Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Rhys Ifans, Laura Linney, and John Madden for Onwards and Sideways at TIFF 2026.

The trio discusses the responsibility of authentically portraying Parkinson’s disease accurately and writer Paul Mayhew-Archer’s personal account and response to the diagnosis.

Madden also reflects on directing the Star Wars radio drama in the ’80s, and Linney discusses joining Michael Keaton’s upcoming Western, Rode to Ruin.

Academy Award-nominated director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) returns to the big screen at the Toronto International Film Festival with Onwards and Sideways. The film is a dramedy that examines a sombering disease through an intimate connection between two people who meet at a turning point in their lives. In the film, schoolteacher Tony Evans (Rhys Ifans) and pianist, composer, and mother of two, Emma Dretzin (Laura Linney), first encounter one another after they’ve both received a life-altering diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Immediately, they begin to compare symptoms and how they’ll choose to approach this condition — one wants to raise awareness, the other wants to keep their diagnosis a secret. As the next “five good years” go on, Tony and Emma’s lives continue to intertwine as they adapt to this degenerative disease.

In this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Madden, Linney, and Ifans at the Collider Media Studio, presented by Campari and The Cayman Islands, about the responsibilities of portraying people living with Parkinson’s authentically, and how screenwriter Paul Mayhew-Archer’s own diagnosis shaped the film. Regarding portraying these characters respectfully, the pair share their initial concerns, and how not only were they aided by the writer, but in partnering with Neuro Heroes in the UK, as well. Linney touches on her apprehensions, saying:
“It was incredibly daunting, and we felt the responsibility, certainly. In my brain, I could see the very bad version of this movie because of bad choices on my part, if that happened. So, Rhys and I both worked very, very hard to make sure that we were as authentic and respectful and three-dimensional as possible.”
Ifans expounds on the measures taken to do so, explaining:
“I’ve never felt such a responsibility, because, like you said, you’re representing a worldwide demographic and it’s a demographic that has to live with this condition day by day and for the rest of their lives, and we were just visiting briefly at the peripheries of it.
It kind of hit us really hard during a read-through. Most actors will foolishly jump in because something’s a challenge, and then we realize, ‘Oh my God, what have I just said yes to?’ So, we did the work, and it wasn’t work that we were able to do by ourselves. We had an incredible team of people who work in and with the Parkinson’s community in the UK, namely Neuro Heroes, Laura and Anna, who are neuro physiotherapists who were with us every step of the way because obviously we had to portray the condition in annual, five-year increments…and not in that order. Sometimes in the morning you’d be doing year five, three, two, one. But we very quickly got used to that… It felt like learning another language, and we wanted to learn that language where anyone else who spoke that language would think we were a native.”

John Madden Helped Revive Radio Drama With ‘Star Wars’

“It still stands up perfectly well.”

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) holds the Skywalker Lightsaber as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) watches in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New HopeImage via 20th Century Studios

Madden, who’s received an Oscar nomination for Best Director (Shakespeare in Love) and gone on to helm films like Proof and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, also recalls directing the Star Wars radio dramas in the early ‘80s, long before his Academy nod. When asked what he remembers about directing the radio dramas for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back in 1981 and 1983, Madden recalls aiding the BBC in drumming up more interest in radio drama “post-Orson Welles,” saying:
“You’d think that something that’s so visual and so large and so forth would not work on radio, but it does work on radio. It gets a lot of attention, even now. I get asked that question all the time.
I had a radio background, and I came out from working at the BBC, where I was working radio drama briefly. I was doing other things, as well, and they said, ‘Would you come and help us revive radio drama as a means of communicating?’ Because radio drama didn’t exist post-Orson Welles — everything went commercial, and everything was music and so forth. And actually, the Star Wars people came to us and said, ‘Would you do this?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, I guess we’d be very happy to.’ So, I mean, I remember everything about it, to be honest with you, and it still stands up perfectly well, thank you very much.”
Don’t miss the full conversation on Onwards and Sideways, where Linney also shares why she’s excited to join Michael Keaton’s Rode to Ruin, in the video above, with time codes below.

00:33 – The cast shares their favorite movie theater seating.

01:19 – Laura Linney and Rhys Ifans play a game of Get to Know Your Cast!

02:28 – What is Onwards and Sideways about?

03:44 – Linney and Ifans discuss what drew them to the film.

05:29 – Linney and Ifans discuss the responsibility of portraying people living with Parkinson’s and delivering authentic, respectful performances.

09:37 – John Madden explains how screenwriter Paul Mayhew-Archer’s own Parkinson’s diagnosis shaped the film.

12:03 – Linney describes the challenge of coordinating Parkinson’s symptoms with dialogue, emotions, and physical rhythms.

13:13 – The cast share the preparation that helped the physical work settle into their performances.

14:36 – The crew discusses how the film changed their perspectives on life.

17:47 – Madden recalls directing the original Star Wars radio dramas in the ‘80s.

19:21 – Linney discusses her excitement about making a Western on Michael Keaton and Morgan Freeman’s Rode to Ruin.

Onwards and Sideways premiered at TIFF 2026.

Release Date

September 13, 2026

Runtime

110 minutes

Director

John Madden

Writers

Paul Mayhew-Archer

Producers

Hilary Bevan Jones, John Gore