We caught up with British actor Andrew Shim (pictured right of director Reg Traviss) to talk about his latest film Screwed, Cuba Gooding Jr and his upcoming projects.
How was working on the movie?
The main joy was working with Reg Traviss. He’s a brilliant director – very chilled out. He was absolutely fantastic. When you don’t really get on with a director it can be difficult but with Reg it was cool. He never seems to get stressed either. Even after a 15-hour day his hair never moves, like plastic!
Let’s find out a little bit about you. Complete the sentence. I hate actors who…
I hate actors who think they are higher than everyone else and have forgotten where they’ve come from. Anyone who knows me, or my work knows I never, ever change. I find for some reason that with some actors out there –even some I have worked with recently, they just think they are better than everyone else. That’s just one thing that grates on me.
Who are some of your favourite actors of all time…
Robert De Niro. I just think he is amazing, I don’t know why. For his whole career he has played that sort of gangster role, which he does amazingly but then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he did Meet the Parents and then Meet the Fockers. He was so hilarious! He’s such a great actor. I would love to meet him someday. Denzel Washington as well. I find for some reason that even if he seems to be in a film that isn’t that good, he still seems to be good in it. I was fortunate enough to meet Cuba Gooding Jr. He’s just amazing. To be honest I met him a little while back. I had front row seats from Perry Benson who played Meggy in This is England, for a cage fight in Wembley. The DJ Goldie came over, shook my hand and said he’s a big fan of my work, which is really nice. Anyway, then he goes to introduce me to his friend and walks me to the other side of the cage and who’s standing there? Cuba Gooding Jr! He’s just such a nice, chilled-out guy. It’s so horrible when you meet someone and they turn out to be not that great. It could be you might catch them on a bad day or whatever, but he was really nice and so was his brother. It’s really strange because then he presented Vicky McClure with her Bafta award the next day.
What’s the worst film you’ve ever made?
Let me think. That’s a tough question. I don’t think there is one, yet. I know for a fact that all actors at some point will have done something they are not happy with, but I’ve been really lucky. 80% of the work I have done has been with Shane Meadows, so it’s always going to be a good film with him.
If you could play any role, what would it be?
I would love to play a character like Bourne. I’d love to do a war part, I’ve just done a film where I played a soldier called Airbourne, directed by a guy called Dominic Burns. It’s got Alan Ford in it and a few other people. It’s got the guy who played Luke Skywalker in it (Mark Hamill) and will be out later this year.
What are you inspired by?
To be honest, nothing really inspires me. I just keep doing what I’m doing. don’t really get star struck, because I’m not really inspired by anyone. If I didn’t act again, I wouldn’t really be that bothered, just as long as I’ve got enough money to be happy and look after the little one and the Mrs, I’m not really that fussed. I would find something else to do.
Screwed is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
