As part of Coram’s collaboration with the UK release of the family film SKETCH, members of the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) Youth Board were given an exciting opportunity to interview the young actors who star in the film, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence and Kalon Cox, ahead of the film’s release in UK cinemas on 24 October.

SKETCH is a heartfelt family film about a young girl, Amber, whose imagination and exploration through art helps her to cope with grief. When Amber’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life – imaginary yet real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.

Lizzy Kean, aged 16, a member of CSSF’s youth board, spoke to Bianca, Kue and Kalon, about their characters and their favourite moments on set.

Becoming part of the SKETCH family

Bianca, who plays Amber in the film, says: “I read the script for SKETCH and I just fell in love with it. I thought it was so funny and the character was so much like myself.”

Kue, who plays Amber’s brother, Jack, and Kalon, who plays their classmate Bowman, commented that it felt like ‘being part of a family’ on set. Kalon remarked that one of the best aspects of the whole experience was “the friends we made along the way”.

Working with the monsters

Kue revealed that the monsters in the film were created by concept artists, with involvement from the children of the film director, Seth Worley. The artists drew the monsters and then Seth asked his children to re-draw them in their own way. The final creations were a combination of the original drawings, adapted with input from the children.

Bianca adds that she did a lot of drawing behind the scenes: “I always had my sketch book on me when we weren’t filming and I was always drawing. I was shown the art ideas for the monsters so I based my drawings on that.”

Bianca says her favourite monsters to film with were the ‘eyeders’ (eyeball spiders). “They had exploding balls of chalk so when you stepped on them, they would explode into red powder. It was very interactive to film with” she says. “I also loved the scene with the eyeders when I was in the bathtub and I had to wear a blue glove to put the spider on. It was a lot of fun.”

Kue says: “My favourite monster was Dave, specifically the scene on the bus when I get pulled along on my back. It was really cool to film, despite being a really hot day and there was not much air on the bus!”

Inspiring new creations

When asked what they would choose to draw and come to life, like in SKETCH, Kalon said a ‘deck of cards’ that you can “use like a cool magician to use to your advantage and manipulate the cards”.

Bianca said: “I would draw myself a little dog or cat. I don’t have any pets and feel like I’m missing something. But I would also make it like the cat in SKETCH where tentacles come out of it because that’s really cool.”

Impact of the film

Reflecting on the more emotional scenes in the film and its messages, Kue said: “I hope that people take home (from the film) that your family are like your best friends. They should have your back, no matter what. So, trust them more, talk things out with them more.”

Bianca said: “You don’t have to draw to express your emotions. I like to write songs to get out any emotion I’m feeling. I sing and play guitar and let out anything I’m feeling. There are so many options – do whatever feels comfortable to you and how you’d like to express yourself.”

Bianca concludes: “I want people to feel recognised if they relate to Amber or any of the characters in SKETCH, that they feel somebody sees them for who they are.”

On the experience of interviewing the SKETCH stars, Lizzy said: "I really enjoyed developing my interviewing skills and to do it with such engaging, skilled actors and to ask about such a wonderful film was even better."

Sketch will be out in UK and Irish cinemas from 24 October. For more information and to book your tickets, please visit www.sketchfilm.co.uk

Find out more about the CSSF youth board at shakespeareschools.org/pages/youth-board-members