Jimi Mistry burst onto the big screen back in 1999, hard to believe that it was eleven ears ago, with British movie East Is East.
Since then the actor has juggled working in the British movie industry as well as appearing in American movies such as 2012 and Blood Diamond.
His new movie sees him return to his British movie roots as he teams up with Danny Dyer for Basement. I caught up with him to talk about the new movie and what lies ahead.
- You new movie is Basement so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Yeah it’s a British psychological/thriller/horror film, something very different to what I’m used to doing. The premise is five people, three girls and two guys, are driving back from an anti war protest and they happen to stop by some woods to take a break.
Two of us go wandering and the other three, in typical horror fashion, have to go and find us, and they come across this rather bizarre cast iron door in the forest floor.
So they go down and the door gets locked so the five of us are trapped in this maze of corridors, which is the basement, and it follows how the five of them try to get out but not only that it sudden become apparent that something is going on and maybe we were meant to be down there.
And we discover that we are not alone there is someone or something down there with us and then the whole story begins.
- As you say the film is something that we are not used to seeing you in so what was it about the character of Derek and the script that drew you to the project?
I think first and foremost, to repeat what you have just said, it was something that I hadn’t done before and I have always been a fan of that genre, it’s been my guilty pleasure watching these movie thinking ‘oh I have never been in one’.
Then the opportunity comes up and it’s like ‘yeah great’ and it wasn’t your average slasher/gore movie but it’s more of a thinking man’s horror which I thought was quite good.
Then the director wanted me to play Derek rather than Gary, people would probably assume Danny to play Derek because he’s a bit more of a wide boy city boy and the director wanted us to swap the role, so that was a new character for me to play.
And that was the other attraction so everything was new for and it wasn’t me doing something that I had done before.
- It’s a good British cast so how did you find working with Emily Beecham and Danny Dyer?
Oh great it was absolutely fantastic. Danny I have known for a while and it was really good fun working with him and Kierston and Emily it was a good British cast that they assembled and everyone is very good at what they do.
We did have a real laugh, hard to believe that making a film like that we could have a laugh on it, but we did so yeah I was really pleased to have met them and remained friends with them.
- And what about the director Asham Kamboj, Basement is his first movie in five years?
That’s right. I knew him from before so that’s how he got in touch with me but he has got a good vision and he knows what he wants to do and I enjoyed working with him a lot.
We are friends now and I think that he is definitely one to watch as to what he is doing next because this is slightly different to what he has done before and I’m sure he will be doing something different again.
- How did you find returning to a British movie having been away and worked on something like 2012 which, in terms of scale, was a massive movie?
It was great because this is the type of stuff that I like doing it takes a lot of concentration and a lot of work because you are under time constraints and budget constraints - but that is what making these types of film is about.
While some actors may go ’that’s too much like hard work’ I actually like hard work as it makes me feel that I have a proper job for once.
It’s good getting your hands dirty you have to work very hard - because time wise it’s relatively quick to film a movie like this - and the amount of work that you have to do in that time and being on that set consistently, being in that basement for four weeks, drives you to the edge as well. It was certainly experience.
- And how was your blockbuster experience working with the like of Roland Emmerich?
Great, absolutely fantastic! It was a massive job and there was lots of waiting around but everything is much bigger and there is a lot more money flying around plus there’s lots of blue screen and multi-digital cameras, cranes, big studios... Wow!
This is what you read about and it was great to be a part of that and hopefully there will be other stuff as well but I feel lucky to have been able to do the two.
- It’s been a busy year for you with Exam and It’s A Wonderful Afterlife so how do you go about picking your projects now compared to how you did in the beginning?
In similar ways but in the beginning you are just so full of ambition, of course I still have ambition, but you are always looking always to do something new, different and edgy to make your mark.
I think now I still want to take diverse roles but I’m a lot mellower now than I was as I’m older, yes I think mellow I the word (laughs). I just take every opportunity as it comes and judge it on that, obviously I still want to do good work.
- You have also completed work on West Is West so what made you return to the role off Tariq Khan?
I think mainly because the script was so good but it was something that kick started my career, it’s very dear to my heart. I’m doing more of a guest cameo in it as it’s not about my character but about the young boy this time around but I would do anything for the project and that film.
It was quite emotional returning to doing that and seeing Linda and Om, who played my mum and dad and some of my brothers and sister so it was great.
- It’s been eleven years since East Is East so are you still surprised by how this movie has endured?
Yeah! I’m glad it has but it really had endured it’s a classic of our time and I’m very honoured to have been a part of that.
Most people spend their whole career wanting to get that one thing that they do that people will always remember and, luckily for me, it was one of my first jobs and I can’t ask for anything more than that.
- As and actor who works within the British film industry what are your thought over the axing of the UK Film Council?
I think it’s on the surface it’s quite a worrying development ass I think it’s quite difficult as it is at the moment across the whole board, the economy has effected everything including my job and my industry.
Then you look at the cuts that are being announced and we are being told that there are some painful decisions and then it happens to your industry it kind of makes you think.
How much it will really effect the industry I’m really not sure and we will have to wait and see but it’s obviously not a good thing at all as the movies that it has funded has done very well for the industry.
Now whether it’s, like they say, going to make a difference or are they just cutting the people in between and money will still be available who knows.
All I know up to this point is it worked well and a lot of films have been funded by it so it’s a shame that it’s not going to be there anymore - it doesn’t fill you with joy it actually makes you quite worried about stuff but that is what happening.
- Finally what’s next for you?
Good question, a very good question. At this moment in time I’m not sure, for the first time in a while actually, I have just been enjoying the summer and working out what my next move will be but I’m sure that it will be coming soon. There are a couple of thing that I’m looking at but I haven’t committed to anything so we will just have to wait and see.
Basement is out in cinemas 20th August and DVD 23rd August.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Jimi Mistry burst onto the big screen back in 1999, hard to believe that it was eleven ears ago, with British movie East Is East.
Since then the actor has juggled working in the British movie industry as well as appearing in American movies such as 2012 and Blood Diamond.
His new movie sees him return to his British movie roots as he teams up with Danny Dyer for Basement. I caught up with him to talk about the new movie and what lies ahead.
- You new movie is Basement so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Yeah it’s a British psychological/thriller/horror film, something very different to what I’m used to doing. The premise is five people, three girls and two guys, are driving back from an anti war protest and they happen to stop by some woods to take a break.
Two of us go wandering and the other three, in typical horror fashion, have to go and find us, and they come across this rather bizarre cast iron door in the forest floor.
So they go down and the door gets locked so the five of us are trapped in this maze of corridors, which is the basement, and it follows how the five of them try to get out but not only that it sudden become apparent that something is going on and maybe we were meant to be down there.
And we discover that we are not alone there is someone or something down there with us and then the whole story begins.
- As you say the film is something that we are not used to seeing you in so what was it about the character of Derek and the script that drew you to the project?
I think first and foremost, to repeat what you have just said, it was something that I hadn’t done before and I have always been a fan of that genre, it’s been my guilty pleasure watching these movie thinking ‘oh I have never been in one’.
Then the opportunity comes up and it’s like ‘yeah great’ and it wasn’t your average slasher/gore movie but it’s more of a thinking man’s horror which I thought was quite good.
Then the director wanted me to play Derek rather than Gary, people would probably assume Danny to play Derek because he’s a bit more of a wide boy city boy and the director wanted us to swap the role, so that was a new character for me to play.
And that was the other attraction so everything was new for and it wasn’t me doing something that I had done before.
- It’s a good British cast so how did you find working with Emily Beecham and Danny Dyer?
Oh great it was absolutely fantastic. Danny I have known for a while and it was really good fun working with him and Kierston and Emily it was a good British cast that they assembled and everyone is very good at what they do.
We did have a real laugh, hard to believe that making a film like that we could have a laugh on it, but we did so yeah I was really pleased to have met them and remained friends with them.
- And what about the director Asham Kamboj, Basement is his first movie in five years?
That’s right. I knew him from before so that’s how he got in touch with me but he has got a good vision and he knows what he wants to do and I enjoyed working with him a lot.
We are friends now and I think that he is definitely one to watch as to what he is doing next because this is slightly different to what he has done before and I’m sure he will be doing something different again.
- How did you find returning to a British movie having been away and worked on something like 2012 which, in terms of scale, was a massive movie?
It was great because this is the type of stuff that I like doing it takes a lot of concentration and a lot of work because you are under time constraints and budget constraints - but that is what making these types of film is about.
While some actors may go ’that’s too much like hard work’ I actually like hard work as it makes me feel that I have a proper job for once.
It’s good getting your hands dirty you have to work very hard - because time wise it’s relatively quick to film a movie like this - and the amount of work that you have to do in that time and being on that set consistently, being in that basement for four weeks, drives you to the edge as well. It was certainly experience.
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