First of all, why don't you introduce yourself to those of us who don't
already know you?
My name’s Liam Edwards,
and I’m an actor from South Normanton, Derbyshire.
What got you into acting in the first place, and what can you tell us about
your training as an actor?
I don’t really know how I
got into acting, I was always into film and theatre, but I was dead-set on
joining the police upon leaving school, but literally in the last month or so,
I just decided “I’m joining a drama course instead”. I went to West
Nottinghamshire College and earned my HND before moving on to Sheffield Hallam
University, where I earned my Performing Arts degree. Most of my training was
theatre oriented, but I learned a wide range of techniques for character
development, a lot of method and naturalistic acting, but also a lot of improv
and physical theatre techniques too. I also learned some musical theatre and
dance, though I haven’t often used them.
How would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your
techinques to bring your characters to life? I’ve
played a wide range of characters, so I’ve had to be versatile, although
a lot of my roles have been some real unsavoury characters. It depends on
what the schedule is before filming, I sometimes go over the script and
make notes on what I perceive to be important character points, sometimes
I keep little diaries - as the character. I’ve even dressed like a
character and gone out as them, spoken like them, behaved like them.
Example, I once had a vampire character (best way to describe him) called
Aegeus for a film called The Culled - I went out as him, I never let
people see my face under my hood, if someone spoke to me, I’d whisper
back, I sat on the back seat of a bus, in the middle, watching the other
passengers under my hood, it was 6pm on a February evening, getting dark,
then the lights went out at the back so I was in shadow, for me it was
like gold, because nobody came within two rows of me.
Most of all, when I get a script, I like to put it on its feet, so once
everyone’s out of the house, I’ll take over the living room and start
acting it out, just to get used to doing the scenes - first of all, I’ll
gain an understanding of the character’s motivations from that. I
don’t like to just sit and read lines, they never sink in that way for
me. In my early theatre roles, I found that I’d pick it up a lot faster
by getting up and doing it. When I was in Uni, my teachers (who were actors themselves, and/or ran theatre companies) would comment that I
could deliver any dialogue in such a naturalistic way that one wouldn’t
know I was part of a scripted scene, practise makes perfect. As far as I
know, you started your career in theatre, right? So what can you tell us
about your stagework?
This was back in college, I
discovered the local community theatre. They were putting on an original
comedy piece called A Site for Sore Eyes written by a local writer,
Kevin Fegan, and directed by Louise Wildish. The show was written to raise
awareness about the old Mansfield General Hospital, and it’s derelict
state. I played one of the pesky former residents of the hospital, a
poltergeist, “Pol” for short, who cunningly manipulates the local
residents into action, to get the hospital knocked down. That was with
Mansfield Palace Theatre, I went on to do The Crucible and Brecht’s
Caucasian Chalk Circle with them. I’ve played Macduff in Shakespeare’s
Macbeth Twice, first version based on the idea of a modern gangster
Macbeth, the second time was the classic play in costume, with swords, so
I’ve shot him and chopped his head off respectively.
My most recent stage production was Family Circles by Alan
Ayckbourn, directed by Rob Goll at the Nottingham Arts Theatre. I played
the hypochondriac David, permanently stressed out and fretting, it was so
much fun to play and we all had a great laugh. I’ve met friends for life
every time I’ve been involved with a stage production. Eventually, you also drifted into
film and TV - now how did that happen, and can you still remember your
first time in front of a film/TV camera? When
I left Uni, I was like “Ok, gotta find work, put my name out there” I
eventually met OTT Productions, a company in Nottingham looking for actors
for Dawn and the Dead, their zombie apocalypse comedy. I played
Nigel, a young soldier, part of a four man squad, who were just the most
inept group of soldiers on the planet, so I quickly discovered that
anything went with this role and I could have fun. But I tried to push the
boat out all the same. Most of Nigel’s dialogue was as the puppy dog of
the group, all fun and games, Sarge hates his guts and makes him
responsible for the little girl they find. But then at the end, Nigel dies
to save her, I sold that scene so well that OTT have had me back for about
8 more films, each one with a more challenging role than the last. It’s
been awesome, so I must have done something right.
Performing on
stage vs acting in front of a camera - now how do the two compare, and
which do you prefer, actually? I’m
just now venturing back to stage work after about two and a half years, in
that time I think I’ve done about six films and countless other small
roles. On stage, obviously you have to project your voice a lot
more, everything has to be bigger and that much louder. Back in Uni, the
teacher would go right to the back of an auditorium and say, “hit this
back wall with your voice!” To the camera, you can be more subtle, I
enjoy being subtle, I enjoy saying something with a look, an expression,
when you’re on stage, obviously, the audience can’t see every facial
tick, expressions have to be that much more visible, so It’s more body
language. On camera, you can explore a more subtle range while still
putting across tonnes of emotions. It’s taken time to master, I’ve
stood in front of the mirror with scene directions before, trying to work
out what expressions convey the most, obviously the eyes are a big part of
that. I enjoy the process of putting on a stage show, though I tend to
only go for comedies, I do so much dark stuff that I need that comic
release every now and then, to be able to laugh at what I’m doing.
Having had so many awesome times on both stage, and in films, I really
can’t say which I prefer more.
|
Do talk about some of the
films you were in for a bit, and what made these experiences special? Well,
I’ve done a lot of films for OTT in Nottingham, most recently, I’ve
done Waiting for the Rain, At the End of all Roads, My Garden Forever and
Legacy. Some of them aren’t out yet, but they're gonna be awesome when
they're ready. In At the End of all Roads I played Drew, a real nutter, I shaved my head
and grew a beard, Drew and his mates were on a revenge mission. At one
point, during a scene, a woman started shouting at us to leave the guy
alone, then two plain clothes policemen came to check on the guy I was
supposed to be beating, you know you’re doing it right when that
happens. In Legacy, I played a Cop, DC Ward. The film's not out yet so I
can’t give too many details away, but Ward is sleazy and corrupt as they
come, but a real Badass at the same time, also smart and manipulative.
Even catching a hard beating and having guns pointed at his face don’t
faze him. Yeah, I’m looking forward to that one.
It was a pleasure to be part of Molly Crows, I was in the flashback scenes
as a Puritan, one of the accusers of poor Molly Leigh. I was also part of
a spooky hanging scene in the woods. I loved hanging out with Ray [Ray
Wilkes interview - click here], Tony,
Layla, Phil and all the others. I keep running into witchcraft as a
subject matter in my career, I’ve loved it every time. It was also so
intriguing to work on because we cannot forget, Molly was a real person,
delving into the dark past is always exiting.
I’ll also be appearing in a Webseries soon, it’s called Waterside, directed by Allan Rafferty. First
episode is done now and
it’ll be ready soon. In this, I play “Mercy” he had a traumatic
early life and as a result, is now a psychotic madman out for revenge,
delivering “Mercy” to anyone he perceives to be weak. I’ve also done
a short called Dragons, which will be really funny when it comes
out, and most recently I played a “Daddy Pig” in Three Little
Pigs, it was filmed like a stage show, and we were in masks, so it was
a perfect blend of the stage and film experiences.
Any
future projects (in whatever medium) you want to talk about? I’ve
just started rehearsing for Granny Must Die with a local theatre company, I’ll be playing The Devil in this one and it’s a comedy, so
I’m really excited about that, that’ll be showing in January. I’ll
also be appearing at Twin Lakes as a butcher in the Scare Fest Pie
Factory, that’s gonna be awesome and I can’t wait for that, that’s
for Halloween. I’m on the shortlist for a couple more so fingers crossed
on that front. Your
dream roles (however improbable)? I’d
really like to play motion capture CGI role at some point, either for a
film or a game, that’d be awesome, as I’m a big gamer. If they ever
make a film based on the Space Wolf series of books, I’m your man
for Ragner Blackmane, picked the omnibus up once for a flight and got
hooked. He’s just someone I really identify with, just in the way his
mind works. Really though, any badass character in a sci-fi/action will do
me, that’s my favourite genre. Actors (or indeed
actresses) who inspire you? Daniel Day-Lewis, for
someone that follows method, the dedication the man puts into every role
is astounding, that’s where the bar is set. Of course I’m also a fan
of Liam Neeson, the man trained Batman and Obi-Wan after all.
Your favourite movies?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
I’m
a big fan of the Riddick movies, also Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.
Dredd, Hot Fuzz,
The Guard, Centurion, Dog Soldiers, District 9, the list
goes on and on. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? Name any romcom. Your website,
Facebook, whatever else?
My
Starnow Page: http://www.starnow.co.uk/liamedwards2
My
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liam.m.edwards
Website
http://lmedwards.co.uk/
And my Xbox Live gamertag is Jagrider, if anyone’s on there, feel free to look me up.
Anything else you are dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Well,
I’m working on my own stories at the moment, and when they're done, I’ll
be sure to let you have a look. All I’ll say right now is that one’s
an action-sci-fi that I’m refining and I’ve got a few ideas for a
straight up horror which are still in the notes stage. Soon as they're done,
I’ll be sure to send you a synopsis. Thanks for
the interview! Cheers!
|