Vanessa Redgrave Scolds Interviewer for Asking About On-Set Drama: ‘Don’t Let’s Go Down That Road’ (Exclusive)

If there’s one honor that Oscar-winning screenwriter and longtime director James Ivory and documentary filmmaker Stephen Soucy share, it’s being scolded by screen legend Vanessa Redgrave.

In Merchant Ivory — the new documentary chronicling the success and impact of Ivory, 96, and his late producing and life partner Ismail Merchant as they made films such as Howards End and The Remains of the Day through Merchant Ivory Productions — there is a brief moment when Redgrave, 87, chides Soucy, 55, during her interview about working with the duo. 

“Darling, films are not family effects. Please don’t let’s go down that road. Come on,” Redgrave is seen saying to the director after he asks her about her reportedly tumultuous time on the set of 1984’s The Bostonians. Soucy then replies, “If you’re not liking the way I’m phrasing the questions, please feel free,” before she cuts him off to say, “It’s not the questions. Now you’re getting dramatic.” 

When asked about that moment, Soucy tells PEOPLE, “My name is in a long list of people that have been scolded by Vanessa Redgrave. Jim included and Ismail included.” 

The director then explains how the moment came to be, revealing that although he sent her questions ahead of their sit-down, she did not have time to read them. “And she didn’t care for my questions,” he says, recalling how “the wall went up and she was just difficult” at the time. But eventually, “I got some great footage from her and we turned it around.” 

He adds that after they were done rolling, Redgrave said, “Stephen, I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed talking about Merchant Ivory. Those years were so important to me.” 

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Ivory, who directed Redgrave in 1984’s The Bostonians as well as 1992’s Howards End (she received Oscar nominations for both), says, “[We] were all scolded by Vanessa. I was gonna say, ‘Who was not?’ ” In the documentary, it’s revealed that she and Merchant “would have frequent shouting matches” while making the 1984 historical drama. 

Considering how both Ivory and Soucy laugh off their tense encounters with Redgrave, it seems like the brief scuffles are more of a badge of honor than the source of any bad feelings about Redgrave.

Redgrave is just one of many frequent collaborators who reflects on camera about her time working alongside Ivory, Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Others include Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant and Rupert Graves. 

“It was a pleasure to watch it and hear everybody. I never was nervous for a second with anybody,” Ivory tells PEOPLE about watching the documentary and hearing what the actors had to say about working with him on films like A Room with a View, Maurice, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge and others. 

As for all those interviews, Soucy says there’s much more footage that didn’t make the final cut. And as a bonus for fans, some of those extended chats have been shared on the documentary’s website. “I have a version of my interview with Emma Thompson that’s like 27 minutes long,” he shares of the 65-year-old actress who won an Oscar for Howards End and earned another nomination for The Remains of the Day, noting that “it’s cool for anybody who’s interested because Emma Thompson had such amazing things to say.”

Ivory adds, “She’s far and away the most articulate [person], I think.” 

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Merchant Ivory is now in select theaters. Watch an exclusive clip from the documentary: