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I have been to a few film premieres before, but never for a film that I've been in. The only feature length film I've been in previously was the strangely titled
Manilla Envelopes, which was never properly released and which is quite hard to find out anything about (and who knows what was really going on with this one?). I had a
weird audition for it and a
weird experience filming it where there seemed confusion about who I really was.
Anyway today is not about Manilla Envelopes. It was the premiere of Giddy Stratospheres (maybe I am only allowed to appear in movies with names that sound like they've been created by a malfunctioning bot) at the Rio Dalston. This is the brainchild of Laura Jean Marsh who wrote, filmed and starred in the whole thing in 2020 mostly in full on lock down and managed to find backing and distribution. It's about the music scene of the noughties and a wild night out and the fallout that follows. I assumed when I got asked to be in the film that I would be one of the cool young musicians taking drugs and having sex with a cool young musician, but I am an owl-spectacled, grey haired old man who is Nick Helm (and Laura Marsh's) dad. Ah well.
I filmed my scenes back in December in
a cold church and
a warm art gallery. so it seems almost magical that the movie could be finished already. There’s no way of really knowing when you’re acting in something whether it’s going to be good or not. I hadn’t read the whole script and had been asked to do this film via Instagram, so it was anyone’s guess as to whether it would work or not. I’d heard good things from people who’d already seen it, so was hopeful that the film would be good and I wouldn’t ruin it by being shit. And both things turned out to be true (ie I didn’t ruin it and may even have added to it). The story rocks along, the scenes in the club feel real and vibrant (despite them filming with only a few cast members). Usually films set in clubs and gigs feel fake or embarrassing, but the team did a fabulous job on this occasion. And I was pretty pleased with my own performance for the second film in a row. It was a relatively easy part to play (of a self-obsessed, mildly pervy, loquacious old man) and needed to be a bit OTT, but it was believable and funny and I didn’t curl up with mortification watching myself. So that’s good. And more importantly (perhaps) the whole film is great and engaging, both celebratory and scathing of the music scene of a decade and a half ago and the folly of the young. Lots of great music too. And it shows what can be done, even in the midst of a pandemic if you are driven enough to make it happen.
It was great to watch it along with the people who had made it and their friends, everyone excited and proud of their involvement. I did some photos and one of them accidentally makes me look like I am part of the poster, with my arm round Jamal Franklin's shoulder!
Very nice to have another date night out with my wife. As it was Dalston we ended up eating vegan burgers and I drank a pint of non-alcoholic beer and it felt like we were on holiday.
