Adam Deacon Interview

What’s been happening in your life since Kidulthood, three years ago?

It’s been crazy since then. I’ve obviously been going onto other jobs – Deadset, the sequel to Kidulthood, Adulthood and I’ve been filming some more films this year.

It’s been a really up and down experience because one week you might be doing theatre, the next week doing a TV show. You go from working for months on end and then you can have two months off, it’s so varied. It’s been a massive three years.

What have been the highlights of your career so far?

One of the highlights of my career so far has been the Adulthood premiere because none of us thought there would be that much love for the movie. When we got down to the premiere, there were literally hundreds of people shouting support and they had come from all over the U.K to be there.

Obviously, winning the Screen Nations award for best newcomer was up there, I never thought I’d win that. That was a good night. There’s been so many highlights, and it’s been like an adventure so far, you never know what you’re going to be doing next.

Our magazine goes out to a lot of young people, they are looking up to you and thinking you’ve got the best life there can be. But what’s it really like being famous?

It obviously has its perks, but I never went into (acting) it to be famous. I went into it purely for the acting side. You never really get used to people stopping and recognizing you. I still don’t.

For me, there’s too many actors who take themselves too seriously. I think you’ve got to step back and take a look at yourself. Everyone must look up to them and they expect that.

When people stop and recognize me in the street, it’s very strange. But you know, you’ve got to take it in your stride, do your thing and if people show love then that’s great…the whole fame thing is very weird.

We are down here in Peckham, and you're from Hackney aren’t you? What’s it like being back on the endz now, or are you still on the endz?

Still on the endz, I’m still about. What’s great is that people from my area want to see me do well. That’s the impression they gave me. These people are supporting what I’m doing and it’s a great feeling to know your community is behind you. Because I’ve been trying to represent my community on the screen, to get it back from them is a great feeling.

What’s the difference between you and other people? Without naming names, certain people not necessarily in the acting game but in the music game have come up from the endz and got famous and they are hated. Do you know why that is?

I don’t know what it is with music. Music is a different kind of game. If you can entertain in music, people absorb that differently.

When I make music I’m very conscious about what I say because I know people are looking up to me, so I always try to keep it real. I’m not gonna say I’ve done things if I haven’t done them, so I always try to keep that very real. You hear people say it all the time, but real recognize real. I know when I see someone and it’s fake. They are not that person.

I think the difference between acting and music, when an artist has made it to a certain level in music, it’s up to them if they drop or not - as in if you make one good album and you get to make a second album, it’s up to you…whereas in acting, it’s all run by other people. You’re still going up for casting, and it’s up to them whether you get that part or not. So even if you think ‘I’m the big guy, I should be getting that part’, really it’s all down to the casting director. It’s up to them.

The biggest thing I’ve found is the politics behind it. Everyone under a certain age loves the films and loves what I’ve been doing. And then you go to another generation set and they haven’t even seen half the things that I’ve done. And most of the time they are the people who are casting these films. So it’s very hard, there are politics behind it. You’ve got to keep improving your game and keep changing it up or you will get left behind.

How did you get from the guy who was going to drama school clubs to being in a feature film like Kidulthood. When did you realise that big break was about to come?

I didn’t realise my big break was going to come until it came. I’ve been acting since the age of twelve, as long as there were auditions I would always go up for them.

If I go back to when I was young, I missed so many parties because I might have a big audition the next day, so I missed out on a lot as well because I couldn’t always hang around with my mates.

I always wanted to do the whole street thing on TV, because I wasn’t seeing it. When I found out that Kidulthood was coming up, I thought I’ve got to get this, this is what I’ve been trying to do.

Even when we were filming (Kidulthood), we didn’t know it was going to be successful. We didn’t really know the film had done well until it came out. That was the thing, when we were in the cinema we thought it was going to be one of those small UK films where no one would really go and see it, they’d just wait to by the DVD.

Why do you think Kidulthood was so successful?

Because people can relate to it. There are so many films and programmes that try and relate to youth and I think that Kidulthood just touched that button where you don’t have to try too hard. It had the language, it had the dialogue.

Everyone knows a character like Jay, you might not be like Jay, but you’re gonna know someone like him, in your school or in your estate.

I guess people were surprised and thought, ‘why has this not been done before?’. People were proud that we did that film, because they grew up on films like ‘Boyz N the Hood’ and ‘Menace to Society’.  And finally we have a film that touched upon the streets that wasn’t from America, it was a UK film, UK soundtrack and had dialogue that people can understand. It was amazing. We found out recently that they have assignment and case studies on it in school.

Does it ever worry you that when you play a role that is so big and Kidulthood is so groundbreaking, that you are being typecast into being Jay (from Kidulthood)?

It doesn’t worry me. I really do think that every actor (if you do a part well) will be typecast when they start. I can’t name any actors that haven’t been typecast when they first started. I feel that once you get to a certain level, the directors are going to want you to go outside of your boundaries and change it up. When you’re quite young, people don’t like to think outside the box, and they think you can only do that job.

But to be honest I love playing those parts. But now I’m doing a film – a sequel to Rise of the Footsoldier, which for me is totally different. I’m growing my hair and speaking with a different accent, but I still enjoy the street thing. The film I’ve got coming up Bonded by Blood, people are definitely going to be surprised by that.

When you come up from an area like Hackney, a lot of people have someone who is a big inspiration to them and who pulls them through. Have you got anybody who was inspirational?

A lady called Anna Scher who runs a drama school that I used to go to when I was a kid. I used to go there every week and she used to charge me £2.50 to go to a class. She was the one person that I met, the one woman in industry that didn’t care whether we were rich, poor or whatever; we could just go down there.

She really opened up a lot of doors for so many actors. I mean Reggie Yates started there, Natalie Cassidy. Joe Swash was in my class.

She opened up doors for people who would never be able to get into acting any other way. I owe so much to her.

How does it feel now to have young people looking at you as a role model?

It’s scary in a way because I’m not a perfect person at all. I do get scared, and I don’t want the kids to follow everything about me, because I might make mistakes. You have to be aware that people are watching what you’re doing, and make sure that you are giving the right message. Kids do listen to what you say, and I think if anyone can make a positive effect on the young people it can only be a good thing.

What I try to tell people is that it’s hard work. People ask me how I got picked up. I think the thing people don’t realise is that It’s a really long process. What it comes down to is that once you’ve worked so hard and you feel like giving up, and that you are not getting anywhere and you just want to give up. That’s when you’ve got to work even harder. You’ve got to put in even more effort. Sooner or later people will spot what you are doing and you will get noticed.

But it doesn’t come overnight. You don’t get paid over night either. You’ve got to learn your trade, master it and keep working at it, and doors will open up.

Aside from the acting, your clothing range - OiMySize - Is that still moving, what’s going on with that?

It is still moving. You can get the t-shirts from www.oimysize.com.  It’s about, it’s going to be showing up in a couple of films. It’s been going well. I’ve also started up a little drama school for young people in east London.

I’m trying to keep it moving. If I’m not doing a film I can’t just wait there, I’ve got to be doing other stuff. I need to keep busy.

What was the inspiration behind the drama school then?

It was really Anna Sher again. I got into it because it was a place anyone could go to.

It was kind of like, the training to be yourself. You go to a drama school sometimes and they try and make you into a blank canvas. They try and take away your personality and I think if that happened with me, then I wouldn’t be where I am now. I just wanted to be part of that and give it back to the young people.

And what about the music – how does that fit in with everything else you’re doing?

That’s happening but it’s taken a lot longer than I thought because of my films. I did two films last year, but it’s been crazy because I’ve been in the theatre as well. But I’m down in the studio whenever I can. I reckon I’m about 8 tracks into my album, I want to do a few more, work with a few more artists and it should be out around May next year.

What’s your music about? You said earlier you won’t rap about anything you haven’t actually been through, so what are you rapping about?

It’s really whatever I’m feeling at the time. I write some tracks when I’m in a bit of a mood. I got other tracks that are very positive. The album is me; talking about what life is like. There’s tracks about girls on there, just different things. I’ve got one track called ‘typical act’ – I’ve worked with so many actors and I’m not a typical actor, I’m not involved with all this celebrity and going to Chinawhite. I’m not about that.
For me it’s a bit therapeutic as well, because acting can be such a mad profession and a bit stressed. When I put it into writing it just helps.

Obviously you’re working a lot, but what do you do to relax and to chill out on a normal day?

In my house I just put on Sky digital and just jam. After filming I switch my phone off, lock my door, put my TV on and just chill.

What? No Pro Evo then?

I have to put a time limit on Pro Evo. I check certain people and they’re not at work, they’re at home playing Pro.

If I’m going to play I have to make sure I’m definitely not working the next day. Too much Pro Evo can be detrimental to people, I’ve seen it.

What team are you then?

I’m an Arsenal man.

2010 for Adam Deacon, what does it look like?

It’s going to be good, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me. We’ve got Shank coming out, 4321, Bonded by Blood, the album… It’s going to be a big year.

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