"The little beetle goes round and round - always the same way, you see...until its right up tight to the nail."

Daisy, The Wicker Man.

As readers of this site may know, Lesley Mackie had a notable involvement with The Wicker Man. As well as portraying the character of Daisy on screen, her singing voice can also be heard on the film's soundtrack.

Lesley was good enough to take some time out from her schedule to answer our questions concerning the film and for that we are very grateful. The following interview was conducted by Declan McCafferty during April 2006.

DM - Hello Lesley, I have always thought your singing voice in the film seemed more mature than that of the Daisy character's age. How old where you when you appeared in The Wicker Man?

Lesley - It was 1972, and I had just had my 21st birthday - 10th June, which strangely enough was the same as Judy Garland, a part which I played in 'Judy' the musical play in 1986 and again on tour in Scotland in 1991. ( Note - Lesley won an Olivier award in 1987 for this performance – DM ). I was singing in a lower range, which probably did sound mature for a girl.

DM - How did you get the gig of singing 'The Highland Widow's Lament' which can be heard over the film's opening titles?

Lesley - I was in Newton Stewart for one week, and at the end of that week, everyone was having a get-together in a pub and someone asked me to sing, which I did. Edward Woodward joined in and provided a trumpet backing sound for 'Summertime'. I also sang a Piaf song . The director, Robin Hardy, asked if I would come to London to do the Highland Lament, probably because of the Piaf song which had that guttural sound.

DM - Did you work directly with the American musician Paul Giovanni?

Lesley - Yes, I thought he was lovely. He was with Peter Shaffer at the time he was a very liberated sort of man; attractive, talented, and of course, his is the lovely voice on 'Corn Rigs' and 'Gently Johnny'. Sadly, he died prematurely some years later. He still had a play of mine which I had lent him, and I always think of him when I hear anything about the play in question.

DM - There are mixed reports as to who actually sings 'Willow's Song' in the film. To add to the confusion, a recent CD release of the soundtrack was from a different take and its reputedly none other than yourself singing on this version. Giovanni preferred your version so that's the one that made it to his much-delayed album. How did your version of the song come about?

Lesley - It was decided that an album would be released and because I was recording the Highland Lament, they asked me to do 'Willow's Song' at the same time. Paul was very specific about the breathy tone he wanted. I think it was a music student who recorded the version for the film and that was done well before I recorded my version. Of course, once the film was released as a supporting film rather than as the main feature, the album was never released. Then the film acquired it's cult status, the tapes were unearthed and the rest is history! Silva Screen released the CD and I was surprised when someone told me that I had two songs on the CD ...i didn't know anything about it!

DM - Just prior to this interview you mentioned to me that you were given the job of teaching Britt Ekland how to speak in a Scottish accent. How did those sessions go?

Lesley - I only had one day in which to do this, and it would have been a tricky task for an English woman, never mind a Swede. I think that Britt was very keen for it to be her voice, but it was not possible. I would like to have done it, but my own voice was probably too young at the time. After our session, she did say 'now I will be able to put 'speaks Scots' on my CV! I'm sure he was joking!!

DM - Director Robin Hardy was adamant that Britt's dialogue was not overdubbed and that the voice we hear in the film is that of her own. However, seemingly everybody else believes she was overdubbed by the Scottish singer and actress Annie Ross. What are your thoughts on this difference of opinion?

Lesley - I don't think that Annie ever talks about it, so maybe she was sworn to secrecy before the whole world caught on! Britt was in it to help American sales, but let's get real -she's no Scottish wench!

DM - Readers of this website will be familiar with your singing voice. Have you sung for any other films or recordings?

Lesley - I am an actress who sings, so I tend only to be in recordings if a show I am in is recorded. I do have two feisty songs on the 'Brigadoon' album released in 1989 when I did the show at the Victoria palace in London. Unfortunately, the 'Piaf' and 'Judy' shows were never recorded - I just have my own rough recordings made during performances. As for films, it always amuses me that the only film I have ever done was 'The Wicker Man' - my debut and my swansong it would seem. At least it's achieved cult status and people always love to talk about it.

DM - Apparently the other girls featured in the classroom scenes were ballet dancers that were employed primarily for the 'fire leap' dance. Do you know if this correct, and what do you remember of them and their involvement?

Lesley - What I do remember is that I arrived to find out that they had hoped that I would have arrived a day earlier to join them in their naked leap through the fire. I was relieved to have missed that, as I was a bit chubby at the time. They were indeed dancers from a school in Edinburgh. Who were quite taken aback when they discovered that they were supposed to be naked. They were the same girls used in the schoolroom scene.

DM - Did you enjoy the filming session at the Anwoth schoolhouse? Any abiding memories?

Lesley - I enjoyed the filming although it was very short. I just wish that I had seen the insect crawling. All I saw was the inside of an empty desk...until I saw it in the cinema!.

DM - Were you involved in any other scenes in the film?

Lesley - No, although I did have a photograph taken for the harvest festival display. The twin girls who doubled as Rowan Morrison were back in London and I had to stand amongst the rotting vegetables and they superimposed her head on my body on the picture of the failed harvest festival. You will notice that my body was a little chubbier than hers!

DM - How did you find the stars of the film during the production?

Lesley - All very friendly. Britt and Diane Cilento actually held a supper party one evening for some of the cast. I was invited but had already arranged to go out for a Chinese meal with one of the crew and I was too polite to back out! I wish I had gone - to see them serving the meal and get a few more stories. Apparently, they even had wild rice flown in for the occasion!

DM - More than 30 years after filming, how do you rate the film itself? And, yes, you are allowed to be honest... we don't take offence at personal opinion!

Lesley - When I saw the script in the beginning it looked exciting but there was so much meddling with the film that it was not as good as it could have been when it came out, and the songs were chopped about a bit. Some of the casting was unusual too - I don't know - let's just say that it does have a weird and wonderful quality and the music adds a little extra something, especially now that some of the missing bits have been restored. I just wish that I had kept my original script ...i could have auctioned it on e-bay!

DM - Finally, please let us know of any recent and forthcoming productions that you are involved in.

Lesley - I have just been in a Scottish tour of 'The Vagina Monologues' and about to do a short tour of 'Mum's The Word'

DM - Thankyou very much for your time.

Lesley - My pleasure! I start rehearsals on Tuesday, so must get on with my lines! All the best.