Actor Andrew Scott plays chief meteorological adviser James Stagg in the film Pressure, which depicts the meteorologist's crucial role in advising US General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Stagg, from Dalkeith near Edinburgh, helped lay the groundwork for the Allied victory in World War Two.
Scott told the BBC that he relished the challenge of portraying a character who was not a traditional war hero. "He appeared to me to be an extraordinarily interesting cinematic character, as well as an unsung hero from history," Scott said. He described Stagg as "very chilly" yet "forthright, direct, obsessed with weather - and not afraid to speak truth to power".
Eisenhower required specific weather conditions for the invasion to proceed: a full moon, low tide, minimal cloud and wind, and low seas. Scott explained that Stagg worked under intense pressure while his wife was heavily pregnant at the time. "It's completely unimaginable, the pressure that they would have been under, not just Stagg, but everybody in the building," Scott said.
The film, directed by Anthony Maras and based on a 2014 stage play by actor and writer David Haig, is set almost entirely in the D-Day planning rooms. Scott said the film examines "the humility of leadership, and about the difference between power and expertise", showing how Eisenhower had the judgment to listen to expert advisers. The production employed weather experts including Martin Young, a former deputy chief of the UK's Met Office.
