Daniel Kendrick
Daniel Kendrick makes his big screen debut this week as he takes on the role of Sicko in new Brit movie Offender.
I caught up with the actor to talk about the movie, getting under the skin of this dark character and what lies ahead.
- Offender is set to hit the big screen this week so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?
It’s a prison driven thriller that is set during a fragile time in London. It is about a young man Tommy Nicks and it’s about lover’s revenge really.
A group of criminals take advantage of the looting in the riots in London and without them realising it they bring down this one man’s whole world. He is hell bent on revenge to seek out justice.
- You take on the role of Sicko in the movie so what was it initially about this character and the script that drew you to the project?
Initially the character of Sicko didn’t have that much development in the script when I first had my meetings.
But it was actually in the discussions with the director and the writer where I found out exactly what they were looking for and the expectations that had of the actor to bring it off the page.
I had a lot of freedom with it and that was one of the things that really interested me about the part actually that I could put my own stamp on if from experiences that I had had in my life to convey a character who is essentially suffering in the young world that we live in.
- So how are we going to see him develop throughout the movie?
Sicko‘s development really comes from his actions in the prison and the disappearance of his security within his gang, which leads to a lot of paranoia in the prison.
He is very much a survival of the fittest character and he relies a lot on animal instincts and surviving in his current surroundings and environment in a bid to get through this prison system and hell hole (laughs).
- As you say you were very much at the forefront of the development of the character so how much did you enjoy that process as an actor?
The development of the character was actually asking the questions… I am a theatre based actor and have had theatre based training… Sicko is a dark and violent character and it was more to ask the question why?
So the questions that I asked were how? What? Where? And who? In his younger years from his experiences, his parents and the environment that he grew up in. I don’t believe that people are born dark and violent and sinister but they are a product of their environment.
It was also delving into my own memories as well in relation to him and comparing when his first memories were of violence, his parents, his upbringing and that was how I came to why Sicko is the way that he is.
You have to strip away at the character and really get under the skin of these emotional memories as to how you end up with a character such as Sicko. So yeah it was about delving into his character his history and his backstory as a young man.
- Well you have slightly touched on my next question really Sicko is not a particularly nice guy and his dark and violent so how did you find getting under the skin of this guy?
There was a lot of freedom with it for me to bring new experiences as well as for me to highlight some of the experiences that I have had in my life - characters are an extension of yourself anyway.
I had to go some dark places with it but that is a joy that I find with being an actor because you don’t get to experience that in every day life.
It was a nice, I say nice (laughs), it was a nice development process because there was a lot of freedom and trust from the director and so I could bring pretty much whatever I wanted to the table. It was most enjoyable.
- The movie is directed by Ron Scalpello, it is his first feature length directorial debut, so how did you find working with him?
It was great working with Ron as he is absolute gentleman. One of the highlights of working with Ron is the fact that he is a very good director in his clarity as he had a clear vision of what he wanted from the film and he had a clear vision of what he wanted from his actors and his expectations going into the film.
I first realised this after I had had a couple of meetings with him - I came quite late into the project but I had seen the script quite early as I know Joe (Cole) very well with him being my flat mate.
Ron gave me a lot of freedom but kept me within the lines of his vision and we worked in tandem with one another and that was a very pleasurable experience and it was a pleasure to work with him.
- Offender is also your big screen debut so how did you find walking on to a film set for the first time?
Well this is the thing this my big screen debut but I actually shot a film last year called Love Bite and that is set to be released this year - I think it’s October I think.
I would say that Love Bite was my first real experience of walking on to a film set and I was learning from the people around me and also the art of filmmaking.
So walking onto this set I was able to bring that experience with me and learn from any mistakes or any regrets that I may have had from filming before. I was a learning experience and it was fantastic as much as it was very very cold (laughs).
- Joe Cole, Kimberley Nixon and Shaun Dooley are also on the cast list alongside yourself so how did you find working with them?
It was great working with them. I didn’t really get to work directly with Kimberley at all as most of her scenes were with Joe.
But working with Shaun Dooley and Joe, it was the first time that I had worked with Joe even though we do share a flat together, but it was good. It was important that Joe and I had to separate our friendship from the work that we had to do.
They are very talented individuals all of them and there is a respect there from actors. The most important thing is storytelling and so Joe is essentially an enemy of mine in the film and so we tried to stay out of each others way when we were on set.
The relationship with Shaun Dooley was fantastic as well and it grew organically. He is a sinister character as well as I am and that seemed to happen very naturally on the net. He is a very talented actor and he let me do my thing and it was reaction to one another.
- As you have mentioned you tried to separate your professional and personal relationship with Joe so how difficult did you find that?
It wasn’t at all really and that was because we saw the bigger picture and the bigger picture was the story. It actually helped us because we were comfortable with one another to… well for him to thrown me around and punch me because we had that relationship before.
We were able to cross boundaries that you might not have been able to do with other actors. So yeah I think we were able to go full throttle with it and our personal relationship only helped us with those boundaries.
- You have had a successful career in TV as well as theatre so how do the three mediums compare?
As much as they all do have tight schedules you are able to explore more in film because you do have more time allowance - with TV it is a slightly tighter schedule and you only get a certain amount of takes.
But on this we were able to reflect on the action that had taken place and go back and assess if there was something was going wrong or if something needed changing and we were able to do that from looking back on the monitor.
There was a lot of care and attention from the director to the actors and there was a lot of care and attention from the actors for the project. So yeah there is slightly more time I would say.
- You have been making the transition into movies so is film now your area of focus?
I like to explore all of the mediums really and that includes theatre as well as theatre is of massive importance to me as it is where I feel I am learning my craft and the transition to TV and film from theatre is what I am trying to perfect at the moment.
I have recently done a couple of plays that I have enjoyed so much. But I would love to get into the movies - the next Spider Man maybe (laughs).
- Finally what is next for you?
I have just recently completed a play at the Royal Court Theatre upstairs and now I am about to embark on a project in the theatre downstairs where I will be working with a fantastic director Dominic Cook.
Also I am about to experience the Love Bite premiere, I think 5th October is the release date, and I am very much looking forward to hitting the red carpet again.
Offender is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw