Stirling born Lesley Paterson hoping for big win at the Oscars
Lesley Paterson, one of the writers of the Netflix film 'All Quiet on the Western Front', is telling us about her upbringing in Scotland
Last updated 12th Mar 2023
Stirling born screenwriter Lesley Paterson is hoping for a big night at the Oscars.
The 95th edition of the Academy Awards will be presented in Los Angles early Monday morning (March 13) UK time.
Netflix film 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is up for a variety of awards - including best picture.
Meanwhile 42-year-old Paterson alongside co-writers Edward Berger and Ian Stokell are nominees for the 'Writing (Adapted screenplay)' award.
Paterson is also a decorated triathlete, in fact she was even using her race winnings to fund buying the film rights to the novel 'All quiet on the Western front' back in 2006.
Before all of this though was a humble up bringing in Stirling, Scotland.
The youngest of four children, Lesley was the only girl on the local rugby team.
She told us: "It kind of really made me who I was, dealing with the adversity, the cold, the conditions, being the only girl on an all boys team - there was probably about 250 boys and me in the club.
"I think I was the only girl pretty much in all of Scotland, so any time I went anywhere I certainly didn't have any changing rooms, I had to wash in the toilets, a lot of boys from others team especially would laugh and point and me as I came out onto the pitch.
"I was accepted in the end, so I think there was a lot of lessons there, if you just focus on what it is you're doing and the joy for that, being as best as you can be, then the rest of it will fall into place."
It's fair to say the last few months have been hectic for Lesley.
After it's release in October on Netflix, All Quiet has been highly praised, and has enjoyed success at the likes of the BAFTAS and European film awards.
"The support is just incredible, I can't quite believe it to be honest.
"I'm just a wee girl from Stirling in Scotland, so it's quite surreal.
"But at the same time it's an honour to think that I'm inspiring other people to get out there and give it a go and have big dreams." She said.
Despite that surreal feeling, it would be fair to say there's always been a quiet confidence that this film would succeed.
Lesley said: "16 years ago we had lofty hopes and I think that we knew the message was so strong and our take on the script was really powerful.
"I guess I had that inner confidence, I don't know where that comes from, just a deep belief that this can be something really special.
"You dream about it for so long it becomes part of your own narrative, so on the one hand it's not surprising and on the other hand it's an absolute shock.
"I'm somewhere in between pinching myself and sort of like 'I knew this was going to happen'."
But why has this movie caught the attention of the world?
We asked Lesley what makes All Quiet so special.
"It's told from the German perspective, we very rarely see that humanity from the German side, from the enemies as we have come to know them.
"I think it's shot in such a Visceral way that it's just such an intense experience and it never lets up.
"It really is a journey where there isn't a hero, and we're not used to that in a war film."
The Oscars get underway at midnight - we'll have the news on all the winners in our morning bulletins.