Harrow becomes Hollywood (From Watford Observer)

Harrow becomes Hollywood

4:42pm Friday 28th October 2011 in Interviews By Melanie Dakin

Cameras love certain faces and award-winning director Menhaj Huda has a knack for capturing them on screen. Noel Clarke was the focus of attention in his debut movie Kidulthood and now the lens is homing in on Finchley actor James Floyd in Everywhere and Nowhere.

James takes the lead as Ash, a young Asian guy growing up in London who’s torn between fulfilling his traditional family duties and following his dreams of becoming a DJ.

The film’s soundtrack includes traditional Bollywood hits remixed by the likes of Engine-EarZ, Sukh Knight and Nerm & D-Code, the film also features Anuvahood’s Adam Deacon, The Inbetweeners’ James Buckley and Blue’s Simon Webbe, alongside veteran actor Art Malik.

Set in and around Harrow, at the mosque and along the high street in particular, the film depicts multi-cultural suburban London.

“Harrow has a huge Asian population and I didn’t want Ash to have a working class background," explains Menhaj. “He’s from a well-to-do family and is well educated. I wanted to portray a sense of him having that affluent life but still not being happy."

Menhaj’s work has a raw quality, a technique that won him the Douglas Hickox Award for new talent at the British Independent Film Awards in 2006 for Kidulthood. This approach is not to everyone’s taste but its rough honesty has considerable appeal. I catch a few words with Menhaj between breaks in his shooting schedule for a horror film.

The film is demanding in the sense that it’s invasive. I was in every scene

Finchley actor James Floyd

“I want the audience to be in the world of my lead characters, partly why I shoot the way I do is so you can experience the world they are in,” says Menhaj.

“It’s a strange emotional journey and Ash is trying to deal with all the stuff in his head rather than act on it."

For 26-year-old James, it was an intense experience.

“The film is demanding in the sense that it’s invasive. I was in every scene and when you’re carrying the movie there’s more responsibility on your shoulders but I got to enjoy it. It’s a nice step up for me.

“I’ve only seen it once though because I hate watching myself on screen," says the former National Youth Theatre student. “I look at it and think I have a really bad double chin in that shot and in another my body looks very strange, like ET."

James is being modest to say the least, his face has already landed him roles in The Infidel and Tormented, not to mention a two-year stint on TV’s Dream Team. He has just finished filming on Sally El Hosaini’s debut film, My Brother The Devil, due for release next March.

“It’s about two British Egypt Muslim brothers living on a tough estate in Hackney and their complex relationship. It’s not really an urban film even though it’s set in that environment, it’s more about human truth."

Raised in Fortune Green, James moved to Finchley two and a half years ago. Educated at University College School in Hampstead, he went on to study philosophy, logic and scientific method at the London School of Economics.

Ash is caught in a world of arranged marriages and parental expectations. I ask James if his family was reluctant to let him follow his dream of acting?

“If they hadn’t questioned me about wanting to be an actor, then they’d have been crazy. Mine is not a traditional family, they’re liberal progressives and ultimately their message was ’do what you want’."

Everywhere and Nowhere is out now on DVD.