Ali Cook
Ali Cook is a man of many talents. We got the chance to the magician-turned-actor about his journey over the past few years, his current tour and his upcoming projects.
You've featured on 'Penn and Teller: Fool Us', how was that experience for you?
That was a little while ago now = that was a nice slot. I've known the producer on that show for a long time and she's always wanted to do something with me, and they heard about me being the only person doing the oldest trick in magic, so they asked me to appear and it was really good fun. Really good fun.
With you coming to the end of your 20-date tour, what can those yet to come and see the show expect?
This show's called 'Principles and Deceptions', and it was the best reviewed magic show of the Edinburgh Fringe there's ever been and basically what it is - there was a magic book written in the 40's called 'Principles and Deceptions' and it was the first magic book to actually describe every type of deception there is. So, it's a bit more than just a magic show - we actually do a demonstration of every form of deception there is - sometimes a little bit about the context and where they come from, and also how they work on an audience. That's really what the show's about.
What is it that led you into the world of magic?
I have no idea! Well, my mum had a new-age book shop when I was a kid, and some of the books that came in there were also magic trick books that would come in from publishers, so that was how it started.
You've also done acting - and been in quite a lot of things - so how has that experience been for you?
Well that came as a result of being a magician - obviously a magician is an actor basically. I was performing in a comedy club and a student of the director Stephen Frears saw me there, and then he asked me to be in his short film and that's how I started acting.
You're soon to appear in ITV's 'Mr Selfridge' - can you tell us about the role you're going to be playing in that?
I don't know how much I can say unfortunately - we have all these severe confidentiality agreements! But, I'm playing the reporter - it's about the outbreak of the first World War, and Mr Selfridge's dealings with the Germans - that's all I can say!
Aside from these, what other projects are you working on?
There was a film called 'Get Lucky' which is on Sky Box Office at the moment, that's a heist film, and I just finished filming a science fiction film called 'The Anomaly' from Noel Clarke, and that'll be coming out roughly this time next year, and that was with Ian Somerholder from 'The Vampire Diaries'. That was my biggest role to date - I was playing a secret service agent from the future, and I was doing that with Luke Hemsworth - one of the Hemsworth brothers.
How was working with these big names?
Oh it was fantastic, he was a lovely guy, really good fun and that was a great experience - and with Noel Clarke - he was directing it and he was also in the scenes I was doing as well so I was quite lucky for him directing and acting in the same room as me - that was quite handy and definitely got me to up my game!
What would you say would be some of your favourite moments of your career to date?
'Mr Selfridge' was fun - we only did it last week! What's great about 'Mr Selfridge' is that it is genuinely - I've never done a period drama before - so it really is wearing the suits and the outfits, it really is really cool, and just how they can transform streets round the back of the Albert Hall into something that looked like it was a street in 1914 - it's amazing how they do it just with a bit of gravel on the ground and a good bit of lighting - it was incredible.