Robert Aramayo on playing Tourette's Syndrome activist in film ‘I Swear’

[0:00] Tourette's syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes individuals to make [0:04] involuntary repeated sounds and movements. In the Sony Pictures film I Swear, award-winning actor [0:09] Robert Arameo portrays Tourette's syndrome activist John Davidson as he navigates his [0:14] early life with the condition. Our Perry Russell sat down with Arameo about the film. Here's a look. [0:20] It's called Tourette's syndrome. Say things that I shouldn't. [0:23] Tommy, this is John. Come to have a chat about the vacant position. [0:27] You okay with the tics and the swearing? [0:29] What tics? What smell? [0:30] I don't think you are okay. [0:35] Robert Arameo, thank you for being here. So you mentioned in the interview that you did not [0:40] present your character to the director or the writer before you started filming. Why was that? Walk me [0:46] through that thinking. [0:47] It was strange really. I mean, I was really wanting to audition for the role and excited to and I felt [0:56] like it was important but Kirk was so sure about it and I was like, okay. And then when we started [1:02] developing the role, I felt like it was really important just to spend as much time as I could [1:07] to gain knowledge, learn, speak to people, spend time with John and not really focus for a while [1:17] on trying to perform or thinking about how I was going to play him, you know, because there was so much that I needed to learn and I wanted to just sort of approach it first of all from like an intellectual basis, I suppose, and just understand as much as I could. [1:33] You portray John Davidson in the film. What was it like learning from him, speaking with him and other people living with Tourette's syndrome as you were developing the character for yourself? [1:42] Yeah, I mean, I mean, incredible and obviously enormously insightful. He's a really amazing man and he's got a brilliant story. And also I met some other really, really incredible people who've got their own stories of living with Tourette's and in their own sort of unique way. [1:59] And I think that's what's so important about Tourette's. It's if you've met one person with Tourette's, you've met one person with Tourette's. It's so singular. It's so unique. [2:06] And so when I learned that, I knew that I had to meet as many people as I could to sort of almost put John's story in context, really. [2:13] What did you know about Tourette's before you took this role? [2:16] I didn't know much about Tourette's at all. I would say I had quite a two-dimensional perspective on Tourette's. And then, you know, very quickly I learned that it's far more complex than I thought it was. [2:30] In terms of the challenging roles that you have played in your career, where do you think this ranks? [2:34] Oh, it's definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. There's no doubt about that. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of responsibility, I think. I felt a lot of responsibility to John and to the community. [2:44] And I really wanted to do a good job. And mainly, of course, for John. [2:48] And there was a lot of discussion about John at the BAFTAs, one of his appearances a few months ago. [2:53] How do you hope this film helps audiences better understand people living with Tourette's syndrome and some of the, I guess, some context for how situations like that can happen? [3:01] I think education is really important. And I think that the film is hopefully a part of an education. [3:07] I've been so struck by the responses that some people have had to the film. [3:13] You know, sometimes, you know, I saw a statistic recently that one in 50 kids in America are living with a persistent tic disorder and one in 160 are living with Tourette's. [3:24] So it's like, it's actually quite, it's common. It's in our, you know, in America, it's in the schools. [3:28] It's, you know what I mean? It's your friends and stuff like that. [3:30] So hopefully it sort of like provides maybe a part of an education or part of a discussion around Tourette's. [3:37] That would be amazing. And when it seems to have had that effect on somebody, there's nothing more, there's no bigger accolade really for the film. [3:45] I want to talk about you and the BAFTAs winning two major awards, rising star, the leading actor as well. [3:50] And in the leading actor category, you're with some greats in that. [3:53] Timothee Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, Ethan Hawke, Leonardo DiCaprio. [3:56] What is it like to be a part of that group and then win on top of that? [3:59] Yeah. I mean, you know, for me, it was just unbelievable to be nominated amongst those people. [4:06] I mean, you know, you never expect to see your name with those people. [4:10] So it just really, really blew me away. And, you know, I was really, really honoured by the nomination. [4:17] But on the actual night, there was not even a percentage of me that thought that I was going to win. [4:22] So when I did, it was just like, it was shock. It was disbelief. [4:25] If I could, you know, like, like, obviously all my family and, you know, everyone who I was there with, was celebrating. [4:31] And then I just found myself running down these stairs thinking, what am I going to say? [4:36] But then you went back to the moment where you met Ethan Hawke. [4:38] What drew you to that moment? [4:41] Well, I wanted to say to him at some point in the night, it was my plan to hopefully try and find him and thank him. [4:46] I never thought I'd be thanking him in that way, in that moment. [4:50] But when I was up there, I just thought, oh, you know, why not? I could see him. [4:55] And it just sort of felt like the right time, really, because I feel like, you know, Ethan is a really, really talented and inspiring actor. [5:03] And when you hear him speak, or when I heard him speak that day, I felt like he was sort of one of those people that he was saying the exact thing that people needed to hear in the exact moment. [5:12] It wasn't just me. It was everyone in that room, I think. [5:14] Robert Arameo, thank you for being here. [5:16] You guys can catch his new film, I swear, in theatres right now.