Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson's Unlikely Love Story in 'The Salt Path'

Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson, who had only met socially before filming The Salt Path, developed an undeniable chemistry on-screen as a desperate husband and wife trekking England's rugged coast.

Based on the true story of Raynor Winn's memoir, The Salt Path follows Raynor and her husband, Moth, who lose their farm, business, and money to legal costs in their 50s. After their home is abruptly taken from them, Moth is diagnosed with a terminal neurological illness.

With nowhere to go and only £115 ($150) in their pockets, the couple embarks on a 630-mile walk along the South West Coast Path. Their journey becomes a testament to love, determination, compassion, strength, and pain.

The film, starring Isaacs (The White Lotus, Harry Potter, Peter Pan) and Anderson (The X-Files, Sex Education, The Crown), is adapted from Winn's book by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Marianne Elliott in her feature directorial debut.

Isaacs, 61, believes that independent films like The Salt Path are crucial for the industry. It's the most important thing, that we don't only go and see films where the actors are in lycra, he says. But secondly, I think you've got a duty as storytellers that the bare minimum when a film finishes is that people think, 'Can we see another film?' Because they've had a special experience, but a big experience.

Of The Salt Path and its message, Isaacs says, When you see a story about people who survive almost all of the worst things you could possibly imagine, and they survive spiritually as well, they survive physically, it's a reminder — maybe more palatable than actually having any of this awful stuff happen to you yourself — of the things that are important to life.

Despite their on-screen chemistry, Isaacs and Anderson are very different in real life. She's incredibly easy to work with, but she she is the polar opposite of me and the way I like to live and work in almost every way, Isaacs explains