- 3 weeks ago
Artist Estelle will be speaking with the cast of 'Small Axe Lovers Rock' exploring the themes of Black justice, joy, and independence.
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00:00:00these are new types of human beings they are not demoralized or defeated persons
00:00:12they are leaders but are rooted deep among those they lead
00:00:19we mustn't be victims but protagonists of our stories don't you think it's time things were
00:00:25different as individuals we have an impossible battle
00:00:34as a collective we stand a chance
00:00:38if you are the big tree we are the small x hi everyone and welcome to the small x afro punk panel
00:00:50i'm estelle how you feeling hey um so we're doing this at home this is new we all know where we are
00:00:59right now we're working from home so if we have any technical difficulties and stuff like that
00:01:02please forgive us please join in but essentially just relax it'll be okay you'll be fine this will
00:01:07be a fun panel all right so today we're talking to the the writer and the actors from the incredible
00:01:16from lovers rock which is a part of an incredible um series uh called small acts it's an anthology
00:01:23series coming to amazon prime in the us um and the bbc in the uk the series is comprised comprised of
00:01:30five original films by the academy award-winning filmmaker i can say this right now the series is
00:01:36comprised of uh five original films by the academy award-winning filmmaker and bafta winning filmmaker
00:01:42steve mcqueen is set in the late 1960s to mid 1980s in london and the films each tell a different
00:01:48story involving west indian community um the west indian community and who's like and people whose
00:01:54lives have been shaped by the force of their own world despite rampant racism and discrimination
00:01:58now even though these films are set in london some decades ago the stories are as vital and timely
00:02:04today as they were for the western indian community in london at the time um i was part of it my
00:02:10parents were there i was brought up in it it's a whole thing personally for me um so let's begin
00:02:15with the talent let's begin with the people who comprise who've made up the story who were part of
00:02:22the story uh lovers rock michael ward stars as franklin in lovers rock and was recently honored
00:02:27with this year's bafta rising star award say hi michael thank you hi hi estelle i'm happy to be here
00:02:36guys part of this afro um panel man uh yeah thank you thank you guys for involving me and i really
00:02:44appreciate it and then we have amara jason orbin who has a rich background in theater and makes her
00:02:50amazon and bbc debut as marta marta martha marta
00:02:53martha marta trentan yes hello hello everyone hey guys hey estelle i'm happy to be here thank you
00:03:04for having me and then we have last but not least british playwright writer and one of the co-writers
00:03:10of the small x films lovers rock and red white and blue cortina newland make some noise
00:03:19very very happy to be here thanks for having me great to see estelle again yeah man just very very
00:03:24gassed thank you you too you too okay so let's start i'm just gonna start asking you the questions
00:03:31there's some some good questions in here and and i feel like you guys just give some great answers okay
00:03:36courtier small access in the anthology series of five films from steve mcqueen we need to know
00:03:42steve mcqueen is um is west indian as well and he's british and so i mean was it just a thing how did you
00:03:47guys get involved in the projects and what inspired you and steve mcqueen to make it
00:03:53uh i mean how i got involved in the project was i got a call one day you know actually i mean if i'm
00:04:00really honest like i knew this was happening and i kind of was like i'm so right for this i know
00:04:05but it was happening and i was like this is gonna pass me by and it you know i could see it was
00:04:11moving and i just like i really want to be involved in this but but like i don't know i'm not there
00:04:16yet i don't have this is my first screenwriting credit you know so i was like you know better more
00:04:21accomplished writers are gonna get this even though i've been writing books about west london
00:04:25as you know for for 20 years now so i was just sitting and i was watching it happening and then all
00:04:30all of a sudden i get the call and it was like come in and have a chat with steve you know we
00:04:35want to talk to you about this project it wasn't called small acts at the time it was a steve mcqueen
00:04:39project but everyone knew what that meant for years in britain everyone was waiting to see how this
00:04:45thing was going to develop and stuff that steve's doing something about the caribbean community in
00:04:49london so uh yeah i was like of course i'm there like i'll be there tomorrow you know what i mean and i
00:04:56went down had a series of interviews with the people and then it was like okay i got through
00:05:01that they i was going there and i was ready to hear you know maybe the scripts need this that and
00:05:05the other because i submitted my scripts and stuff but they were like no your scripts are good you're a
00:05:09good good novelist good good screenwriter uh the next stage is to meet steve and so uh then i was
00:05:16really scared at that point i was really nervous even before that interview i've never been so nervous
00:05:24with my life and then uh i went there and i met him and yeah we actually got on and it was like
00:05:31cool um i actually thought i didn't get it i thought i'd messed up on some things and stuff but then they
00:05:36phoned me up afterwards and said look he likes you and stuff and hold tight and after that we did a
00:05:42writer's room uh it was maybe a year later after that interview did a writer's room you know six writers
00:05:47six weeks you know and we just beat out the whole the whole um arc of the series as a whole you know
00:05:53we knew it was going to be standalone episodes uh it's going to be an anthology at that point uh we
00:05:59thought it was going to be for tv though and we worked out what stories we're going to be in what
00:06:04stories we're going to be out you know so that was it and i just think steve in terms of what inspired
00:06:10us man like just to be able to tell stories that haven't been told before you know of like such a
00:06:16vibrant community that have contributed so much to the world you know even like you know yourself and
00:06:22stuff you know like like the fact that you came out of this culture that no one knows about you
00:06:27know i mean no one knows actually how that formulated and how lovers rock changed to this and that and
00:06:34smiley culture and tibari and you know i mean and like the foundations you know i mean like like
00:06:41all the things that comprise what we have today the scene that we have today the grime and everything
00:06:45that's touching the world you know just to be able to talk about that and it goes even further back than
00:06:50that goes right back to the soca that came in the you know early 1900s and stuff you know but
00:06:55but yeah yeah just to be able to touch on a little bit of that was just the inspiration man like the
00:06:59thing that made us the thing that we love you know right right uh i think personally and we'll get more
00:07:06into it but i think you hit it on a point in in various different points at various important points
00:07:11of the films and the shows but let me talk to michael and amara real quick what was your experience like
00:07:16working with steve mcqueen like how was this process as a director and like how did he get
00:07:21like the truth out of your performance like how was it like how was he was he like was he an
00:07:27expressive director or was he just kind of like say the words that's terrible that's great girl
00:07:32what was he like yes um steve is expressive definitely but what's beautiful is the beautiful
00:07:39script that we had but him also saying see what happens see what happens with this scene or certain
00:07:45moment something accidentally happened and he'd go did we get that please tell me we got that
00:07:50something that just accidentally happened like certain lines there's a line when michael calls
00:07:54you guys your blood clot and steve said we're keeping that in the script and that was during
00:07:59the rehearsal but he loved the way michael said it because of the flow me and michael were having
00:08:04and he loved that michael said that there's so many little different moments that just happened and
00:08:08he said we're keeping that so he's very open yeah it's very open very open i feel like for me it was
00:08:16just it was just like uh it felt like a collaborative experience yeah i'm trying to say like obviously
00:08:23when you go on to set and you know the the master of the project when you get there anyway is the
00:08:29director so you know you're not really thinking you have much of a say or um you know you have much
00:08:35of a contribution really you're just here to do exactly what the script kind of lays out and come
00:08:41with some choices you know come with some choices but with steve it was that very much your choices
00:08:46are as important to this piece of work as his yeah do you know i'm trying to say so like for me i
00:08:52felt comfortable and i felt confident um to be able to try things and just be be myself i remember
00:08:58when i kept asking questions they were like oh steve what do you think of this kept going to the um
00:09:02voice coach hazel like oh um would you be able to say this and back then and stuff like that um
00:09:08and he was just like he took me to the side he was like michael just do what you're doing i hired
00:09:12you for the job no one else so just do what you're doing and then after that for me personally it just
00:09:17gave me confidence to do what i wanted to do and then he would tell me then if it was or not
00:09:23i guess so i'm just happy i was able to to have that experience man especially from a director of that
00:09:30caliber you know because if anything i'd expect that from someone that's new or someone that's
00:09:35not as experienced as um steve is but the fact that he's so experienced the fact that he's um you
00:09:42know so artistic um in his work i just didn't expect any of that and yeah man he just gave he
00:09:49just gave me so much confidence and it doesn't just mean on that set by the way it made me feel like
00:09:54you know when i go to another set obviously having respect for the director also but you know that
00:09:59i can come with choices and they are also important and it's not just you know i'm here
00:10:04as a as a as another actor you know yeah man i also loved his relationship with oh
00:10:13i was just saying i also loved his relationship with the um the cinematographer shabye because certain
00:10:18times shabye would come up to him and be like steve can we just get us i really feel like we should get a
00:10:22shot of over here and steve will be like look for a bit and then he'll go okay yeah let's cool let's
00:10:26try it their relationship was just incredible like he's so open to hearing everyone else's ideas
00:10:31to make something magical yeah and i was just going to say that the writing process is exactly like that
00:10:37as well sorry we've got a little bit of a delay sorry but yeah yeah i think the writing process is
00:10:42exactly like that as well uh just um yeah yeah try things out and stuff there's certain things that steve
00:10:49wants to capture he wants those things in particular but then he's like everything else is up for grabs
00:10:54and just like you know do your thing and improvise and stuff and if he likes it it's in if you don't
00:10:58like it it's out and simple as that you know i mean yeah you're very right you know what's how it's
00:11:04going you know so yeah exactly the thing i hear from all three of you is that he trusts you and and he
00:11:12trusts you as actresses and he trusts you as thespians he trusts you as writers to just be and actually live
00:11:18because the experience whether you were there or not first off um it runs through your veins it is
00:11:24it's there it's you know it's loving this who you are it's you know what you've been raised as so that
00:11:29and you saw it through on the screen you literally saw it coming through with everything you did on
00:11:33the screen um forte tell us besides the title of the film you co-wrote what exactly because i know what
00:11:40it is but tell us exactly what lovers rock is like the style of reggae what it meant to the youth
00:11:45like what was it what was the and give us an equivalent so people can kind of understand
00:11:52yeah an equivalent um i'm not yeah i'll try i mean i think for me yeah i don't i don't know i mean i
00:12:00mean for me like lovers rock was the first time that uh british young british people had uh an art form
00:12:10a music form that directly came from them everything else was kind of like oh they were trying out like
00:12:15the soul and r&b from america or they're trying out the jazz or they were trying out the reggae and
00:12:20although you know like obviously lovers rock is a kind of like a descendant of of reggae in a sense
00:12:26it was still its own thing and it grew so big that reggae artists in jamaica would come to england and
00:12:32start trying to do lovers rock you know i mean like right right with a jumper like yeah dennis brown
00:12:38and stuff and you know i mean and it just so for the first time the conversation wasn't going one
00:12:44way it was going back to jamaica and back to the caribbean and stuff and so that i think that gave
00:12:50from what i could see it gave like my mom and it gave my dad a sense of like place and kind of
00:12:56centering themselves and being like okay so it's who we are and stuff and that was that came through in
00:13:01the fashion you know i mean that came through in the making your own clothes and like the farahs and
00:13:07all that you know i mean then you know um yeah cardan you know i mean that came through in all of
00:13:13those things and just um i don't know it was like it was a sense of having your own voice for the
00:13:20first time so lovers rock was a style of music obviously uh it was mainly led by women as well
00:13:26that's what i find quite interesting about that you know a lot of the big like you know the superstars
00:13:30in that sense were women and stuff and um yeah it just it was a it was a cultural sea change you
00:13:38know i mean that i think had never happened before in that way because it came from the ground of
00:13:43london and stuff and and went worldwide yeah a thousand percent i saw some of the suits and i was
00:13:51like i i know that suit i know that suit i know that blue suit i i know that silver dress i know
00:13:59that red dress i know the hairstyle this is this is life this is my aunties this is crazy um speaking of
00:14:06that um the dresses and the female and the feminine and the female characters amara tell us more about
00:14:13marta trenton like what kind of research that's her name what kind of research did you have to do to
00:14:21get into that role like was it just like listening and thinking back to your parents or was it like
00:14:27let me go and observe how did you get into her character it was definitely speaking with my mum my
00:14:32mum came here when she was nine um my mum went through bullying at school because of her jamaican
00:14:38accent you know things like that she had to have a really strong backbone and things so i spoke to my
00:14:43mum a lot about it um i also done my research on the time and from there i discovered martha's likes
00:14:51dislikes opinions her favorite color okay well janet k must be her inspiration because of the way she
00:14:57does her hair the way she styles herself so that's obviously where martha's inspiration is coming
00:15:02from and then from saying i like um her favorite colors are blue and purple i decided like steve
00:15:09allowed me to work on the costume with costume and we came up with it together and i thought because
00:15:14she's still quite young what is actually sexy at that age what do the youngsters feel is sexy at that
00:15:20age you know and just really went from there that like you hit it right on the head you hit it right
00:15:28on the nail i have pictures of family members that look exactly like that exactly wild yeah um exactly
00:15:34like martha so you hit it on the head with that michael and a family friend actually oh sorry a family
00:15:40friend came um to see the viewing yesterday we didn't even know she was going to be there and she
00:15:44came up straight after and said to my mum i just kept seeing you because they used to jam back in the day
00:15:49i said that's the way you used to flick your hair that's the she looks exactly like you so it's mad yeah
00:15:55so michael how did you find franklin like who who who is his character like what like down to the
00:16:02shirt how did you find him talk to us about him um for me like the development of franklin was
00:16:10was a weird one like the whole process for me because i felt like i like not knew a lot but
00:16:16like like i said um earlier as well like my family like of jamaica is completely different to the 80s
00:16:22because we came over in the 2000s or whatever so in terms of the accents and stuff like that
00:16:27i think it was i felt like it couldn't be that distinctive where someone speaks so english and
00:16:33someone speaks so jamaica because my mum has been we've been here obviously since i was mad young
00:16:38and she still can't speak english how you know everyone else speaks english so i was thinking that
00:16:43there must be a barrier here but then i watched films like um which was good like babylon which showed
00:16:47me right yeah basically steve is right and so of course you're like it can it can work i believe
00:16:55so after i had after i'd done that you know i kind of found the accent kind of tried to find my voice
00:17:01i mean i didn't go into much detail like um amara did like in terms of creating the dress i don't know
00:17:08but obviously there was pictures you know we worked with the costume department to find the best obviously
00:17:13outfit because they would have had loads of options you know i was just looking at um pictures back
00:17:17then um of the people how they dressed how they like they're kind of like how they even used to
00:17:23take pictures was interesting you know like it's just different obviously you know people now how
00:17:27they pose is completely different to how they used to pose like and i just remember seeing that just
00:17:32finding out that kind of how their kind of swagger was um but yeah what i remember picking an outfit
00:17:39and i really loved it and then we were like nah um steve thinks we could we could use this instead
00:17:44so i'd gone back i was thinking oh my days like now i'm gonna have to argue with steve because i like
00:17:50this out you know i'm trying to say it i don't want to ask you it's like i look good
00:18:00steve knows exactly what he's doing like this is gonna be mad and i felt i remember just putting it on
00:18:06i just felt like the alpha male that someone that will come in and be all sweet and yeah i'm trying
00:18:12to say like everything and your shoes michael and your shoes even just putting them on like putting
00:18:19on the shoes as well because they obviously had um heels some of them and the one that i wore here
00:18:23yeah you know just even be able to walk with that in the um costume rehearsals it kind of gave me a
00:18:30a little lean that i kind of liked and it just made me kind of just sink into the character so every
00:18:35time i just put on the um shoes just even just putting on the shoes i felt like i was franklin
00:18:41yeah i'm trying to say to you man it was just a good it was a good development process and also
00:18:45just learning a lot about um my culture of back then as well you know i never i wasn't exposed to
00:18:51that kind of music obviously i knew um one two of the songs or whatever but it wasn't something that
00:18:55i listened to all the time it wasn't something that my mum would play to me all the time you know so
00:19:00it was good just finding out about the music um how they dance all of that stuff i mean that was
00:19:05the hardest part for me it's uh we had loads of um darts rehearsals and i was stiff obviously listen
00:19:17okay wait okay wait because i need to ask specifically about these right because all right
00:19:22because look i looked at it like this i was doing the i was doing the thing in my head clearly i live
00:19:26in the us right so like i was doing the flip in my head i was watching it my guy and i was like
00:19:30like this is like when they like and i was trying to break down the differences and dancing and the
00:19:36blues and the vibes right and i was just like so for amara michael amara for the blue scenes like
00:19:41it i had to explain it in every frame i was like you know like how with festivals um and afropunk
00:19:46like how it's a it's a way to kind of get away it it was our way back then with all the things happening
00:19:52in the world and all the rejection and all the foolery for us to create our community for us to
00:19:58be home you know for us to be like well these these are my people they know me they're not gonna look
00:20:04at me crazy if i'm over here like banging a wall for for this song because this song is like the song
00:20:11right um and it was i was watching it in pure like oh my i love the every moment of it tell me more
00:20:18about this choreography because there was a point where i was like it was a comfy fighting scene
00:20:24with you amara and i was like i have seen my mom do this like
00:20:32and she you know and her stepdad like that was their joy tell me more about that like how how was that
00:20:39oh it was just so fun working with coral the choreographer because again what i keep speaking
00:20:45about is her teaching us about where energy is held in our bodies is so different because you
00:20:49know now everyone goes and they dagger dagger this dagger dagger that whereas back then it's a lot
00:20:54more rooted a lot more grounded and heavy in your feet and then the thing i love about the unity and
00:21:00figure of eight and all things like that um yeah i think also what i loved i think there was a moment
00:21:06as well even when me and michael were dancing doing the rehearsal and i'm arching my back and she's
00:21:10like arch your back arch your back and i'm arching my back i said me can't arch me back no more i
00:21:15can't do it so like yeah there's no more back to arch i can't do it but then on set what was beautiful
00:21:23i think because of the chemistry me and michael had and then you've got the supporting artists
00:21:27and then the tone that they set in the room the outside world just didn't matter it was so irrelevant
00:21:32it's like it didn't exist and you're so in the moment and you have the boys hitting the walls
00:21:38you know them smoking it up in their outfits and that you literally feel like you're there
00:21:42and i i said this is what my mum and dad was talking about with these parties this is what
00:21:46they meant so just as soon as you were in there it just became real yeah what about you michael tell
00:21:52me some more about this the dancing things you said that that wasn't your thing you were like what
00:21:56and then they had they taught you how to teach you how to do it it's completely different to now
00:22:01you know it's not the same thing that we don't have to be able to wind up ourselves as men right
00:22:08now like yeah i'm trying to say so being able to having to do that was a bit mad because i am
00:22:14like i was stiff in it like you know i was playing football you know stuff like that i ain't gonna come
00:22:19with all the excuses all right just know that i was scared and i couldn't do it and i just remember
00:22:25just dreading even going to the dance rehearsal sometimes that well have you ever been nervous to go to
00:22:30somewhere that you start sweating before you even got there yeah that was yeah before i got to the
00:22:35yes before i got to the rehearsals and i was just thinking oh like i actually can't do this like you
00:22:40know maybe this ain't for me or whatever and then i just thought wait i can act to not be stiff i'm an
00:22:47actor like do you know i'm trying to say what am i thinking i'm this ain't me this is franklin so if
00:22:52anything i just need to loosen up my body a bit and just become franklin and that's what kind of what
00:22:57i just done man i kind of just let um just watch people saw people that was more used to obviously
00:23:03just kind of dancing um and just seeing how they was approaching it and just finding out how like i
00:23:08can just adapt to that situation you know i'm trying to say and then it was more just about
00:23:12sinking our bodies you know i'm trying to say making making sure that you know martha and um
00:23:19franklin just synced and that was the most beautiful thing man but it was it was something that i was
00:23:25he's not he's not as stiff as he was saying he was not as stiff as he was saying i think the height
00:23:29difference as well the height difference i'm like five foot one and a bit so he had to adjust to that
00:23:35as well you know like all of that and figure it out but michael got it man we got it you see even
00:23:38with all of that i was thinking and this is like the conversation do you get i'm trying to say i was
00:23:42thinking rather if if a man did like a girl back then in the party would he be thinking right she might
00:23:47be short so we're not going to do you know what i'm trying to say so i'm thinking he can't even
00:23:50be like that right now that's not an option yeah right now man you need to know that this is what
00:23:55it is and i want this woman and i will get this woman i'm sure what i'm all about i will get this
00:24:01woman you know i'm gonna give it a dime we're gonna get started looking tonight you know i'm trying to
00:24:06say that was the plan it's like oh i felt like the ancestors were in the room i was like oh the elders are here
00:24:13oh yeah this is this looks like every again every picture every personal flashback in my brain when
00:24:20i was like five and seven and peeking around the corner and getting told go back upstairs this was
00:24:26the scene this was literally it you know i'm telling you from this from the set up i was i was that child
00:24:34just oh okay back upstairs from the set up in the scene with my stepdad had my uncle and he would set up
00:24:42the um the decks and then from that scene all the way through to when you guys had an intimate
00:24:47moment by the speakers i was like oh this is wild see for me this is why being a part of this project
00:24:54is so beautiful as well though man like the fact that someone like you is so relatable to it yeah i'm
00:25:00trying to say the way you're speaking about your experience is that you watch that film and now you've
00:25:04just started remembering back to your childhood and you know you probably might mention it to someone that
00:25:10also thinks thought about those things yeah i'm trying to say in that for me these are the kind
00:25:15of projects i want to be involved in where it touches people it means stuff to people yeah i'm
00:25:20trying to say and i'm just proud to even be a part of something like this let alone being able to do
00:25:25all of this stuff as well as one of the lead characters you know that it is just such a blessing
00:25:29man to to tell these stories and i just want to continue to tell more and more i was gonna say the
00:25:34mad thing is like because i have the same memories as you estelle of being like a little kid and all these
00:25:39people around me and like and it was dark it was dark we couldn't do that obviously in the film but
00:25:43like it was so dark and there's all these shadows and the red light and everything and you wandering
00:25:48through as a kid and like you know yeah being told to go back upstairs or get out or you're not supposed
00:25:53to see certain things but like even though it was the first time our parents had done these things you
00:26:00know this had never happened before and i've heard jamaicans talk about it you've seen the film who were in
00:26:03jamaica and they're saying yeah this didn't happen like this in jamaica you know i mean this happened
00:26:08in britain yeah but us it was normality like we were born into this world you know i mean so like
00:26:17we didn't know anything else these were my formative years where you just like these dances were just
00:26:23normal you know i mean it was that was the world you know and to think that uh that's gone now you
00:26:28know i mean that doesn't happen in the same way but for years and years and years that was just like
00:26:33this is the way things are meant to run every friday saturday night people are you know up and
00:26:38whatever or my parents are going out to parties and you're in the dark with the red light and
00:26:43this is weird right that that was just standard for us you know but you but you know but you know i
00:26:48think and and this brings me to my next question is that things just evolve right we like it wasn't it
00:26:54doesn't happen like that anymore but you know what never it was never over is the acapella
00:26:58signal is when the dj plays something i mean it's the cut out and everyone's like singing at the top
00:27:03of their soul for you know this record and this happened in the film with the acapella version of
00:27:09janet case city games throughout the film i was singing a lot because again this is this is a song
00:27:16that has carried us through my whole life i remember again being a child what was it like to film in
00:27:21that room and to be singing away and to be around like was it an improvised scene or was it like
00:27:27planned or was everyone in the room just like i know this i'm singing it you know it wasn't planned
00:27:33what was sad was me and michael didn't even get to do that bit did we no we didn't i wasn't there
00:27:40because obviously we're somewhere else but i do remember if i i do remember even with the scenes as
00:27:48well you know at the end when they're just losing themselves um to the music and stuff like that i
00:27:53remember them coming out on their energy because we was about on set we just weren't in those scenes
00:27:58yeah so the fact that they came out you know that was sick and then the girls just came out after
00:28:03singing this song and they were just enjoying it you know i'm trying to say for me yeah those are the
00:28:08things that were crazy they were just they just and that what amara said earlier as well it's not um
00:28:13that once the camera like once um steve um says action it's like yeah maybe for the first two
00:28:21seconds you're thinking right that man's actually on the set but after a while you're just so immersed
00:28:25into the world that you're not even worrying about the camera no more like we're here partying for real
00:28:31do you get what i'm trying to say so no matter what this is that this ain't even acting no we're
00:28:36really having a party like and that's what's beautiful about this man i'm just like yeah
00:28:43and the choreographer coral man she coral would say um she went to steve and she said i can't just let
00:28:49the supporting artists go on set i can't just let them do that i have to take them in a room and give
00:28:54them this energy and show them what this energy needs to be for this you know and she took them in
00:28:58another room and she got them pumped and she got them to understand all that energy where like what
00:29:03this is about so then from that the spring in every one step after jamming with coral
00:29:07for those sessions like the supporting artists she felt because it's not enough to just have them in
00:29:11the clothes and be there in the shots they need to feel this let me show them what this is about
00:29:16so i think that definitely helped all them scenes as well
00:29:20and this is i was thinking about one of the scenes when um when the dreads were having a time with the
00:29:25dub and they were like like rocking and like dread was going and they was like in a mosh pit and i
00:29:31was explaining i was like this is like this is a mosh pit this is this is why i say like nothing
00:29:36changes it just evolves right this is the vibe this is when people are just completely lost in the music
00:29:41and that scene had me like again i love this i remember this is that feeling of completely losing
00:29:48it and and freedom and release you know and you think again for men in that period of time having
00:29:54come to the uk having you know the the casual racism like the and you saw it later in the film
00:30:00with franklin and his boss um you know the slight casual cutdowns and women with the with the
00:30:06aggression and that was everyone's moment to just let loose and be free and it was so accurate and
00:30:13it was so on point and everyone just kind of went home afterwards you know like got the bus
00:30:16hole yeah yeah which was very little bit of reprieve yeah you recharge you know like get back and be
00:30:25able to deal with this stuff but yeah yeah of course here you had the language sold down on this um you
00:30:32grew up in blues parties obviously back in there we discussed how how was it flipping it back in your
00:30:38brain say that all right they would have said this have been their energy you know because obviously it
00:30:42probably wasn't as raw in some ways as it is now back then so like get the words to get the
00:30:48interactions how was that um it's strange because i was a little bit like i was a little bit worried
00:30:56about it at first you know i mean i was a little bit like okay will i be able to do this and will i
00:31:00will i be able to recreate it correctly um i talked with my mum a little bit i talked with other people
00:31:06in the era just to make sure there were certain words where i was like can i say this it's the same
00:31:10thing that you were saying michael you know i mean like can i say this would someone say yes and i
00:31:14would double check with my parents and stuff and other people i knew who were around at that time
00:31:18but you know what it's funny what i what i found strange was the minute i tapped into that vein
00:31:24like all this stuff came out man i remember the memories just came flooding back and i was like yeah
00:31:29like there's a there's a pat kelly tune in the like when when um clifton standing outside and like
00:31:36that was in my head so strongly and i was like kelly and and and you know the tune at the end
00:31:43and when the credits are rolling those two tunes for me were like really really playing in my head
00:31:47and i just remembered so many things especially about the language and stuff you know certain words
00:31:52that just it's weird how some words we've carried with us that are still here to this day and stuff
00:31:56and other words have just like fallen by the wayside you know i mean like rank and star you know
00:32:02what i mean like a young young guy came up to me the other day people really used to say star
00:32:07like he was laughing it's like that's so it's so weird you know i mean yeah people said star all
00:32:13the time first of all yes we did relax hey calm down yes all right youngin relax yeah yeah calm down
00:32:26he was really shocked and i had to i had to laugh at it because i could see his shock and he was like
00:32:30he came up to me he said i have to ask you something i have to ask you something
00:32:33i read your book the scholar and did people really say star
00:32:45yeah yeah yeah you got it you got it so correct you couldn't you got it so correct
00:32:49no thank you thank you but it was it was quite yeah it was quite simple man and i had a lot of help
00:32:54from people around me who knew i was writing the scripts and they would you know say oh you can
00:32:58say this and you can say that and i just put it in yeah all right speaking speaking of other people
00:33:04amara we hear your dad was a reggae eyes oh yeah yeah he was daddy um yeah asher senator he's just
00:33:13cool he was his picture what i keep saying is in the table read his picture was on the wall in the mood
00:33:18board and i went oh my gosh that's my dad that's so mad and he's there with his sound system
00:33:24because they used to have their beat down van that they put all the sound system in and wherever
00:33:27they went that's going with them you know so as soon as the opening of the film because i wasn't
00:33:32there to see when the boys start you know the start of the film they're setting up the sound system
00:33:36and i remember when my dad saw it sitting next to me he's just nodding he's like wow wow like i could
00:33:42feel it was touching his heart like it was taking him back all of them sort of moments um
00:33:48or the touching of the elbows of the um how you approach a girl because now it's just you're
00:33:54behind the girl and you're behind the girl whereas back then you touched it like all things like that
00:33:58my dad was shaking his head nodding like wow like for real he said this is spot on he couldn't believe
00:34:03it so um yeah it was definitely his truth as well as so many other people's truth yeah for real
00:34:08how did i mean did you speak to him at all about your performance i did it help you to get into it
00:34:18um i didn't speak to him as much as i spoke to my mum i think michael moore had convos with
00:34:23i think my dad more because it was more you know um but it was definitely to do with the parties
00:34:29and he would tell me how the parties when i first saw it because i was saying to you before like this is
00:34:34what my dad was saying in terms of the smoke in the room the smoke and you you're trying to see
00:34:39through the smoke and the lighting and you're eyeing up who you're eyeing up from when you get
00:34:43there but it's all a bit more bit more polite than now in terms of the iron up you know things like
00:34:48that he was kind of telling me so when we got on set and we saw it and i saw hats that people were
00:34:53wearing that my dad wore back in the day and stuff like that i was like this is what he means
00:34:57yeah yeah yeah yeah so i i asked a question about like you know like how you're with your dad has
00:35:05been involved and like how he was involved because for me i was looking at like when i came here there
00:35:10were so many different things that i had taken from my parents that helped me to be grounded here
00:35:15and then when i moved in when i moved and i found my friends and i was moving out here
00:35:20it was the same the same essential struggle of like we're not really from here
00:35:27found something that made us feel like home right from the um from the sound system so when i moved
00:35:32i moved to brooklyn and i would have my house parties in brooklyn and all of my friends at the
00:35:38time were american had a strong either west indian or african or haitian connection and so my house
00:35:45parties when i first moved to the u.s were like this is what i grew up with this is this isn't this is
00:35:51the thing that we got going every single you know on the eastern parkway this is it it was it just
00:35:56always felt like our parents were kind of giving us this layer this consistent layer in our in our dna
00:36:04to forever we went in the world to you know to understand each other to kind of feel each other
00:36:10like from the the van moment my stepdad had a a whole had a fan with his friend martin and they
00:36:16would string up their speakers and they would go out and play and i was there sometimes you know because
00:36:22i'm fast i didn't want to be home you know and so you know so the house parties for me were standing
00:36:28like and it was just it was beautiful to see like you said and just the the code switching they had
00:36:35to do it happens now you know when you're standing around people who aren't happy to see you where you
00:36:40are and they don't think you belong there was a scene right at the beginning where he was looking at
00:36:45the white kid like try me yeah you know and i was like oh i felt that yeah nah you know and then when
00:36:54the dread defended you and the four guys were coming up that that stuff is that stuff is just consistent
00:37:01and around the world and i think for black people period we we all have that moment definitely so
00:37:06grateful for our brothers and sisters like thank you yeah my mom even spoke to me about that about
00:37:14when she'd been to parties and she'd have that excitement but still that thing of on edge of
00:37:18just be careful of keep keep an eye out for who's walking by i think because of the discrimination the
00:37:24racism um so even with that excitement there's you're still kind of on edge of you know like okay
00:37:30now i've got to get home okay i'm on my way once i get there i'm all right but let me make sure i'm okay
00:37:36on my way you know like so those things definitely yeah yeah yeah but then also to make it lighter
00:37:43the the party inside was still like you know again it's just it's worldwide it's you had rent parties
00:37:50in the us that i've learned about and i was like oh that's that's just the blues that's just the house
00:37:55parties right yeah yeah it's it's strange how that those parallels persist you know i mean so
00:38:04in jamaica they'd have the outdoor parties and stuff and they throw big functions and it'd be
00:38:08obviously because it's so hot they do it outdoors and then you know in america you have the rent parties
00:38:13and we had the blues and stuff but it's all kind of like different expressions of the same energy the
00:38:17same vibe man and i find that really hard sometimes when you see similarities you know it's really
00:38:23interesting how we managed to do that you know yeah align ourselves i say i was i have a quote
00:38:30that i say uh same ish different currency if we all go to the same stuff with different different
00:38:35currencies it is what it is yeah yeah all right i think i think it was beautiful to see it was beautiful
00:38:42to see like although we still have a long way to go like how far we've come so again i'm trying to
00:38:47say to you like seeing the scenes where you know the white guys were like whoo to amara's character
00:38:54and whatever like i was thinking yeah that used to happen so i'm like i ain't never had that you know
00:39:00like and i grew up right so it's that for me it was like raw you know like that must have been a
00:39:06but michael what's mad is i have family members that experience that now living in a white area and one
00:39:12of my cousins has to be careful when she's going home because people will laugh and do monkey noises and stuff
00:39:17like that so we have evolved there's still a long way to go but like it's sad it's mad it's mad
00:39:22but yeah so he won't just bring her down or another but yeah yeah no it's it's part of the experience
00:39:28it's part of why we had stories where we were in there releasing and just being like this is this is
00:39:34this is our people this is it you know like so that's that's what i'm going to get onto as well
00:39:38that's like it showed the importance of even why they were at the parties do you get what i'm trying
00:39:43to say they are getting away from that do you get what i'm trying to say to you and then when you
00:39:47put all of that into the to the energy is that this was really just a release that there was nothing
00:39:54more to it you got to say everyone was just with like-minded people you know like sold people just
00:40:01releasing an energy which they had been probably storing up for the whole week or whatever or maybe
00:40:06the whole month before they could enjoy themselves do you get what i'm trying to say man it was just
00:40:10it was good oh man i'm just so happy to be a part of this that's the truth yeah yeah it's classic
00:40:15the same way how did you how did you get into acting michael and amara how did you get into
00:40:21acting what were your first big roles like what was the first like big thing and what was the most
00:40:26amazing piece of advice you've gotten um the best piece of advice i've gotten definitely with this is
00:40:33if you focus on other people's journey you're going to trip on your own and i think that's always stayed
00:40:38with me um but in terms of acting i think i've always just been like i used to love writing
00:40:44poetry i used to love all them sort of things i've always been quite creative and i used to go to a
00:40:48little like drama dance school thing called italia conti with my little cousin there's videos of us
00:40:53in our tutus and me dragging her on stage saying come on alia come lily you know i've always just um
00:40:59been on it i've also been always been very sensitive to other people's energies and wanting to
00:41:05understand other people why they do the things they do so yes that person's the villain but how
00:41:10did they become a villain what happened in their life where they became a villain so i think as i
00:41:15got older that fascination with it and then i've just it's something i've always been on this is my
00:41:19first screen debut though so i haven't really had anything before i done um a bit of theater beforehand
00:41:26but this is my first screen oh you can tell this is incredible you did so incredible oh thank you
00:41:34thank you so much for me it was just it's a mad journey man like i just kind of after football i
00:41:42realized you know it wasn't gonna it wasn't gonna work out like a lot of young youths you know so then
00:41:48i kind of just started thinking what do i enjoy and i feel like that's the question a lot about a lot of
00:41:53people need to start asking themselves at a young age you know because at the end of the day if you
00:41:58go down a path of something that you enjoy it don't feel like you're working i mean i go to set
00:42:03waking up at mad hours and that and so even though sometimes it's jarring it's that raw man's there to
00:42:07set you know i'm trying to say this is a blessing so nothing really matters but yeah i kind of just
00:42:12ask myself the question that you know what do i enjoy doing that what do i what do i want to do with
00:42:17myself bro like yeah i'm trying to say everyone's kind of going to um like going down the academic
00:42:23route or people are actually progressing in this sport um in their sport like whatever they wanted
00:42:29to do and i was just like i don't even want to do sport like that and also like i just want to do
00:42:35something active like i'm active you know i've got all of this energy inside me i don't want to be
00:42:39sitting down and containing it you know i mean um so i just kind of just thought yeah i like taking pictures
00:42:46you know i like taking pictures um maybe i could be a model or something and and then that's how
00:42:51i kind of go into that and i actually started with modeling and then from the modeling um obviously i did
00:42:58i enjoyed drama and stuff like that so you know i kind of just thought with along with the modeling
00:43:04this is a perfect way to put my time into something that is tangible and some something that i can
00:43:11probably do for the next 50 60 years you know i'm trying to say like de niro and them are still
00:43:17acting now and i kind of yeah i wouldn't be able to do that you know i'm trying to say so for me it
00:43:23was it was that's that's what my decision making was and i've gone to college done that um luckily
00:43:29luckily like you know the stars aligned and my dad watching over me just made everything fall into
00:43:34place man you know i'm trying to say so for me man the journey's just been beautiful and i'm just
00:43:39blessed but yeah my first role like my first character roles is that kid show um which is
00:43:45now on netflix actually it's called the a-list and for me just being able to see myself on screen
00:43:51you know was just a big big deal for me man i just love the feeling you know i love people saying oh my
00:43:58god that was sick like oh this scene that scene and you know how did you do that like you know i'm
00:44:03breaking down the process that i'm going back to that moment where you know i had to do this and
00:44:08it was just for me i was thinking nah like this is what it's all about you know like i don't have a
00:44:13bad thing to say about my journey on this so far you know like well i might have bad things to say but
00:44:20everything good outweighs all the bad and for me that's a beautiful journey you know so that's what i'm
00:44:26kind of on it and what i will say as well as people that try to say there's a plan b there's no
00:44:33when people say get your plan b ready have a plan b what what what does that do you know
00:44:38oh my god i was literally talking about this to my friend the other day i was saying this to my friend
00:44:46yeah but it's mad like literally i remember speaking about this with my friend who was in that
00:44:51yeah 10 or something they're like oh bro you know you need to go uni and this this that just so you
00:44:56have something to fall back on how's that bro if i started to fall back on that means i know that
00:45:01i've got something to fall back on so i ain't gonna give this my all if i ain't got nothing to fall
00:45:05back on there's no other choice baby we going all the way exactly you've got that straight
00:45:16you're just making me sending me back on some memory lane
00:45:19right look well look me and courtier go back and i've known you as a writer for the longest time
00:45:28and like how did you give us a give us a short version of how you got into writing like what
00:45:34because when you were writing and you had started up it there wasn't there weren't too many people there
00:45:38was there were a couple there were one or two that did very very well um but like how did you do you
00:45:44did you always want to be a writer like in the same way what was your passion and how did you get into
00:45:49this um um yeah it's a long story so i'm gonna cut it short but basically to be honest with you i was
00:45:55just totally into writing from day one but i wasn't really into writing books actually i don't know if
00:46:01i've ever told you this but i was into emceeing you know so that's what i wanted to do and i was like
00:46:07i remember i yeah so i used to roll mcd and all them man and like yeah we used to just do it you
00:46:13know i mean and that was my thing and i was the only reason i got into writing novels and stuff was
00:46:19to make money to to fund my music career and so i had studio stuff and whatever i did drum and bass
00:46:25i did production and stuff i had a little setup in my house and then i needed more money so stupidly
00:46:30i thought to myself you know what i'm gonna write a book and off that then i'm gonna make a film of
00:46:36the book and then i'm gonna never do writing again i'm gonna go back and i'm gonna go back
00:46:41and i'm gonna be an emcee and i'm gonna be a producer and that's it and done i don't know i
00:46:45didn't know anything obviously about the book industry that i'm gonna make that much money
00:46:49but i was like okay let me do it and uh i started writing the book and that was a scholar and it was
00:46:56about you know uh young black people growing up on a housing estate which is like the projects you
00:47:02know in west london you know and it was everything i've grown up and everything i knew
00:47:06and then about three months into writing that book i just fell in love with writing novels man
00:47:11i actually like i said to myself one day i actually don't want to do music anymore i just i just i'm
00:47:17into this you know i mean this is what i want to do and i found my calling because i've always said to
00:47:22myself when i'm like 50 or something that's when i'm gonna write novels you know i mean i'll do music
00:47:29up until then and then later on down the line novels is an old man thing you know what i mean
00:47:33that's what yeah so i was like but then i you know i was in my i was i was 21 when i wrote that book
00:47:41and i was just like ah this is it that's this is actually what i should have been doing the whole
00:47:45time so uh yeah i wrote it and you know i sold it sold it to quite a you know a major publisher got
00:47:52you know major agency and stuff and then that was my career set and that's what i've done ever since man
00:47:57so it was relatively easy for me like within like a year of writing the book you know i was published
00:48:02i was out there i was touring the world as a novelist man mad i mean this is this is a
00:48:10exactly everything falls in place and i think you gave yourself permission to expand at an early age
00:48:16in the same way that michael and amara had you just give yourself permission to expand and be and live
00:48:22and just give into it and i think this is what makes the film so incredible
00:48:27um michael and amara your chemistry in the film i'll blush the bit about it yeah yeah like okay
00:48:34let's cool myself down don't be your auntie still don't be your auntie don't be a whole entire auntie
00:48:40right now i loved it i was just like oh this is so cute like look at them and again like kissing in
00:48:49front of the bus before the bus came um yeah all of that stuff was just like oh this is this is really
00:48:57it you know um how was that how was that energy like how did you actually how did you create that
00:49:06yeah i don't know i think we clicked straight away i think we just there was a chemistry there from the
00:49:12table read audition and that me and michael sitting opposite each other we're looking each other eyeing each
00:49:16other up you know like um and we just vibe from first reading the scenes and then mites came here
00:49:24a couple of times to like work on the scripts and work with each other and like met my parents
00:49:31and i'm working on this i think we just got on on set never working on the script by the way
00:49:35we just never worked on the screen i would go to amara's say we're going to work on the script we'd read
00:49:40the scene once and then it's just literally just getting to know each other just chilling you know finding
00:49:45out about her life really you know and stuff like that and i feel like sometimes that's so much more
00:49:50better man yeah i'm trying to say because then i get to know her as a person what she's comfortable
00:49:55with like you know my kind of boundaries and then kind of linking that to franklin and martha like
00:50:01where their kind of boundary would have been you know i'm trying to say so yeah man i feel like it was
00:50:06so good um to be able to have someone like amara be so comfortable with even allowing me into her house
00:50:13to be able to just work you know and just get to know each other for me that was like because not
00:50:17everyone would be like that you know not everyone would be like that right sometimes it blocks what
00:50:23you're trying to create you know and there was just none of that we were just able to connect and
00:50:29just deliver some like a beautiful piece of art man and that's what was special right and what i will
00:50:36say was i feel so lucky to have worked with michael because michael is someone that is just unapologetically
00:50:42himself you know and like on set he's so comfortable just in himself and if i'm going
00:50:48to make a mistake i'm going to do it confident so i know where i'm going with this and i learned a lot
00:50:52from him on set like 100 but i will say is we did have band sometimes i've had i'd have doritos before
00:50:57we had to kiss him that to wind him up but um but we just really got on i love michael to death i love him
00:51:10it sounds like a cheesy breath on purpose i was pissed off i'm not even gonna lie like i was
00:51:16i was mad i was mad you know what i'm trying to say because i i blew my breath in his face before
00:51:21they called action actually happened to kiss her with oh i don't want to think
00:51:28that's deep well you couldn't tell you couldn't tell you couldn't tell wow you couldn't tell
00:51:35another thing i learned about your chemistry was that one of the scenes where you were outside in the yard
00:51:39i won't blow out people the scene when you were outside in the yard and you were defending the young
00:51:43lady whose birthday it was and i was so nervous and then michael stood in front and was like oh
00:51:50what like what what like what and i was like right but he popped around nowhere and it was just like oh
00:52:00he saved her life oh my god oh yeah it was but you were you were quite like ready for the ride in
00:52:07you know ready for the role let's just say anyway in your own in your own way he was like yeah i think
00:52:12martha would have mashed him up if she had to you know i think martha would have had him yeah
00:52:16martha would have had him yeah yeah but yeah martha was ready martha had been through some things in
00:52:22life that had prepared her for this very moment and she was not about to let it go and i was i was
00:52:28proud just before that she had been arguing you know she had but just before that she had had the
00:52:33whole thing with clifton just before and stuff so she's already kind of you know angry and these guys
00:52:38that think they can you know and and so by the time she's there just don't don't come for her
00:52:44and but it's good franklin was there anyway
00:52:48the chemistry was on point all right so you were involved in the music too for lovers rock
00:52:55and i i mean like again the janet k so the game sister slash he's the greatest dancer that come from
00:53:01fighting revolutionaries like i was listening just to all the records and again just like ping ping ping
00:53:09just like i remember this and i was this was at home and this was me coming from school and this is my
00:53:14stepdad and his mate and then and they're dancing it's just like so many markers um i think the mark
00:53:21if one of the markers for me was the scene with clifton when keep it like it is was playing in the
00:53:25background i was singing along the entire time trying to figure out what was happening at the
00:53:31same time you know like oh this is this is i'm supposed to be uh watching the scene but i just
00:53:38keep singing along with uh keep it like it is just you know like this thing in the background i had to
00:53:43rewind it a couple times to catch the scene like i need to see this again um how how was that process
00:53:49like were you calling now your friends like what's this song again what like you know yeah yeah it's
00:53:57funny yeah and i was explaining to a friend as well that like a lot of the songs i didn't really know
00:54:03their titles you know i just knew it's the song with the chorus that goes like this
00:54:08so i had to do a little bit of tracking down like what they were actually calling um my auntie verma
00:54:14god bless her you know i mean i called her and i was like okay so talk to me about music
00:54:18um my mom again you know i lean heavily on my mom in terms of like okay so same with the language
00:54:25what would play and what wouldn't play you know i mean and like because i had my memories of stuff
00:54:29but there was like a lot of like gaps because i was so young you know so and then when i wrote the
00:54:34script i put a lot of music in the script you know and not all of the music made it so uh it was just
00:54:40track the track off the track and i think uh a few people tracy the producer and also steve said to me
00:54:46look like we might not be able to get all of this stuff in so i was like that's cool because you
00:54:51know the script is only the blueprint in the same way that you guys go off and do your like improvisation
00:54:56improvised lines and stuff like that you know we have to work around can we get the tracks you know
00:55:01i mean like is the person still you know like terms of payments and stuff like that so how do we clear
00:55:06it yeah yeah clearing the music we couldn't always clear all the music that i put in but i have to say
00:55:12about 80 percent of the music that i put in the script is there so yeah like i said pat kelly you
00:55:17know like revolutionaries that was there i was listening to that i had a playlist i had a spotify
00:55:22playlist you know i mean and every time i sat down to write also my next door neighbor mrs blair
00:55:29that's why the guy's called mr blair yeah she was like you know she's like 75 and such a
00:55:34jamaican woman she was holding parties while i was writing the same old school party she would be
00:55:40holding and stuff you know what i mean so yeah i would i would hear tunes that were playing like
00:55:44in the next door my next door neighbor you know i mean all right that's you did that's you and um
00:55:49yeah it was just a really really big man it was just so like the synergy in terms of the writing i think
00:55:56one song that i feel slightly gutted that never made it in and actually i didn't only because i didn't
00:56:02put it in was uh carol thompson man hope to stay in love you know which is like my anthem you know
00:56:09what i mean like from when i was a kid and it's just one of those things when you're writing and
00:56:11then afterwards you're like ah i didn't put it in it was important to be like carol thompson
00:56:22that's my jam man i remember being in the back of the car
00:56:27yeah can i ask one more question and then wrap it up yeah yeah yeah yeah i have one more question
00:56:33and then another question and i'm wrapping up okay so um michael and amara like what about what
00:56:38about the music like what like for you was that like were you like this is new uh sure or were you
00:56:44like i know this i remember this i know this vibe i feel this vibe like what was it for me i've kind
00:56:50of grown up with that music my mom still has cds in her car with all that music on it that she listens
00:56:55to and from work you know and then you got back you got my dad's it was either that kind of music or
00:57:01the proper hardcore reggae or tupac wherever i'm going with my dad it's one of them three that
00:57:05we're listening to on our journey um and then you've got my my granddad rested soul who um he had his
00:57:12big speakers in his yard when we go over east and you could feel the the vibrations on your bum me and
00:57:18my cousins are sitting on the floor on the sofas eating our food and you feel the vibrations everything
00:57:23so it's already there with me um so it was just because you know then after that time i was doing a lot of
00:57:29shakespeare check off this and that so then to come back to this it just reminded me of all that
00:57:33stuff of where i'm coming from who i am so yeah yeah what about you marco oh yeah i kind of touched
00:57:42on it earlier um like you know i wasn't really familiar with the music and all of that so like
00:57:47in right in my character development it was a big thing and actually just understanding my culture you
00:57:52know that a lot of the jamaica music i had heard was obviously um the only time i'd hear that music
00:57:59was like that was at christenings um and they weren't obviously the same ones in lovers lovers
00:58:05rock parties i feel like i definitely heard silly games but it's not something where i know like oh my
00:58:11god that song is silly games it'll be something that you know i'll just be able to sing along to and
00:58:15think raw like wherever i heard that you know so the fact that now i know it you know i know a lot of the
00:58:20music and i know a lot more about my culture it's just a big big gain from from a project like this
00:58:26you know because i one thing for me is i want to constantly keep learning and growing so that's
00:58:31definitely what i've done um throughout the process of this i gave you some background um
00:58:38for all right so sure last question for everybody um and where's the time so what does being part i know
00:58:45you've touched on it in different parts what does being a part of lovers rock in this anthology small
00:58:50acts mean to you um i think for me my key thing is a bit separate but it's more i'm so excited for
00:59:00young black girls to see me and that inspired them and feel like so especially young black female
00:59:06actors and say i can be a female lead in a love story it's okay i can be beautiful on screen you know
00:59:12because i didn't growing up i didn't figure i didn't know that i was always the goofy friend
00:59:17the funny friend the rabbi or you know like random parts so then for my first screen to get this
00:59:24i'm just so excited to inspire people because i only discovered that when i'm 25 26 i want girls
00:59:29to be feeling that from 14 15 and and before that you know so that's what i'm feel so blessed to be a
00:59:34part of it and for steve to see me and put that out there you know right that's amazing um for me
00:59:44being part of the lovers rock and small acts it's literally like i said man that you know being able
00:59:50to tell a story and be part of something from my culture giving people knowledge about that and it's
00:59:55also just inspired me to want to tell more stories like that you know um i spoken to push you about a
01:00:02couple ideas that i have but it all stems from being a part of something like this i don't think
01:00:07i would come up with these ideas or be so passionate about all of this stuff if i hadn't been in small
01:00:13acts you know so it's giving me a new fire um of what um um what i want to do you know because that
01:00:20you get into a position like this um and you know people are looking at you like you you got some kind
01:00:26of um you've got you got you got you're in a place where you can do stuff bro what are you gonna do
01:00:31with it you know and it's like i'm sitting down thinking rala you know what can i actually do
01:00:36with this you know because i really do want to do something and now i understand the importance of
01:00:41telling these stories man and it's all because i've been able to be a part of something great
01:00:46and so close to home so i'm just blessed man that's the truth
01:00:53yeah definitely i mean uh just my granddad said to me when i was uh starting to be a writer man he
01:01:00said like you put your footprints in the sands of time he uh you know when he first held my my first
01:01:07book and i feel like that's what we've managed to do with this series all of us collectively you
01:01:11know i mean we put our footprints down in the sands of time man and this is like it's gonna be there
01:01:16forever man and that's just so huge i'm so happy i've got a chance to contribute to something like
01:01:20that man it's just such a such a privilege you know so uh and to do it with someone like steve as well
01:01:26so yeah i'm just i just feel really blessed and just happy i could put you know play a part in
01:01:32this massive thing that's that we've achieved you know collectively
01:01:40you guys have inspired me i i feel like you're you're never too you know you're never too grown
01:01:44or too accomplished to be inspired and i think that you guys have inspired me you're an inspiration
01:01:48you are an inspiration so thank you no you are the feeling is oh the usual you have no idea um
01:01:57thank you so much michael amara and courtier for joining me on the small acts afro punk panel
01:02:03discussing lovers rock for those watching at home lovers rock small acts will be airing on amazon prime
01:02:10video on november 20th um and for those in the uk it will be airing on bbc one on november 15th so
01:02:19make sure you tune in you don't want to miss this this is your life this is our life this is our history
01:02:23this is who we are as a people you're going to relate you're going to feel this you're gonna understand
01:02:28this one um and it's indeed gonna let you know that we all go through the same thing wherever we are in
01:02:34the world so one more time thank you courtier amazing playwright amazing playwright amazing
01:02:40playwright amazing writer thank you so much shout out to michael ward fafta award winning
01:02:47fafta like just incredible um artist actor thank you so much amara jay st orvin incredible first
01:02:55on-screen debut i cannot wait to see what you guys do in the future this is it thank you so much for
01:03:00being here with us thank you thank you thank you see you bye
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