How Julia Jackman’s ‘100 Nights of Hero’ brought together a starry cast including Charli XCX

“I could see the world,” says Canada-born, UK-based director Julia Jackman of how she realised she could make a film of Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel 100 Nights Of Hero. “I love mythology and [Greenberg’s] nods to One Thousand And One Nights. There’s hopeful anger and this keenness to her storytelling.”

Nearly a decade since she read the novel for the first time and Jackman is at the Venice film festival with her film based on the novel that is closing the Critics’ Week sidebar.

100 Nights of Hero is set in a remote castle, where the arrival of a charming house guest throws the dynamic between a neglectful husband, his innocent bride and their devoted maid Hero into chaos.

It is produced by Helen Simmons and Stephanie Aspin for the UK’s Erebus Pictures, with Grant S. Johnson for Production Infinity. WME Independent handles sales. Independent Film Company, formerly IFC Films, acquired North American rights ahead of Cannes. 

In motion

Jackman brought the book to Erebus and wrote a first draft prior to the pandemic, before putting the project aside. “I put it in a draw, I didn’t feel I was ready,” says the filmmaker.

After making her feature debut with teen romance Bonus Track, also with Erebus, Jackman returned to 100 Nights… early last year. “I dusted it off and reconnected with what I’d loved about it. It was always in the back of my mind.”

Then everything sped up. With a completed script, the film picked up a remarkable pace towards production, thanks to a succession of high-profile young cast signing on. “We sent it out thinking we were just going to put out some feelers,” says Jackman. “Next thing I knew, there were all these incredible actors responding to it and wanting to do it.”

First on board was Nicholas Galitzine, who made his name in Amazon Studios’ The Idea Of You, followed immediately by Emma Corrin. “We thought we were working through it much more leisurely,” says Jackman. “Their enthusiasm made it suddenly much more real.” 

That required attaching a third member of the core trio of guest (Galitzine), maid (Corrin) and bride, who they found in Maika Monroe, the US star of It Follows and Longlegs. Despite being a “wuss when it comes to horror films”, Jackman bonded with Monroe over sign language and admired her previous work. “I loved how she could convey so much with micro expressions.”

The lengthy cast includes Felicity Jones in a dual role as narrator and the moon; Richard E Grant, Amir El-Masry, Tom Stourton and Clare Perkins. But the biggest star is one moving into screen roles: pop icon Charli XCX.

“It hadn’t reached me that she was looking to act,” says Jackman. “Her representatives got in touch, said she’d read it and wanted to meet.” Jackman met with the singer shortly before Charli performed at Glastonbury music festival 2024. “We had a lovely chat, and I could see her in this role [of a mythical fairytale figure],” says Jackman.

Before joining the 100 Nights… shoot in autumn 2024, Charli had just finished shooting her first role in Pete Ohs’ Erupcja, which she co-wrote and which launched at Toronto film festival last night.

“She was devoted, open, collaborative,” says Jackman. She was really in the thick of it, she didn’t want to be tucked away.”

Dance

Music was at the core of Jackman’s Bonus Track. The musical connections on 100 Nights… extend beyond Charli’s involvement, with the film shooting at Knebworth Castle, site of famous gigs by Oasis and Robbie Williams.

“There are clocks that can’t be moved or paintings that need to be left,” said Jackman of the challenges of filming on site. “You have to figure out clever ways so there’s not Queen Elizabeth [in the shot] – it was a bit of a dance.”

Despite its star cast, the budget was just £4m, which Jackman credits to the inventiveness of the crew. “They held themselves to a crazy high standard, and worked miracles with fabrics and creative workarounds with sets.”

After Venice the film will have its UK premiere as the closing night of BFI London Film Festival in October, with key cast expected to attend. 

The film arrives in Venice at the end of a festival where the conflict in Gaza has been in focus, via protests, premieres and press conferences. It is an important topic for Jackman, who was one of six people who led the Cinema for Gaza fundraiser in April last year, raising over £230,000 through auctioning lots from Paul Mescal, Joaquin Phoenix, Susan Sarandon and Jonathan Glazer.

“We didn’t think of it as a founding, it was five of us on a WhatsApp group feeling heartbroken and helpless,” says Jackman. “Most industries could be doing more; the situation is horrific and a clear genocide.” The group is aiming to expand its efforts to industries including journalism, literature and music.

Jackman has now been approached to adapt a Julia Armfield short story and is working on a project with Stourton, who wrote and starred in 2021 UK indie All My Friends Hate Me. She also has an original idea of her own.

“From the offers and ideas, something genre might be on the cards,” says the filmmaker.

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