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Mackenzie Foy and Calam Lynch are two of the stars of the Disney+ adaptation of Anna Sewell’s timeless tale, Black Beauty. A modern-day reimagining of the novel, the film follows Black Beauty, a wild mustang born free in the American West, who’s rounded up and taken away from her family. She’s then brought to Birtwick Stables where she meets Jo Green. The pair build an unbreakable bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters and challenges in her life. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Mackenzie and Calam about Black Beauty, their preparation for the film, and introducing this beloved story to a new generation.

PC: To start, could you each introduce us to your characters in the film?
Mackenzie: I play Jo Green, who originally in the novel, is a man. We meet Jo after a traumatic loss: she loses both of her parents and finds herself at Birtwick with her uncle, where she finds Beauty, who has gone through similar trauma. They meet each other, and that’s Jo’s story with Beauty.

Calam: I play George Winthorp, who is the son in the Winthorp family. His sister Georgina leases Beauty, and my character leases Ginger. George and Jo strike up a friendship, which turns into a relationship.

PC: Black Beauty is a classic novel that many hold near and dear to their hearts. What was your connection with the source material? What attracted you to this project?
Mackenzie: I’m a massive fan of the original book and I was just really, really excited. I loved it as a kid, so when I got the email, I was like, “Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Please be good. Please be good.” Ashley [Avis] is absolutely brilliant. She’s a beautiful writer.

After I read it, I was just sobbing because of how perfect it was. I loved it and I wanted to meet her. I ended up meeting with Ashley, and she’s a truly phenomenal human being. I knew I had to be a part of this.

Calam: I hadn’t read the book before I got the meeting. I really loved it when I read it, but I think I’d seen Mackenzie’s work and thought she was great, and Iain [Glen] had actually played my dad in a TV series a year before, and then I read the script. There was so much about the script that I loved. I think the relationship and the way Jo’s written throughout the whole film, then the way that their relationship works, and how honest and equal it is—I really love that.

PC: There are so many incredible messages and themes within Black Beauty. Which one resonated most with you and why?
Calam: For me, it’s having empathy. I watched it for the first time a couple of weeks ago with my parents and my partner. We all thought that in a really weird time this year, where everything feels so hopeless, it’s a really sweet, honest, pure story about hope and there being light at the end of the tunnel. That’s a really nice thing for people to watch around Christmas as well.

Mackenzie: I really like how it plays into the friendship and bonds between the people, horses, and souls that you meet along the way and the power of that as well as how that can affect you for the rest of your life. That’s a really beautiful thing. Lastly, no matter time and distance, you can still always be with somebody.

PC: Part of the preparation for the film involved training with the horses. What was that experience like for both of you?
Mackenzie: I loved it. I really, really loved it. I worked with horses on a film I did previously, The Nutcracker, which is where I initially learned how to ride. It was really, really fun and really amazing. I did about ten lessons before we started filming and then I started with Cody Rawson-Harris, who was a Liberty trainer on this. From there, I saw how many possibilities there were within the horse world and with riding. I absolutely fell in love with it. It was so much fun.

Calam: I hadn’t done much riding before. I feel so lucky to have learned that skill and also to have spent so much time with horses. I learned in London where I live off a motorway, and it’s not as picturesque as when we got set up and were doing it there. Horse trainers are really lovely people. I really loved the girls who taught me in the stable in London. It was a treat to ride the horses.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, over the course of the film, we see this beautiful relationship form between Jo and George. How did the two of you approach that bond and dynamic between your two characters?
Mackenzie: It was really fun. Their relationship is really, really sweet because it’s not about Jo going after George. They’re friends and then it just happens organically. They become a little bit more and it was really fun. Calam is the most charming human being you’ll ever meet. It was really fun getting to know him and doing our scenes together. It was a really fun thing.

Calam: It was great. We shot pretty much in sequence, so we met and were getting to know each other; it was quite natural that we were doing those scenes. We became really, really good pals on set. It was fun to do those sorts of scenes with someone who I genuinely liked. It was great.

PC: You’re getting to introduce this beloved story to a new generation. What has that meant to you?
Mackenzie: It was a really exciting thing. It was amazing. I love how Ashley has updated this—how she’s updated the story—and I hope that people see it. I hope that they see that there are issues within the horse world. When we find Beauty, she’s a wild Mustang and is being rounded up, and that’s how she gets on her journey of losing her family and trying to find out who she is through the rest of her life. It’s an issue, and it’s something that is really terrible. I hope people see and understand that. Hopefully, they take away that understanding and try to help horses and help them have a better way of life.

Calam: I totally agree with Mackenzie. The script is written by someone who has a real love for horses as well as being a really talented screenwriter. I think the way that Ashley weaves some genuine issues into a really beautiful story is incredibly deft and smart. People should check out her other work.

Make sure to follow Mackenzie (Twitter/Instagram) and Calam (Twitter/Instagram). Watch Black Beauty today on Disney+

Mackenzie Photo Credit: Disney