Kierston Wareing has made her name in projects such as The Take, The Shadow Line and movies such as Fish Tank.
This week Four is released on DVD which sees the actress team up with Sean Pertwee and Martin Compston.
I caught up with Kierston to talk about this very unusual movie project, working in TV and film and what lies ahead.
- Four is about to be released on DVD so for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet can you tell me a little bit about it?
I think it was originally se to be a theatre play, but I am not 100% sure about that. There are only four people in the movie, except for the two extras at the end, and it’s set in a warehouse. It’s a thriller with a twist and there is also a comedy element to it.
It’s about a jealous husband who thinks that his wife is having an affair so he has her kidnapped by another man except that he kidnaps the wrong women. And she is certainly not a vulnerable woman as she comes back with vengeance.
- What it about the script and the character that drew you to the movie?
It was just that it was unusual really, it’s not often you read a script where there are only four characters. So it was an usual thing to do and I just thought that I would give it a go.
- As you say it is a very unusual piece with only four actors starring so how did you find that?
It was the hardest job that I had ever done because the year before they said that the film was going through and I said that that was fine as long as I was given time - that won’t make sense now because a lot of my dialogue has been cut out.
I had dialogue that was seven pages long with no breaks originally and that’s not all in the movie, actually the whole film has turned out very different to what I was expecting; it more of a comedy where I thought it was going to be more horrific.
As I said that there was a lot of dialogue for the role and then I got the job the week before shooting started and I wasn’t going to do it because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to learn all those lines.
But they said that everyone was in the same boat and my agent said ‘just do it because everyone is in the same boat’ so I did. Yes it was a struggle because we had to keep stopping and adding another bit on but it has turned out very different because a lot of it ha been cut and edited.
- John Langridge is in the director's chair for the movie so how did you find him as a filmmaker, bearing in mind that this is his feature length directorial debut?
Yeah he kept his spirits up because it was a night shoot and every day was like a groundhog day, I was stuck in one spot on a chair and it was absolutely freezing cold.
It was a difficult job and it was full on but he kept his spirits up for the whole shoot and would always have a joke.
I think he was excited to be honest to be directing and doing what he loves. He was a nice man and I found him a pleasure to work with.
- How much of a collaborative filmmaker is John? How open was he for you to bring ideas to the table? Is that a way that you like to work?
I think it was mainly the actors that were throwing their ideas around and saying what they want and what they didn’t want because we everyone was mucking in together and getting on to it.
But yes I think that he was very open because if an actor had an idea he would certainly listen and probably ‘yeah let’s go with it’. So he was pretty open.
- Craig Conway and Martin Compston are on the cast list so how did you find working with them?
I was pleased to work with martin because I have seen his work and it was nice to work with him. I think we all just mucked in together really.
Sean Pertwee came on a week later, there was someone else in the role but they had to leave. So Sean came onto the set and he was thrown into the deep end even more so.
- We are also going to be seeing you in Twenty8k and Love Bite this year so can you tell me a little bit about those projects?
Twenty8k I am a madam who runs a casino business but underneath it all I am running a high class brothel house. And it is about a gang called Twenty8k and my son is in the gang so it’s all gang related.
Love Bite is a comedy again I am a mother but I am also a stoner and it’s my son who is the good boy and I am the wild one. I can’t really tell you too much about the movie as I was only there for a few days so I just concentrated on my part.
The Liability is another small part with Tim Roth and Peter Mullan, who is fantastic, plays my husband and he is complete control freak. My character is really a trophy wife and she just goes a long with it because he has a lot of money (laughs).
- We have very much seen you juggle movie and TV roles of late so how do you go about choosing your projects?
I take advice from an agent mainly because work is work to me and I would take anything but my agent has to stop me saying ‘you are not doing that again’ or ‘this is not a good enough script.
I know where they are coming from and so I take their advice. So it’s all credit to my agent now.
- Inside Men and Luther are just two of the big TV shows that you have been in of late so what do you get out of TV work that you don't get out of movies and vice versa?
A few months or a year I go I might have said that TV was more structured and movies are perhaps a little freer and you can do what you want. But lately with TV series Top Boy it has been freer, Top Boy was very free.
They are all so different every time I do something as it all depends on the team and the director as they all work so differently all of the time. I really enjoy doing both.
- How do the two mediums compare? Do you have a favourite?
If I had to choose then I would pick film because overall, if I had to weigh it up, you can usually be freer with film. So if I had to choose yes it would be film.
- And how is going and spending some time in America for work something that interests you?
Yeah I have an agent over there since 2007 but I haven’t been out there to give it ago because I have just been so busy here.
But yes 100% as soon as I get time then I will go out to America and I will go out with the attitude of ‘if something happens it happens and if it doesn’t it doesn’t but if I don’t take that opportunity’ so I am going to go with an open mind really.
- Finally what's coming up for you?
It’s something that I can’t really talk about at the moment but it is another TV project. I wish I could tell you but I was asked a similar question in a press conference the other day and I was advised not to talk about it.
Four is out on DVD now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Click to buy: Four DVD