Trivia / Boiling Point (2021)

• Actor-Inspired Element: Stephen Graham contributed several ideas for his character.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Due to the single take format, there was very little specific dialogue scripted. The screenplay just had bullet points of what needed to be said, and the dialogue was developed by the actors in rehearsals.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Philip Barantini lampshaded the irony in the casting; the stereotype of most actors having worked in restaurants in the past, and none of his cast ever had.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Freeman had been played by Jonas Armstrong in the original short, and is played by Ray Panthaki here.
  • Tahlula Krosschell played Andrea in the short, while she's replaced with Lauryn Ajufo.
• Production Posse: Philip Barantini and Stephen Graham had worked together on Band of Brothers. Producer Bart Ruspoli had also starred in that. This is also at least the third film featuring Stephen Graham and Jason Flemyng. Alice Feetham (Beth) and Robbie O'Neill (Frank) had starred in the original short too.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • The original short took place in Manchester, filmed in a training kitchen. The feature required a full restaurant, and the one that was found was in London; thus relocating the story.
  • Mary the woman who takes an allergic reaction to the food goes to the bathroom shortly before The Reveal. This was to allow the actress to have make-up done off camera. And the sequence of Andrea going back inside to look for Mary's jacket likewise was to give the chance to have more make-up applied off camera.
• Tuckerization: The protagonist Andy Jones is named after a head chef friend of Philip Barantini. Jones & Sons is the name of his restaurant, and they left the name as is as a tribute to him.
• What Could Have Been: There were four planned filming days, filming two takes per day, hoping to have eight takes to work with. But filming was happening in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic happened. They had four takes at the time they decided it was too risky to have so many people filming together at once, and the third is the one that's used in the final film.
• Write What You Know: Philip Barantini based the original short, and this, on his own experiences. He dropped out of acting and became a chef, eventually leaving that industry because of the stress. Andy is basically an Author Avatar for him. They even ended up filming in a restaurant he used to work in!