Jamie BlackleyMARK in UWANTME2KILLHIM? We spoke to him about the film.
You are a Crystal Palace supporter? Was football your original passion?
Oh yes but I was never good enough to play. It would have been my dream to play for Palace. To score at Wembley! All of that. But it was never going to happen and acting was something that I had enjoyed when I was a kid, so I just sort of explored it. Eventually it worked out. I’m not a season ticket holder at Palace because I’m away so much. So I like to do Palace as a treat. I go with my Dad and cheer them on, we went to Wembley for the play-offs. That was one of the best days of my life. We got up early and went into town and went to pub in Baker Street that was full of Palace fans, got the Tube to Wembley. As soon as we beat Brighton I knew in my gut that we were going to do it (win promotion). I wake up every morning and say to my Dad can you believe that weare in the Premier League. I am so proud of the team. Now I have the same gut feeling that we will stay up.
Did you actively pursue uwantme2killhim? as soon as you knew there was even the slightest chance of being cast?
It is very rare that you read something and have that kind of reaction and just imagining that I would be in it was incredible. It was just one of those jobs that gave me a jump out of the seat moment. It was th plays Mark in e longest shoot I’ve ever done, the toughest shoot I’ve ever done. I have a lot of dialogue and I came out of it thinking that I had achieved something and learned a lot. It was just really great!
How much had you known about the real story?
I knew nothing of the real story when I first read the script. But when I got the part I was sent the Vanity Fair article. I read through that and it was amazing just to compare the two – the script and the article. What really happened is even more unbelievable and shocking than what is in the film. So that was incredibly interesting. But in terms of what I took from that I don’t really know because we can only take things from ourselves and the script, make sense of it and make it believable.
How hard was it to step back a few years to portray a schoolboy?
It was kind of difficult. I was about 19 or 20 when we made the film. So it was a bit weird to think of how it was when I had been back at school. You thought, my goodness it was that long ago. I had to think about how when I was at school I’d have reacted differently to things. Toby and I went back to school for a day and that was really helpful. They are big on drama there so we attended a class with the kids. We became friendly with the kids and chatted with them. It was surprisingly simple once the kids, who gave up their half term, came in.
Your body language seems spot on, even the way you ride a bike in the film?
I imagined that being on the bike was like being a great moment. And at the school desk I just slouched.
And how many times a day did you shave?
I actually did shave twice a day. First in the morning about 6.15 am and then later on. One of the big questions that director Andrew Douglas had when he cast me was whether or not I could look young enough. Eventually we managed to pull it off with make-up and shaving but my skin was falling off by the end.
It must be intriguing to consider that some day the two real boys will see the film?
I have thought about that a lot. I’m sure it is a part of their lives that they will not want to remember in a hurry. I hope that the film does not affect them in any way. I do feel for both boys. As it says in the film, each boy is a victim of the other. That is completely the case.
The film is a telling indictment of the Internet?
There are people out there who know how to use the Internet a lot better than anyone else. They can exploit it. There is never going to be a day when that is not going to happen. It can be a dangerous thing. You just have to know about that. I’m not a hi-tech wizard. I use the Internet for YouTube and Crystal Palace. That’s about as far as it gets.
You have had a busy time, what’s the year ahead looking like?
I haven’t got anything on at the moment. I want to be careful what I do. I don’t want to do anything just for the sake of doing it. I want to be in this for a long time.
What role gives you the greatest sense of pride?
It has got to be uwantme2killhim? This was the first moment in my life where I got to explore and learn a lot. I was there pretty much every day of the six week shoot. I got collected at 5.30 am and went home at 8.30 pm to eat and sleep. I lived it for that long. When I look back I see that as a turning point and felt that maybe I was going to do all right.
Cheers Jamie
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