So THAT's How They Film Adults Swearing At Child Actors

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about where shows like Call The Midwife find newborns to star in their scenes.

But what about older child actors, who sometimes get sworn at by actors on screen?

Do they really just film those cursing clips as-is, exposing the child to definitely-not-school-appropriate language?

Well, according to Marina Hyde and Richard Osman of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, it’s not always that straightforward (thankfully). 

So how’s it done?

“There are two schools of thought on this,” journalist Marina Hyde said.

“One is: children can take it, right? They can take it and they can hear these words and it might not be ― you know, they might have heard stuff at home and it doesn’t matter and it’s all part of the job.”

But there are “levels,” Marina added.

“If you talk to the people on Breeders, what they do is they’ll do a clean dialogue take with the child in question and then when they’re shooting the actor’s coverage, which is the bit when you’re sort of tight on and you’ll shoot the whole scene and actually everyone’s in it but the camera’s just on [the actor]” they’ll curse.

Rules are different in the US, Marina adds, but in the UK we tend to be “quite sanguine” about it “up to a certain level.”

Richard Osman shared his rules about swearing around kids

The Thursday Murder Club author said he’s always aware that the podcast he co-hosts can be played in a car around kids, so is careful not to get too “forceful” with his language.

At home though he says he tells his own children: “Adults can swear in front of adults and kids can swear in front of other kids, but you must never cross the streams.” 

Marina shared her wisdom too.

When her kids ask her why she can swear and they can’t, she says: “This is the equivalent of the Ferrari you won’t be getting when you’re 18.

“I’m building you a Ferrari of swearing which you will be allowed to take out of the garage when you’re 18... They don’t buy this, by the way.”