Brad Moore interview

Hi Brad, your new film Montana (out on DVD this week) sees you playing a cocky, bent copper. How do you get in to character when the director shouts ‘Action!’?

My character, Phelps was a degenerate, selfish, racist, a nasty piece of work and all the more interesting because of it! During my preparation for the character Mo Ali and I spent several days on the streets were we shot the film in London’s east end. I was improvising in character and would spend 20/30 minutes in character and started to practice simply sneering at life as Phelps does in the film. Although Phelps is not completely unhinged (he actually quiet cunning and methodical), he is violent so I would walk in to a newsagents to buy a coke and think about punching the guy behind the counter on the nose for no reason! Of course I didn’t punch any one, but it helped to tap into this violent thought process when we came to shoot.

You’ve only been acting for 5 years; can you tell us about life before the big screen?

As all parents do, at bedtime I started telling stories to my son, and started doing the characters and doing voices, and enjoyed the performance of it all!! I thought I love this so much and I’ve loved film and comedy all my life, so I have to do it. It’s sort of a mid-life crisis, really. Some people go out and buy a Harley Davidson, but I went into acting.

What was your path into acting?

I went on to do stand up comedy for 2 years, to challenge myself in terms of performance, as I had no drama school training. After my career as a comic, I was cast in and shot over 20 short films. I got by as a stand up comic, but I thrive more as an actor. After the short films, bigger parts started coming my way, so I decided to focus more on the acting.

As an actor, whose work inspires you?

I grew up watching actors like Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Al Paccino, Robert Redford, Marlon Brando. Always in awe of those guys and their screen presence and ability to suck you right in to the story. Without these guys then you wouldn’t have Gary Oldman and Sean Penn who I equally adore and admire their work. I can see how each generation of actors inspire a generation of actors who perceive them.

In terms of the talent recently broken through, I love Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbenders’ work.

What’s next for you, Brad?

I’ve just finished filming Long Time Coming – North v South with Freema Agyeman, Stephan Berkoff, Bernard Hill, Keith Allen and Elliot Tittensor. It was fantastic and each were a pleasure to work with, I’ve just watched the completed film for the first time recently and everyone plays their part inch perfect. What’s lovely about the film is Stephen, Keith and Bernard are very experienced actors and there is enormous maturity in their performances which in my opinion sets it apart from most other British crime thrillers.

Another film I’ve been working on recently is a horror called Writers Retreat. It’s set on Ossea Island in Essex that is cut off from mainland by the sea for 20 hours a day. I’m also about to star work on a grey pound comedy called The Golden Years, which stars Bernard Hill again and Brian Blessed. I play another nasty, obnoxious copper, albeit this time in a comedic sense. As I mentioned before, I did stand up comedy, so I’ve always loved comedy and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to that genre.