John Davidson, the real-life subject of Tourette’s drama “I Swear,” made headlines at the BAFTAs in February. Now, actor Robert Aramayo wants to bring “nuance” to the conversation.
‘I Swear’ star Robert Aramayo got advice from Ethan Hawke
“I Swear” star Robert Aramayo remembers the touching advice he received from Ethan Hawke as a student at the Juilliard School for drama.
NEW YORK – The stars aligned at this year’s British Academy Film Awards, where Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Ethan Hawke and Jesse Plemons were competing for best actor.
But the surprise winner was actually the guy with the fewest acting credits: relative newcomer Robert Aramayo, 33, who brings aching specificity and humor to “I Swear” (in theaters now), which is based on the true story of Tourette’s syndrome activist John Davidson.
“I never in a million years thought they were going to read my name out,” Aramayo says on a recent morning. “I didn’t ever think that my name would be considered amongst those names. … I still can’t really believe it. It was absolutely mental.”
Why there is ‘nuance’ to BAFTAs incident with John Davidson
The decades-spanning “I Swear” traces Davidson’s troubled upbringing in a working-class Scottish town in the 1980s, as he begins to experience inexplicable episodes of involuntary swearing and repetitive movements that rankle teachers, classmates and his own parents. He is eventually diagnosed with Tourette’s, and with the help of a family friend (Maxine Peake), he slowly learns how to manage his condition and find confidence in himself.
Davidson, 54, became the subject of numerous documentaries, and in 2019, made headlines for unintentionally swearing at Queen Elizabeth II while receiving an award for his advocacy work. But Aramayo had no idea who Davidson was until he read filmmaker Kirk Jones’ script for “I Swear.”
“I had a lot of reservations about playing John,” Aramayo says. Along with Tourette’s, “John is a man with many, many different things going on with him,” struggling with OCD, ADHD and severe anxiety − all common in people living with Tourette’s.
But the young actor’s nerves were put at ease as he spent extensive time with Davidson prior to filming, and befriended the movie’s more than two dozen cast members living with Tourette’s.
“Those days were so beautiful, because it really brought home that lots of people in that group had never met anybody else with Tourette’s before,” Aramayo says. “They say if you’ve met one person with Tourette’s, you’ve met one person with Tourette’s. It’s always very different with every individual, and people were so incredible about sharing their stories with me.”
“I Swear” was unfortunately thrust into the spotlight at the BAFTAs in February when, because of a Tourette’s tic, Davidson shouted racial slurs at the team behind “Sinners,” including stars Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they presented on stage. Davidson excused himself from the ceremony and later issued an apology, although the BBC sparked controversy for failing to edit the slurs out of the broadcast until hours after the fact.
“There’s nuance to the conversation, obviously,” Aramayo says. “In the movie, you see that tics have an impact on people. You’ve got to acknowledge that. At the same time, coprolalia – the tic that John has – is not a reflection of a person’s thoughts and feelings. It’s involuntary; it’s saying the worst thing imaginable in any given circumstance.”
‘I Swear’ star Robert Aramayo manifested his ‘Game of Thrones’ role
Born and raised in Kingston upon Hull, England, Aramayo got his start acting in youth theater productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Bugsy Malone.” Although he once considered pursuing a career in either marine biology or archaeology, he was too much of a class clown and often got in trouble for impersonating teachers at school.
In 2011, he was accepted into The Juilliard School for drama in New York. He still lives in Brooklyn, and likes to spend his weekends strolling through Prospect Park or watching English football. (He’s a dyed-in-the-wool Leeds United fan.)
Throughout his decade-long career, Aramayo has worked with directors such as David Fincher (“Mindhunter”), Tom Ford (“Nocturnal Animals”) and Matthew Vaughn (“The King’s Man”), and he’s itching to one day be in a Paul Thomas Anderson movie.
The up-and-comer is perhaps best known for playing the young Eddard Stark in the last two seasons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” as well as the half-elven ruler Elrond in Amazon series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
“When I was a kid, I remember watching ‘Game of Thrones’ when it first came out,” Aramayo says. “I remember my dad saying to me, ‘Imagine if you were on something like this one day, Rob.’ And then telling him I was going to be in it – it was a really lovely moment.”
With his newfound recognition around “I Swear,” his hope is simply that he’ll get to continue acting. And more importantly, that the movie will raise awareness and promote education about Tourette’s.
“I would love for people to go home from the film and just Google, ‘What is Tourette’s?’ or ‘Who is John Davidson?’” Aramayo says. “If it starts a conversation, that’s amazing.”
For more information about Tourette’s syndrome and access to free resources and support, visit the Tourette Association of America at tourette.org.