With his excellent turn in How To Stop Being A Loser making its way onto our screens this week (check out our review here), I caught up with Simon Phillips to chat Loser and all the rest of what’s going on in his busy life these days:-
HeyUGuys: Congratulations on Loser, it’s not easy to balance the funny, gross and sweet elements, but for what it’s worth, I think the film managed it. Did you feel you were getting the balance right as you were filming?
Simon Phillips: Sometimes it is a difficult thing to judge. I think what makes comedy great is when you’re able to engage with the characters. It’s the same with sci-fi and action. If the audience engage with your characters you can put them anywhere and if [the audience] are with you, they’ll see it through.
You’ve got some big names for your supporting roles in Loser, some of whom you’ve worked with before. Did it take a lot of arm-twisting, or did it come together easily?
Having worked with some of them before, we reached out to them again and said that we were trying something new, that the script was great and that we thought they’d like it. The more you work, the more people you meet and the easier it becomes to get in touch with them.
You’ve got producer credits on a number of your films, how are you finding getting the financing together for them?
I think we are getting better at picking what’s commercial, what’s going to be a winner. It’s often a case of being in the right place at the right time. Once you start to become successful, people want to get on board. We’re seeing the growth of this so-called “Brit Pack”, with writers, producers and actors all helping each other out.
How do you see the independent British sector at the moment?
I think it’s the jewel in the crown at the moment. Hollywood is craving British directors and crews. The [now defunct] UK Film Council wasn’t really working anyway, as the goal was to get ground-up development. If you can get the right idea, it is amazing how well films can do. The sky’s the limit.
Back to Loser, your character James goes through a bit of a change. Which version of him did you most enjoy playing?
The geek version was the most fun. Dominic [Burns – director] told me that I couldn’t make him too stupid. You just lose your inhibitions about how you look.
How is Airborne getting on? I spoke with Julian Glover a few week back and he said you’re in post-production.
I’ve seen the final cut now, but there’s no release date as yet. Dominic and I just love this genre, films like Executive Decision and Passenger 57, so we were really excited to be able to make a film like that.
As all writers are told, write about what you know…
Exactly
What are you working on at the moment?
Today is really all about Loser, but I’m also working on another project called Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan.
What’s going on with UFO? How did you get Jean Claude Van Damme?
It’s finished now. We just went to JCVD’s agent to see if he liked the script. We thought it was a great role and I think it appealed to his acting senses. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Like with Mark Hamill on Airborne – contact his agent, see how you get on. That then feeds into the next project, as you are always being asked who you are and what you’ve done and you can then show them all these clips of who you’ve worked with.
How to Stop Being a Loser is out in cinemas now.
