Tourette's needs more understanding, says Bafta winner after racist slur

The Bafta-winning casting director behind a film on Tourette syndrome says there needs to be "more education and understanding" after a racist slur was made during the broadcast.

Lauren Evans said she was in "complete shock" at winning an award at Sunday's ceremony for her work on I Swear, a film based on the life of Scottish campaigner John Davidson, who has the condition.

But she said the evening has been "overshadowed" by the discussion of the slur shouted out by Davidson, in an involuntary tic, when two black actors were on stage presenting an award.

The BBC has since apologised for not editing the incident from the broadcast, with chief content officer Kate Phillips telling staff that a second slur was edited from the coverage.

Carmarthenshire-born Evans says after working on worldwide hits such as Netflix' Sex Education and Paddington 2, the process for casting I Swear - which tells the real-life story of Davidson's experience with Tourette syndrome - proved "unique".

"When it comes to casting something like this, you have to look beyond their skills as an actor [and] you have to look to them as a person and see that they have the right sort of commitment, the right work ethic, the tenacity.

"The fact that it's such a low budget, there's certain people who won't consider a film of this size and budget, so you're also having to contend with that as well.

The lead role went to Yorkshire actor Robert Aramayo, who won the Best Actor Bafta.

"Rob is that kind of actor where he immerses himself so deeply you sort of don't know where he ends and the character begins," Evans told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"You get a lot of people saying, 'he wouldn't have [won] if it wasn't for you'.

"It's very nice validation but at the end of the day it's what he brought to it, so he might not have it without me but I wouldn't have mine without him, so we sort of go hand in hand."

Evans says she was only wearing one shoe and chewing gum during the ceremony, not expecting to scoop the prize against the casting agents of Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet, and Michael B Jordan's Sinners.

Evans said: "I feel so privileged to be in a job where I can work on things that make a difference and prompt a discussion.

"To tell [Davidson's] story and to put it out there and for people to keep talking about it, and to raise awareness is hugely important and to bring people together to celebrate difference and tolerance for understanding.

"I'm very grateful but I do find the whole setting [of the Baftas] quite overwhelming, it's just not part of my life."

Despite a successful night for I Swear, many have condemned the BBC for broadcasting one of Davidson's tics, where he shouted a racist slur towards Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they were on stage presenting an award.

The campaigner said he was "deeply mortified" by the remark, with celebrities weighing in on whether the comment was intentional.

The BBC's chief content officer Kate Phillips told BBC Staff in an e-mail on Tuesday that the slur was aired in error, with a second one edited out of the coverage.

Tourette syndrome is a motor disorder characterised by sudden, involuntary and repetitive movements or sounds, known as tics.

Tics involving sounds may include:

• whistling
• sniffing or clearing your throat a lot
• making animal sounds
• repeating a sound, word or phrase
• swearing

About 10% to 30% of people who have the condition produce socially unacceptable words as tics.

Evans said: "It's really upsetting I feel for for John and Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo that the whole evening has sort of been overshadowed by this conversation.

"There must be more education and more understanding about the base-guarding of things like this, and the tics and the language and what comes out.

"Not just for John or those who have the tics, but for those who are on the receiving end of it, because obviously it's involuntary."

Evans is currently working on casting an upcoming BBC comedy series staring Ruth Jones and Steve Speirs, and is looking to cast a nine-year-old boy with a Merthyr Tydfil accent to play Speirs' grandson.

On what it takes to be a good casting agent, Evans said: "You've got to have good instincts, but I think you've just got to really love actors.

"You've got to love what they do, what they bring, how vulnerable they make themselves and all that goes with it."