Your new movie Deep Shock - in a few words, what is it about,
and what can you tell us about your character?
Deep Shock in a few words is a horror/thriller about a wealthy English
family, they have had a lot of tragedy over the years, and I play the role
of Father Jonathan McRoberts who is a Irish priest and a friend of the
family.
What did you draw upon to bring your character to life, and how much
George Bracebridge can we find in Father Jonathan McRoberts, actually?
I used my own personal family tragedies and also my friendship with
our own family priests over the years. You will find a certain amount of
myself in this role in some of the more intense scenes.
To what extent can you relate to playing a priest, and do you
consider yourself at all a religious person?
When I was very young I used to dress up as a priest and was very
interested in the priesthood. I even considered joining the priesthood and
I did become very religious at one stage - but I then got a bit older and
I drifted slightly from religion.
What did I draw upon to bring this character to life, I used the
knowledge I had from attending church and also knowing some of the local
priests, one of which became a good friend of the family.
What can you tell us about your director Davide Melini [Davide
Melini interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
with him like?
Well actually this was the first time that I had heard of Davide Melini
and of course the first time I have worked with him. But when I was cast
for this role I did look him up and was very impressed by his experience
and the really big productions he had worked on and of course his own
style of horror movies I really do love.
I got on really well with Davide and loved how he always gave you
feedback after every scene which gave me the confidence that yes I am
doing a good job here. I also really like that he has stayed in contact
with me ever since I wrapped on Deep Shock and would love to work with him
again.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere?
It was a really good as it felt we were all one big family and we all
got to know each other. There would be times where it got a little tense,
especially if we were slightly behind time, but we all had a job to do and
this is part and parcel of film work.
What got you into acting to begin with, and did you receive any
formal training on the subject?
What got me into acting, I always loved movies and going to the cinema
but never thought one day that I would be an actor. I started working as
an extra for TV and film about 10 years ago and I was only doing it to
earn extra money, nothing else. Then one day I get a call to work on an
Irish TV soap again, and I thought just in background but when I arrived on
set I was told that I will have some lines to do so I was now a featured extra and I thought to myself this means double the pay I normally get.
So we did the scene and it went really well, the director was very happy with
my work and I got such a buzz from this, so I decided to take some acting
lessons as it would be useful for further productions. I took acting
classes in a 6 week course but loved it so much that I stayed for 3 years.
I took the advice from my tutor (Vinny Murphy) to give up working as an
extra and concentrate on my acting. From there I did a lot of student
short films, independent productions and some TV work. I also did more
workshops and another 4 weeks intense acting course with Terry McMahon
(director Patrick's Day).
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Deep Shock?
I have been working as an actor since 2009 doing a lot of student
productions at first and then slowly got into bigger productions including
TV, a lot of these are independent productions apart from TV. My first
feature was a lead role in Harry Hamlet, a modern day version of Hamlet. I
also had a really nice supporting role in The Wandering and again another
lead role in a very hard-hitting gritty movie called Bully in which I play
an abusive father. I have done some very intense roles in short films such
as Cops and Robbers, Any Last Words, Oblivious, The Deep
Web, Felicity’s Story, All Mortal Flesh, Bayonet,
Dublin 47, all of these productions I
have received an IMDb credits for.
How would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your
techniques to bring your characters to life?
To bring my characters to life, I take my role very seriously and
I am very professional in my approach to acting. I am also a very
approachable actor, I don’t shut myself off to other people but when it
comes to getting into a character or a very intense scene I will keep to
myself. The techniques I use are very simple, draw on your life
experiences, act without acting, in other words keep it very natural and
real, don’t overcook the role and keep it small and relax.
Actors (and indeed actresses) who inspire you?
Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Ray Winston,
Michael Caine, Roger Moore, Daniel Craig and Russell Crowe.
Your favourite movies?
Dirty Harry, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Deer
Hunter, Get Carter, French Connection, Gladiator,
Ben Hur, The Exorcist,
The Omen and of course Deep Shock.
... and of course, films you really deplore?
Any American rom-coms or stupid American comedies, and very badly
produced horror films.
Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten
to ask?
I have my Facebook page, just type in my name George Bracebridge, and
also my IMDb page.
Thanks for the interview!
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