Robert Aramayo didnt audition for I Swear. Kirk Jones brought him to Galashiels in Southern Scotland and introduced him to the real John Davidson the Tourettes activist whose life the film dramatizes and made a call on instinct.

Kirk had originally thought of casting a person with Tourettes for the role; he even tried to do it with John, says Robert, speaking via Zoom, but it was difficult, and the idea of getting John to do his tics on cue also didnt sit well. So he brought me in.

Aramayo wasnt an unknown. Fantasy fans will recognize the Yorkshire actor from his turn as the young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones or as the half-elf lord Elrond in Amazons The Rings of Power I get a lot of attention at Comic-con, which I love, Aramayo says but playing Davidson came with a different level of responsibility. Playing a real person and someone with this condition, I knew I had a duty, both to John and to the Tourettes community, to get it right, he says. Before making this film, I didnt know anything about Tourettes. I had the assumptions I think we all do, that its all about swearing.

Davidson, who people used to call Fuck off John, does suffer from coprolalia, or involuntary swearing, but that just one of tics that are part of his condition. Despite its prominence in media depictions of Tourettes, coprolalia only effects about one in 10 people with the syndrome. In the film, we also see Aramayo, as Davidson, juggling intrusive thoughts and OCD.

The biopic, from Jones, director of Waking Ned Devine and Nanny McPhee, tracks Davidsons life from a misunderstood teen growing up in 80s Scotland through his rise to national attention for his advocacy for Tourettes. (He was the subject of several BBC documentaries). I Swear opens in 2019 when Davidson is about to be awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth. Just before the ceremony, with her Highness in attendance, he shouts: Fuck the queen!

Robert Aramayo and Maxine Peake in I Swear Studiocanal We spent a lot of time taking about these kinds of scenes, which could be just funny, a punchline, if you dont realize the stakes of it, says Aramayo. The stakes for John are huge.

Aramayo shadowed Davidson for the role, moving to Galashiels and following him in his daily routine. At the local community centre, where he works as a caretaker, going on walks with his dog, attending concerts together. He worked with a movement coach and a dialogue trainer to master the Borders accent.

I think I convinced Kirk, and John, with my work ethic and approach to the material, Aramayo says. The goal was never impersonation. I didnt want to imitate him, but I wanted to understand him.

Raised in Hull, northern England in the 1990s, Robert Aramayo found his way to the stage early, joining the Hull Truck youth theater program at nine after watching his older sister perform. Instead of the usual London drama-school route, a teenage Google search for best drama school in the world sent him to Juilliard.

I didnt know anything about Juilliard when I went, he says, his Yorkshire accent showing no signs of New York influence. I was just this young man from Hull. In some ways I still am. I love a Sunday roast, fish and chips. And tea! Has to be Yorkshire Gold!

Robert Aramayo and Maxine Peake in I Swear Studiocanal I Swear premiered to critical acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival and is already a hit back home, where its grossed more than $6.5 million at the U.K. box office. Aramayo just picked up a best lead actor nomination at the British Independent Film Awards for his performance and is already seen as a likely BAFTA contender.

Sony Pictures Classics snatched up I Swear, which co-stars Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, and Peter Mullan, for the American release and Bankside, handling international sales at AFM, is hoping global buyers will also go in for this big, warm-hearted slice of British dramedy.

Aramayo remains modest about the attention. For the young man from Hull, its fitting that his breakthrough comes not in another fantasy epic but in a grounded, human story about empathy and understanding told without the armor, myth or magic. Says Aramayo: I have a great, amazing job. Its just a privilege to be able to come to work every day and do this.