Tom Riley

How did The Toll Road come to you?

My friend Richard Galazka had written it as a palate cleanser in between rewrites of a feature he had in development. I read it, and was drawn in by the unexpected characters and deceptively simple story. Originally it was set in England. However, when we partnered with the hugely supportive Kids at Play - and in response to the political upheaval in America - we realised the best way to tell the tale was by relocating and rewriting.

How did you decide on the look of the film?

I hired a brilliant DP in Amanda Treyz, and presented her with a bunch of references. She killed it. Not only that, but she was a superb partner in crisis when we realised our shot-list was far too ambitious for 24 hours of shooting time, and had to condense it down to the most precise list possible. The bare necessities.

How did you decide on the music?

I always wanted the film to feel timeless, to give an explanation for the main characters’ willingness to seek out extreme solutions to small problems: They are removed from societal context - both in time and place (the endless road and lack of clear location is intentional) - and as a result only have their individual echo chambers (which at one point in the film becomes literal) to influence their actions. Therefore the songs that soundtrack the film, just like the Discman that Emily uses to listen to them, are sourced randomly from across the last century. I asked my insanely talented friend Bear McCreary - who I’d worked with on a show a few years back - to score it for us, fully expecting him to be far too busy, but he graciously carved out time. His score manages to blend seamlessly in with the song choices of the movie, whilst at the same time being very much its own thing.

What was it like to direct your wife?

We were supposed to have three days to shoot this, but she refused to come to set for the first day because she didn’t like her character’s eyebrows so we lost a whole day. Regardless, she was a delight, excavating a side of her talents that she’s rarely been able to show off in her previous work. And as a producing partner, she’s both endlessly patient and a real source of creative inspiration. But obviously those Day One Eyebrows were magnificent and I mourn their loss.

What is the one thing you’ll take away from this?

Trust in your team. Crews work insanely hard and are prepared to work even harder if you give them space to take ownership of what you are creating alongside them. I count myself so lucky to have been able to share it with such a passionate and talented group. The other thing I took away from it were those eyebrows, which I intend to put under Lizzy’s pillow in a year’s time and continue my reign as the Number One Prankster.