondered if it would be a bit on the nose. But then it was like, 'God, what would she be doing? Writing poetry? Dancing?' Everything just felt forced.

And we landed right back where we started – and there was this beautiful custom instrument that Charli played. It was really just a great experience working with her.

There are some very visually striking scenes in the film, for me particularly those of Cherry waking up in the morning. I was wondering what your visual approach was to those scenes.

Oh, wow. I mean, it was a combination at the end of the day of having very little time and a low budget, and sort of trying to preserve as much the vision for it as possible.

And Xenia Patricia, who's our amazing DOP, and Bill [Rae Smith], who was our gaffer, who also I did really want because I'd seen what he managed to do with colour and inventiveness for Rye Lane, and how inventive that was with colour and texture.

And we did want, maybe as a slight homage to the graphic novel, for certain things to look quite bit painterly and quite sumptuous.

And, you know, that bed actually, we couldn't really move anything. It was a very old manor. And a lot of times we were working with the furniture that was there. And this bed was a sort of canopy bed with a very old cover, and there was a little hatch, and we kind of just had to put the camera down in this hatch and make it [work].

So it was it was a lot of like, very banal kind of workarounds. But I think that definitely colour, light and a simple, very focussed colour palette and a focussed sense of costumes really helps with that.

And do you think that this period setting presented you with anything different with how you approached exploring themes of queerness, perhaps compared to Bonus Track?

You know, strangely, I don't know if [there] really is [a difference]. And it was interesting because [Bonus Track] came to me quite unexpectedly. And I do think in a way, they're both coming of age stories about two people who have, for different reasons, never been in touch with their desires.

And there is obviously a notable difference in that Cherry lives in this macabre world where she could be put to death for walking outside alone after teatime, you know. But there is, with teenagers, this heightened world anyway that things feel so huge.

And I think they are both about how small intimacies can feel so seismic when you're discovering things for the first time. So there's a delicacy to both of them, and a focus on intimacy rather than diving right in.

If you could tell/be told a story for 100 nights, which one would you choose?

Oh, my God, this is such a good question. I'm going to be quite boring and say Pride and Prejudice, because my mind has gone completely blank. And it's a comfort read. It's a nervous system regulation read. I love the hate-to-love. It's so soothing. I could recite it by heart.

100 Nights of Hero is available to watch in UK cinemas from Friday 6th February.

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