Was television a big influence on you growing up?

Where I grew up in Ealing, it was on all the time, like a fireplace. It was how I was educated: wildlife programmes, documentary programmes, Play for Today… everything. British TV, as I grew up, was a library.

Did you always want to be a film-maker?

When I was in art school, I wanted to be in film school. When I was in film school, I wanted to be in art school. I was back and forth, really. I was in NYU in 1993 [studying film] and I hated it. I could only afford to go because I got a scholarship and my uncle lived in Brooklyn. But after three months I left and came back to England and did my own thing. I was more interested in art because it was much more difficult.

What is it you now love so much about film-making?

It’s like being in a band, isn’t it? It’s bloody hard work, and things go wrong, but I have fun doing it. Nothing comes easy! But you can get results.

My parents came over to help rebuild Britain after the war

What inspired you to make Blitz?

I think just being a Londoner! From day one, you’re seeing bombed-out buildings growing up. And slowly those narratives emerge: what was there; what wasn’t there; what is there now. I wouldn’t be speaking to you today if it wasn’t for my parents being happy to come over to help rebuild Britain after the war [McQueen’s mother emigrated from Grenada and his father from Barbados]. My existence is shaped by wars – all of our backgrounds are.

You have first-hand experience of war — did you draw on that?

I was a war artist in 2003 in Iraq, and what was interesting about that was meeting people from all over Britain: Newcastle, Swansea, Sunderland, Glasgow. I remember all these different voices, and the camaraderie. It was the first time I ever felt a sense of nationalism, meeting those people – the people who aren’t usually given the limelight, who are on the ground. And that’s what fascinates me about World War Two as well, the ordinary people who had to make their way through this cesspool called “the Blitz”.

Like the women who made the bombs?

One of the proudest days of my life on a movie set was shooting the scene with 450 women in a machine room. It was women who actually made the bombs back then. Movie sets are usually predominantly males, predominantly white males, but that day there were just hundreds of women. I was really honoured to give them the platform to shine a light on what real women did during that time.

Your lead actor in Blitz is Saoirse Ronan — what’s she like?

You believe her. She just goes straight into the heart of things, and you’re there with her. She is Rita – and it’s beautiful to experience. I said this before about Michael Fassbender [who McQueen worked with on Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave], but I’ll say it about Saoirse, too – she’s interesting even if she’s eating cornflakes.

Last year, you made Occupied City, a documentary about Amsterdam in the Second World War, which was based on your wife Bianca Stigter’s book. Did that influence Blitz?

Of course – both are about the ordinary people that endure these situations. They’re not about the military. I live in Amsterdam and I grew up in London, so these are places very personal to me.

London was also the inspiration for Small Axe, your BBC anthology series. How does working on TV compare with the big screen?

What was great about Small Axe was that it was seen all over the world. I’ve been very fortunate to have film premieres in Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Telluride, but nothing could beat the premiere on television of Small Axe. It was just crazy. It was kind of beautiful that everybody had access to it. But I am still a cinema person.

Back in 2020, you were knighted. What did that mean to you?

It’s great to have one of the highest accolades of the country bestowed on you. But it’s about doing something with it. What would James Brown say? “Use what you got to get what you want.” So, this accolade… actually, it’s about what you do with it, rather than having it at the top of your name – that doesn’t mean much to me, to be honest. If you’re going to have it, use it to help people and make things happen.