Gary Stretch's Heavy Talk

Gary Stretch returns to the big screen this week with his new movie The Heavy, which is the directorial debut of American filmmaker Marcus Warren.

The movie sees sibling rivalry turned into betrayal between two brothers. One a prime candidate for Prime Minister, the other a henchman for a successful, yet shady businessman.

I caught up with Gary to talk about The Heavy, working alongside Christopher Lee and Vinnie Jones and he journey from boxer to actor.

- Your new movie is The Heavy so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?

Well it came to from Tom Daley, unfortunately he died recently, but he was probably one of the greatest filmmaker of our time, and before our time producing movies like Platoon and Salvador, he was the most extraordinary human being as well as being an extraordinary filmmaker.

So I did a picture with John and he told me that he had this screenplay that he really liked and he wanted me to look at the film. So I read it, obviously coming from John it was one of things that you want to read straight away, and I read it and like it.

It’s not your typical English gangster movie, in fact I don’t think that it is a gangster film but more of a psychological thriller. So that’s how I was introduced to the film.

The film follows brother rivalry, two brothers take different junctions in life; one becomes a politician and one ends up in a situation he doesn’t want to be in. There was a fracture in loyalty between the two and that has caused conflict; I have one he has another, I have a family trying to bring us together and a situation that brings the whole thing to a boiling point.

It was an interesting script and a very smart script and I had the pleasure of meeting Marcus Warren, who I thought was a brilliant young guy, who directed the film and wrote it.

He’s American, which is unusual to get and American man doing a British film, he had moved to England to really study the English culture and I think he gives a slice of London that most English people couldn’t give.

As the think went on and I started to hear about the cast that was getting involved I got more and more excited, and here we are. 

- Well that leads me into my next question the movie is a very British project with the likes of Christopher Lee, Vinnie Jones and Adrian Paul on the cast list so what was it like working alongside them and what was the mood like on set.

It was lovely you know, I had the pleasure of being the lead in the movie so I got to work with all of them.  I was just with Lee Ryan, who I think is fabulous in the film, and he was like ’what’s it like to work with Christopher Lee? He didn’t have the chance of working with Christopher.

But I had the great fortune of working with everyone and everyone had a different speed and a different type of work, a different approach to it so it was really fabulous to see how different actors approached different parts of the work.

There was a real English morale on the set, Marcus Warren who is American is now more English than me, Vinnie did the whole shoot and did practical jokes and tell jokes, and the whole shoot was just a blast.  Then of course Lee Ryan was hysterical, he’s like a breath of fresh air he’s a whirlwind, it was a lot of fun.

We used to rehearse in different rooms at night and we would have a glass of wine and go over stuff, it just became a real pleasure.

- You take on the role of Boots so what was it about the character and the script that drew you to the project?

Boots is a character whose situation could happen to anyone, one of the interview that I did they asked was Boots a bad guy? And I said ‘No he’s a good guy in a bad situation’, what happened to Boots could happen to anyone.

In fact it happened to a friend of mine he got in a fight, not his fault, he tried to stop a fight someone hit him so hit back the guy banged his head and died, and my mate is now doing ten years. 

It’s just how one split second can change your life and that’s the case for Boots in this movie and trying to get out of that situation, today in our society so many people can make one silly mistake and it ruins their whole life, and that for me was very intriguing to play.

But I also liked the message of the film because the general message, unlike most British gangster films that promote violence or promote this life, is crime does not pay.

So I think that’s a good film overall for kids and people to see that there are circumstances and there is a price you pay for the things that you do, so I think the movie does give a positive message. 

- What kind of research and preparation did you do into the role?

I didn’t have to do that much to be honest; I mean I did a massive amount of preparation. But when my dad saw the film he said’ he’s you’ and he could be me, I used to get into trouble as a kid and if something had gone drastically wrong I could have ended up in jail myself.

I though, and think, that I was a pretty good kid but you can get into situations where something goes horribly wrong and next thing you know you are doing twenty years and your life is over.

And what happened with Boots is very similar and it’s just about a guy who is trying to pull himself back and to get back into society. But once you have come out of a situation it’s very difficult. How do you get a job as a felon or a murderer? People in society don’t accept you so what options do you have?

So it was one of those roles that I found multi-dimensional that had lots of different colours in the piece and was really draw to it because it really could happen to anyone.

- And you have touched on Marcus Warren already but The Heavy is his directorial debut so how did you find working with him?

Marcus Warren is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.  Marcus Warren is a director who has his first film but it’s going on his fiftieth film, John Daley is the same as he had more talent and experience than the lot of them out together.

I used to say to John ‘Can I do this John?’ and he would say ‘That’s why I hired you Gary’. He had no ego John Daley because he knew everything so he would then he would want to know what you know. And with Marcus I would say can I do this and can I do that? And he would say ’That’s why I hired you Gary.’

So he gave actors such freedom but if he wanted something else he would get it also, but first and foremost he would let you do your think. But then if he had ideas, for whatever reason, of another thing he would get that too. But he was just a brilliant, brilliant director I hope I do a hundred pictures with him.
 
- You began your career as a boxer so how and why did you get into movies?

When I retired from boxing I didn’t have profession and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I fell into it really I met an old lady in America, who was a teacher, that was a complete coincidence and she got me into a class and I started to study.

And things stared to progress, it’s almost twenty years since I first started; which is funny because when I stared I asked her how long it would be until I became a good actor and she said twenty years. So really I fell into it by fate rather than choice.

- While you had done movie work prior to this it was Dead Man's Shoes that was the real breakthrough for you, which saw you work with Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine so how did that role come around.

The role in Dead Man’s Shoes was written for a 400lbs skin head but they agreed to see men and when I went to audition I was in a room with about fifty five lumps, I looked like George Michael.

But I went in and I obviously did something, I’m quite sure what it was that Shane saw, I put a different twist on the role and they gave me the job there and then. 

I drove back to London, I had had to go up north, and he changed his mind. He called the agent and said’ I’ve changed my mind because he should be a 400lbs lump’ and it got into this whole political thing, my agent wanted to sue him because we had already done a deal but Shane had other thought.

Then Shane said ‘I really want him but I wrote it with this other idea. I would like Gary to come back and meet, and do an improv with the rest of the cast because it’s a very strong cast and I have had a lot of actors who have been intimidate by them. Would he come back?

And my agent said ‘absolutely not he’s just driven 200 miles twice’ but I said that I wanted to go back. I went back and we did a little improvisation with me and the other boys and Shane gave me the job.

It was a wonderful process and I loved that Shane was so specific in what he wanted and he cared a lot about the film to not make a mistake, and I hope he didn’t make a mistake and I gave him what he wanted.

But I think that my biggest break was Alexander, the Oliver Stone film, I think Shane had seen me in it and I started getting a little bit more work from then.

- And you have worked in British film with the likes of Dead Man's Shoes and The Heavy as well as American pictures like World Trade Centre and Alexander so how important is it for you as an actor to find the balance between the two.

My whole objective and motivation is really based on the script, I don’t really care if it’s English, American or Polish, if it’s a good script that’s the first thing that draws me in. I really really want to do more English stuff, most of my career has been in America, I have only done two English films compared with twenty American.

So I would really like to do some more English stuff but it’s a case of finding the right material, I do have a soft spot for English film.

- And how does working in American and British movies compare/differ?

I love the old spirit of the English films, American movies tend to be much bigger and full of fluff, I like getting down and dirty with the English boys with a little bit of grit.  But I love both, half the bloody film people in America are English; Ridley Scott and all that mob are all English boys.

It doesn’t differ that much, obviously the American movies are bigger because they have bigger budgets and we can’t afford to make those kind of films here often, but the process is usually the same.

- In your boxing career you enjoyed 23 wins from 25 fights how much do you miss the adrenaline of the ring?

You know I loved boxing when I did it, it was a good background for me, but the one thing that I miss about my boxing career is winning, it’s not often you win something everyday so it’s a wonderful feeling when you are afraid and you don’t think that you can do something and you go out there and you win. It’s a wonderful feeling when you wake up the next morning, breathe, and think ‘my god I did it, I won’.

I miss boxing and it was a wonderful chapter in my life but now I hope I can move on to other things, I look forward to one day directing a film; I write a little bit. Acting is a stepping stone and I would like to go onto direct who knows after that… maybe I will become a hairdresser.

- Finally what's next for you?

The next film I’m going to do, hopefully, David Winters has got a project called The Warrior King, it’s a huge Braveheart meets Gladiator meets Conan the Barbarian, it’s a fabulous screenplay.  It’s going to be shot in Bulgaria and Thailand and so it’s a big epic project but it does have a beautiful love story. 

It’s not often that I get given those sort of scripts but I have worked with David before and he has, very graciously, considered me to do it, and I agreed to, so that’s what we are putting together at the moment.

There’s a part in it for lee Ryan, believe it or not, great part for Lee, and it’s one of those funny parts that only Lee could do. So that’s on the next agenda but in between and after who knows it depends if anyone who wants to hire me… I am available (laughs)

The Heavy is out in cinemas now.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

Gary Stretch returns to the big screen this week with his new movie The Heavy, which is the directorial debut of American filmmaker Marcus Warren.

The movie sees sibling rivalry turned into betrayal between two brothers. One a prime candidate for Prime Minister, the other a henchman for a successful, yet shady businessman.

I caught up with Gary to talk about The Heavy, working alongside Christopher Lee and Vinnie Jones and he journey from boxer to actor.

- Your new movie is The Heavy so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?

Well it came to from Tom Daley, unfortunately he died recently, but he was probably one of the greatest filmmaker of our time, and before our time producing movies like Platoon and Salvador, he was the most extraordinary human being as well as being an extraordinary filmmaker.

So I did a picture with John and he told me that he had this screenplay that he really liked and he wanted me to look at the film. So I read it, obviously coming from John it was one of things that you want to read straight away, and I read it and like it.

It’s not your typical English gangster movie, in fact I don’t think that it is a gangster film but more of a psychological thriller. So that’s how I was introduced to the film.

The film follows brother rivalry, two brothers take different junctions in life; one becomes a politician and one ends up in a situation he doesn’t want to be in. There was a fracture in loyalty between the two and that has caused conflict; I have one he has another, I have a family trying to bring us together and a situation that brings the whole thing to a boiling point.

It was an interesting script and a very smart script and I had the pleasure of meeting Marcus Warren, who I thought was a brilliant young guy, who directed the film and wrote it.

He’s American, which is unusual to get and American man doing a British film, he had moved to England to really study the English culture and I think he gives a slice of London that most English people couldn’t give.

As the think went on and I started to hear about the cast that was getting involved I got more and more excited, and here we are. 

- Well that leads me into my next question the movie is a very British project with the likes of Christopher Lee, Vinnie Jones and Adrian Paul on the cast list so what was it like working alongside them and what was the mood like on set.

It was lovely you know, I had the pleasure of being the lead in the movie so I got to work with all of them.  I was just with Lee Ryan, who I think is fabulous in the film, and he was like ’what’s it like to work with Christopher Lee? He didn’t have the chance of working with Christopher.

But I had the great fortune of working with everyone and everyone had a different speed and a different type of work, a different approach to it so it was really fabulous to see how different actors approached different parts of the work.

There was a real English morale on the set, Marcus Warren who is American is now more English than me, Vinnie did the whole shoot and did practical jokes and tell jokes, and the whole shoot was just a blast.  Then of course Lee Ryan was hysterical, he’s like a breath of fresh air he’s a whirlwind, it was a lot of fun.

We used to rehearse in different rooms at night and we would have a glass of wine and go over stuff, it just became a real pleasure.

- You take on the role of Boots so what was it about the character and the script that drew you to the project?

Boots is a character whose situation could happen to anyone, one of the interview that I did they asked was Boots a bad guy? And I said ‘No he’s a good guy in a bad situation’, what happened to Boots could happen to anyone.

In fact it happened to a friend of mine he got in a fight, not his fault, he tried to stop a fight someone hit him so hit back the guy banged his head and died, and my mate is now doing ten years. 

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