By Hemisha Morarji.
“Those big studio pictures they were great fun. But I enjoyed the creative freedom and responsibility in ‘All in Good Time.”
Reece is more than just a pretty face to swoon over. Sporting effortless cool with a casual T shirt-and-cardie pairing and beanie hat, the thespian comes across as down-to-earth. But to add more cherries to the cake, he’s also very funny – when I take my recording camera out, he mockingly cowers and splays his hands across his face, exclaiming, “No, you’re not taking a picture of me!” But banter aside, he tells me about his time at the National Youth Theatre, as well as working with Judi Dench
Were you aware of the theatre version of the film before you auditioned for the role?
I was aware of the theatre version, but that was already finished by the time I got the part, so I didn’t get the choice in seeing it before (acting it out in the film version). I probably would have seen it, maybe…I don’t know, because you’ve got to be careful not to mimic someone’s performance and I wanted my own take on it.
What was it about the story that you could relate to?
Well, family values I suppose is something everyone can relate to. I’ve also got a close loving family and sometimes in the best of environments, you come up with frictions – everybody does, we’re all human! I find that this adaptation really depicts that in a real way, as opposed to being a polarised genre you’ve seen and done before.
Producer Suzanne Mackie described you as a very instinctive and versatile actor, is it…”
Did she indeed?
Yes she did! (laughs)
Oh bless her….
Is it challenging to play a range of different characters and genres?
Well that’s my job! That’s what I set out to do in the first place and I thrive of variety and challenges. In fact, the more I can disappear into the character, the better – that’s the juice of the fruit. Is it difficult? Anything you try to do well is difficult, but at the same time, I like to feel easy with it and enjoy it as well. Always something to learn.
You spent your teenage years at the National Youth Theatre, where you became friends with Doctor Who himself, Matt Smith. Do you still keep in contact?
Not really. We bump into each other every now and again. He’s very, very busy but no, we’re all good friends at the NYT. Once you go through that wonderful experience you keep those friends. It’s a period in my life that I will always look romantically upon because of the imagination, the creative people around, the possibility, the risk. We weren’t doing it for money -nobody got paid, we were just there for the sheer love of the arts.
You were in big budget films like ‘The Lovely Bones’ and ‘The Prince of Persia.’ How does being in a small British film compare to being in a Hollywood blockbuster?
It’s interesting because large and small in terms of movies – there’s a common misconception about what that means. I mean for an actor, this – in inverted commas – was ‘bigger’ for me because I’m in every scene, more and less. Don’t mistake money for creative credibility. In those big studio pictures they were great fun – I got to travel, got paid well, and got to work with some excellent names. But I enjoyed the creative freedom and responsibility in ‘All in Good Time.’
Two years ago you played Puck in a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the theatre with Dame Judi Dench. Did she give you any useful advice about the film industry?
No she didn’t. She was lovely because you can ask her anything you wanted to. But at the end of the day, as soon as you’re in that rehearsal room, everyone’s a fellow actor. She’ll be the first to advocate that – she’s not about status or giving instructions. And as an actor, you’re generally not geared toward telling another actor how to do it anyways. But I’ve learned enough from watching her.
And apparently you took her out for lunch, didn’t you…
Oh yeah, that’s been reported on. Everyone took her out for lunch.
