I don't like doing things that are too easy.
Noel Clarke
I was offered and accepted a part in 'A Few Best Men,' and then the Australian actor's union argued that there were too many British actors. And the director decided to lose me.
I just started to write because I was fed up of not seeing the stories that I wanted, so I was like 'Stop moaning and write something.'
I think it's important that we have a new batch of British film-makers that aren't doing the same old stuff. And that includes me.
I don't think anyone expected me to get the BAFTA. The bookies didn't have me down. It's definitely made a huge difference in my career, but I don't dwell on it.
I think most people, no matter their status now, have big screen TVs, because they're the standard TVs now. And so why would you go to the cinema?
I'm just who I am. I don't try to change myself for other people.
I wouldn't say that I'm a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but I wouldn't say that I'm brilliant at any.
People can criticise me all day long. It just washes off me. You might as well be talking to a wall.
I did 'Kidulthood' and 'Adulthood,' and that's what people wanted and expect me to always do. They want me to do 'hood films and be the guy swinging baseball bats and saying 'Yo Blood' and beating up others in the street.
My past films came out on home entertainment in the U.S., so the next question was, how do we get a theatrical in the U.S.? Well, you put a monster in it. That will do it, because people love monster movies.
I'm a nice guy to anyone I meet, until they show me they don't deserve niceness. I'll turn very quickly. But I'm pretty pleasant overall.
I don't think I'm egotistical, and I know what my limits are: I'm a black guy who's probably losing his hair. But I'm happy to play roles that I'm given, and I'm happy to play roles that I write.
I can't always be making 'British films.' Why should we be making films about corsets and horses and girls learning to drive when Americans send over an event movie and make five or 10 million?
When I wrote 'Kidulthood,' I didn't even know there was going to be a 'Kidulthood.' I just wanted to test myself to see if I could write a script.
I'd always much rather be second choice on anything because it makes you work harder.
After 'Kidulthood,' I was called in to a meeting and told that I didn't write women very well. I was very annoyed.
I think the British industry is set up to support British film, if we make films that enable them to support it. If you don't make a commercial film, distributors can't get behind it. If they don't get behind it, the film doesn't do well.
Generally, an indie film in the U.K. is put together much like in the states. We got a tax credit. You sell the domestic rights, which can be quite low, but it's enough to push you over the line. And you get a tax credit on top of that, and then you cobble it together with private equity or gap financing and things like that.
'Pulp Fiction' blew my mind; beforehand, I'd watch films and there was a beginning, middle and an end, and that's it. There is in that film, too, but it's out of sequence.
I couldn't tell you the ratio, but probably for every job you see me do, there would be 20 rejections.
I think that's important for all ages, to not be afraid of being an individual. I grew up on my own, as an only child, so early on I think I was quite capable of making decisions by myself and being an individual.
