We interview Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda, stars of Bird, about getting cast in and shooting the film, working with Andrea Arnold and their co-stars, their characters, and more.
To define Andrea Arnold’s Bird a coming of age story wouldn’t do it justice. The Fish Tank director’s newest drama is first and foremost about two outcasts who meet one another just when they need it the most, and who help each other grow into a more complete person. At the center of it all is the 12 years-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams), who lives with her single, well-meaning but neglectful dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, of Saltburn) and her brother Hunter (Jason Buda) in a squat in North Kent.
One day, after learning that Bug is about to get married to a woman he’s known for three months, Bailey goes on a walk and meets the skirt-wearing, eccentric Bird (Franz Rogowski, of Passages). The two couldn’t be more different, and yet they have one thing in common: they’re both in desperate need of a family. And so, a beautiful friendship is born that will eventually change them both forever, in a beautiful, empathetic tale that doesn’t blame any of its characters but rather shows us the humanity underneath and invites us to be our own person.
At the BFI London Film Festival, we speak with stars Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda about how they were cast in the movie, shooting specific scenes, working with Andrea Arnold and with their co-stars, the roles thay’d like to do next, and more. Read the interview below and don’t forget to check out our review of Bird!
Bird‘s LFF Premiere, and How Nykiya Adams & Jason Buda Were Cast
What a journey you had with this film! I was completely blown away by it in Cannes, and now you’ve been at so many festivals and it even won awards! Did you know it was going to be as “big” as it is, when you were making it?
Nykiya Adams: I didn’t think it would be as big as it is now! I thought it would have a little bit of hype, but now I sit there and I’m just like, this is crazy.
Jason Buda: I never expected this either. I knew it’d be big, but not like this: I didn’t think I’d be going to the Cannes or London Film Festival and doing all this.
N.A.: I’ve been to Toronto [in September, for Bird‘s Canadian premiere at TIFF], which was so far from home, but now I’m in London, and it’s also getting closer and closer to the release date. It’s just going to be a crazy release.
J.B.: It definitely feels like a homecoming, since we made the film here, near London.
How did you get cast in the film?
J.B.: Two casting directors, Lucy [Pardee] and Coral [Knights], came to multiple schools around Essex and London looking for people to play these roles. They told us that it was going to be a “theatre movie thing”. I didn’t know exactly what it was, and they just came around schools and then started auditioning us.
N.A.: Lucy came to my school: she went to the drama department asking if they had any kids who could relate to this character. Theythought of Tallulah Adams, my older sister, but she was too old, so they said “oh, we have a little sister.” There was a little something going on my school – a massive crowd, and I just remember walking through, and Lucy comes over and goes, “Do you want to come to this workshop on Thursday?”. I was like, “Yeah, why not?” It would get me out of school and class, so I thought I’d go: all my friends had done it as a joke.
I got my mom to sign the letter, and then all of a sudden, my mom gets a text: “Nykiya’s been called back”, and was like, “what’s this for?” They said it was for this “film type of thing,” so I went back; it then got down to the last two, and then I found out about the part. My mom thought she’d just have to sign this one thing and it’d be over, but then she had to sign loads of contracts. And then, since we’d only been watching films but we’d never been behind one, seeing it behind the scenes, and going through what characters have to go through… It was a crazy experience.
Nykiya Adams & Jason Buda on their Characters in Bird
This was your first film, and some of these scenes are very emotionally intense and even violent. Was it difficult to get into your roles as Bailey and Hunter, and also to get out of them when you’d leave the set?
Jason Buda: For me, five-ten minutes before we would start shooting, I’d take myself away from cast and crew and just be me. I’d listen to music that would get me in the mood for that specific scene. We also had acting coaches that helped us get into character, but more importantly get out of character, because I don’t want to be Hunter.
What kind of music would you listen to, to become Hunter?
J.B.: I think Hunter would mainly listen to UK Drill Music. In the scene where me and Nykiya are getting our hair cut, there’s this song in the background by an UK Drill artist: I’d listen to that if I had to act out a violent scene. Or if there was an emotional scene, I’d listen to sad music to get me in the mood.
What about you, Nykiya? What was it like to become Bailey?
Nykiya Adams: Being Bailey, to me, was being a more extreme version of myself. This meant reacting to things in a more extreme way. Switching in and out of Bailey was so easy for me, because all I had to do is just dial it down a little bit and just be myself. It was harder to channel Bailey in softer scenes. I’m not really a soft person, but if I get used to it, I will be, and I didn’t want to be me [while I was playing Bailey in a softer scene] and get mixed up. Being “extreme” was being Bailey, so I just had to keep on being extreme the whole time, and switching off was just easy for me.
Nykiya Adams & Jason Buda on Working with Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski
Nykiya, I feel that your character has these two very important relationships in the film: the one with her father, Bug (Barry Keoghan), and the one with Bird (Franz Rogowski). What was it like to work with both and develop these relationships between the characters?
Nykiya Adams: When Bird was introduced in the film, that was me seeing him for the first time as well. So my reaction wasn’t, “Oh, I know you and we’ve got to work together,” but it was more like, “I don’t know you”, full stop. Over time, obviously, I got used to him, and then Bailey got used to him, and after more scenes with him, it was easier and less awkward than the first time we met.
With Barry, it was more like brother and sister; I didn’t see him as a dad, but more as a brother. When we would clash in the scenes, it was just like clashing with my older brother. Barry is so fun to work with. With his character, over time, I think Bailey starts to realize how much effort he’s actually trying to put into trying to make all of them [Bailey and the rest of the family] happy. In the end, I think she realizes that she’s got to give him some sympathy, and then be him, because you only get one life.
Did anyone give you any useful advice on set?
N.A.: Barry and Franz would always tell me, “Be yourself and look where it’s taking you” – like, look at what me being myself now has got me.
Jason Buda: Literally what she said! [laughs]
There’s a scene where all three family members – Bailey, Hunter, and their father Bug – are together: it’s when all three of you are riding that one scooter together. What was it like to shoot it?
N.A.: It was easy to get on the scooter, because the scooter was big, but it was just awkward, awkward positioning. I was squashed in the middle between Hunter and Bug, and then there was music, so I decided to just listen to it, and then obviously do the scene. And then, we’d go all the way back around. I was on that scooter for about 15 minutes straight.
J.B.: I was afraid! Barry was genuinely going so fast that I thought I was going to fall off! I remember the scene in the film, from when I saw it. It is a beautiful scene; it kind of shows you that a family can actually get together, and they’re not always fighting and bickering at each other.
Nykiya Adams on Shooting Some of Bird‘s Scenes and the Use of Magic Realism
Nykiya, there’s an amazing scene where a bird takes a piece of paper off your hand and delivers it to someone. Did that actually happen?
Nykiya Adams: Yeah, the bird was trained! It was crazy. I’m not scared of birds, but getting too close to birds is a bit scary. So I just put out my arm, I trusted it, and it just went and did its thing. It was amazing! And it was weird!
***Minor spoilers for the ending in the next two questions!***
What about the magic realism? Thinking of a scene at the end involving Barry Keoghan’s character – did you know that a transformation was going to take place?
N.A.: I had a rough idea of it, but I didn’t think anything of it, because I had always thought it was a naturalistic film. I just thought Bird was just going to be one of the characters, and they would build a relationship up and just become friends. But then, the ending happened, and I was just like, “whoa”. The plot twist was kind of weird, but… it’s come a long way from the beginning.
There’s a scene at the end where that transformation is taking place, there’s a fight, and it’s pure chaos. Your character, Bailey, is watching that scene. What was that like?
N.A.: I remember seeing Franz go on set, and I was in the kitchen of Peyton’s [Bailey’s mother, played by Jasmine Jobson] house. I was just sitting there, and that was the first time I saw Franz’s makeup as well. I was like, “Oh my gosh”. The skin on his neck was actually really, really sharp when I touched it. And then the feathers… It was so cool. It’s crazy what makeup can do.
***No more spoilers from here on!***
Nykiya Adams & Jason Buda on Andrea Arnold and their First Scene Together as Bailey and Hunter
What’s it like to work with Andrea Arnold?
Nykiya Adams: A wonderful experience. I’d love to do it again. I think she’s one of the best directors to be around now. Her style is hard to explain: the actors don’t know what’s going on. So when you’re finding out, the reaction of the character is their real reaction as well. You only get part of the script, so you don’t know what happens the next day. It’s a weird experience. I remember first meeting Jason, and we just got along like that.
Jason Buda: Yeah, Andrea works in a very unique, beautiful way. I’ve not actually seen directors work like that. They literally send you the script of the scene the morning of the day, or the night before. It helps keep things natural and raw.
N.A.: I think it’s good for new actors: you don’t get a fat script to learn in a week. You get to learn it with the character as well, so you know what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it every time.
Is it an actual script that you get every day?
N.A.: She doesn’t use scripts; it’s more of a guide.
J.B.: She never really puts pressure on you to remember the script. For example, if you’d forget a part of the script, we could use improv and just do that. She’s really calm with that; she doesn’t mind it.
Are there any scenes in particular that you remember – either fondly or because they were tricky to shoot?
N.A.: Cutting my hair. It was a big change.
J.B.: That was the worst scene, because it was the first scene we shot together. I remember us – me, Moon [Hunter’s girlfriend in the film], and slightly Nykiya – all being kind of robotic.
N.A.: When we were actually filming, that was the first time I met Jason, so we just had to get along as quickly as we could.
Nykiya Adams & Jason Buda on Their Own and Their Characters’ Futures
Are you into films at all?
Jason Buda: I was never really a big film fan. I wasn’t really watching movies, but then I got cast in this and now I do watch them. Getting into this movie definitely helped.
Nykiya Adams: I was always about sports, so I’ve always been more active – I wouldn’t sit down watching films unless they were played at school – and my sister was always the actor. Watching her from afar kind of helped me do this as well. Now I’ve done a film, I would love to do one again.
Did Bird help you both understand which kind of roles you would like to do in the future?
J.B.: Yes and no, in a way. I would like to play something like Hunter again, but I definitely want to experiment with something else too. Maybe… I don’t know, maybe have a romantic relationship with someone.
N.A.: I’m open for anything, but being Bailey wasn’t really acting for me; I just saw it as just, “be yourself and see where it takes you,” because I can relate to Bailey in so many ways. I would also want a wider range of acting, so I would like to be something that’s completely opposite to me.
If you had to imagine Bailey and Hunter in ten years, where do you think they’d be?
N.A.: Bailey would probably have gotten better and realized that she can’t control everything. I think she’d actually be doing well in life and have a stable job.
J.B.: I think Hunter would be… in prison? He’d literally be like his dad, Bug. He’d probably have two or three kids with Moon. Maybe he’d have another girlfriend, something like that.
Thank you so much for speaking with us!
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Bird was screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 19-20, 2024 and was released in UK & Irish cinemas and in select US theaters on November 8, 2024, and in more US cities from November 15. The film will be available to stream on Mubi from December 23, 2024.
Header Credits: A still from Bird / Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda attend the Bird headline gala during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 19, 2024 in London, England (Atsushi Nishijima, © 2024 House Bird Limited, Ad Vitam Production, British Broadcasting Corporation, The British Film Institute, Pinky Promise Film Fund II Holdings LLC, FirstGen Content LLC and Bird Film LLC / Karwai Tang, WireImage)
