An Education Director Lone Scherfig: 'It's Almost Like the Future is Coming Into That Home'

Was Peter Sarsgaard attached already to play Jenny's suitor when you came to this project?

Yes, and it's part of the reason I came to it. It's a brilliant piece of casting. There is this vulnerability that Peter has that really suits the part, and he's a fantastic co-actor. A big part of the reason that Carey is as good as she is, is that she has such great support. I have to say that as we shot, I knew that all these really good actors were going to come in. "On Monday, Alfred Molina's coming in. Then, Tuesday, you'll shoot all your scenes with Emma Thompson." They all were impressed by Carey as well. They got a lot back from her, she was inspiring to work with. She, too, is a good co-actor.

You know, after I saw the film, I kept thinking of the song "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles. [Editor's Note: Yes, I realize I'm obsessed.]

Yeah! I thought a lot about "Mother's Little Helpers" when I did it. I talked to Marjorie [the real-life inspiration for Mulligan's mother in the film] a lot, and you're right, she's like a Beatles character. We did the music at Abbey Road Studios, which was great.

Did you feel a sense of the history there?

I did, because you're in that same room! You walk across that same zebra crossing, and it says "Abbey Road" on your mug. The acoustics are great.

It's almost like Sargaard's character is foreshadowing this mod, Beatles revolution.

As [screenwriter] Nick Hornby puts it, it's almost like the future is coming into that home. While this film is taking place, both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are in the recording studios, recording their first albums. You can see, almost coming out of the carpets, this future that Jenny wants but can't see. Everything changed right after the film ends, which is great for the audience. You know that she's going to be fine, that there will be a career for her. She will get an education and it will qualify her, for instance, to write this story.

The film was such a huge hit at Sundance, though it arrived there with little in the way of expectations. Did you have any notion of how it would do, and were you blown away?

For me it was the other way around! The other films I've done have been at [the Berlin Film Festival], and I thought, "Why Sundance when we can get Berlin?" I was a little sad that the film was not going to be released in Berlin, because for me as a European, Berlin is a big deal. I didn't know Sundance. I didn't know Sundance, but once we'd been there, I understood that it was a much better strategy. The film found a home. I know that some distributors are a little bit afraid of Sundance because it can also ruin a film, but it turned out to be a very good idea.

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