I recently got the chance to talk to Andie Beaven about her role in ‘The Haunting Of Harry Payne’. Here, Andie talks about what it was like working with the cast and crew on-set and how she got into acting in the first place…
Hey Andie. Thanks for taking the time out to talk to me about your new film, ‘The Haunting Of Harry Payne’.
You’re welcome! It’s nice to be asked!
What’s the general plotline surrounding the film?
It’s about a London gangster called Harry Payne who retires to Norfolk to be close to his wife. He goes mad after he was forced to kill his best friend, psychopathic gang boss Eugene McCann. He is then drawn into a murder mystery in which an obsessive local police detective targets him as the killer. There is also a sub-plot where unknown to anyone, Harry has psychic abilities that he has always suppressed with alcohol and we watch him as he confronts his demons, both supernatural and personal, to save his wife and free the tormented souls of the ghosts that haunt him.
Tell us a bit about the character you play in the movie…
I play a Gentleman’s Club owner and dancer, and I am actually part of Harry Payne’s painful flashbacks. My character is very erm, accommodating towards Harry’s friend, McCann, but she is no push over, her club is her business so she doesn’t stand for any trouble with the clients that drink there.
How did you get involved in the project in the first place?
I have been involved with a lot of excellent community theatre in Norfolk , where the film was being made ,and John Mangan, the writer, was looking for someone very specific. He really wanted a dancer with really strong acting credentials, but he got me instead hahahaha, ahem. So John needed someone who could dance but, importantly someone who could act really well and a stage manager I was working with on a play at the time, suggested my name to him and he invited me down to the studio for a chat. He’d heard of me from the plays I had done, I’d just finished a play where I played a runaway lap dancer, and he was happy to cast me.
How would you say this film is different and unique?
It’s a gangster film dipping a massive toe in the paranormal genre. I can’t say too much about what happens as I wouldn’t want to give away the plot twists but as far as British films go, I haven’t seen anything quite like this, it isn’t just another Brit-gangster flick.
The film stars Tony Scannell, Daniel Bardwell, Peter Barfield, Kris Dillon Jr and Oli Brown – with Martyn Pick onboard as director – what was it like working with the cast and crew on-set? Any good anecdotes?
It was such a brilliant time, my scenes were with P.H. Moriarty and Tony Scannell and they were true gentlemen. I think the make-up crew was just pleased to have a girl to ‘do up’ in that club glamour way, think they were getting a bit bored of men. And ghosts. I felt like a ‘Girls World’ head. I got the impression the supporting artists quite liked the rehearsing I was doing as well. I played a dancer in the film, she was a pole dancer, so I was doing a few twirls on the pole while the crew were setting up. I think I was doing it a bit too well, they thought that was my real job! I’m definitely not a dancer, but I’d had done a couple of courses in pole dancing which was enough. It’s actually really difficult!
Let’s talk a bit about you Andie. What made you want to get into the industry in the first place?
I have always wanted to act, the first play I ever did was ‘Snow White And The Seven Dwarves’. I was cast as “Dopey”, my first role and I was already type-cast, also I had no lines to learn. I was 9 but I loved it. Since then I’ve done plays, some children’s TV (very briefly) and I also went to the USA to study theatre. Or theater as they called it! I am not exactly sure what it is about performing that I love, I just know that I can’t not do it. I couldn’t imagine never performing again, that would just be too sad.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into the industry?
You have to remember that anything worth having is going to be hard to get. You don’t need to be with the best agents, though of course that helps, you don’t need to know all the best producers, but again, that helps…you just have to work hard. The Internet makes it easier to represent yourself and find your own work, provided you have the time to do that. I remember before the Internet (yes, I am THAT OLD) you had to have an agent because firstly they were the ones who knew where all the best jobs were and secondly, unless you really really wanted to be a stripper, The Stage didn’t have anything useful in it. Now we have the interwebs, that isn’t the case. You can find work and have access to decent jobs, as long as you are Spotlight registered of course. Basically, don’t wait for work to find you, go and get it.
What is currently on your I-Pod right now?
Hahaha, I am actually the only person in the universe who doesn’t own anything made by Apple. I have the other Fruit-Based phone….but on there is basically a mish-mash of all sorts of stuff. Most of it is probably very embarrassing; for example, the last thing I put on there on purpose was a track from my gym class so that I could do a work out when I was away. The track that gets played at least once a day is Penguin by Avicii, it’s on my alarm clock.
If you could have dinner with three guests – (living or dead), who would you choose and why?
I am going to only include famous or infamous people here, otherwise I would of course dedicate this meal to the friends and family I can’t spend time with for whatever reason. So, taking loved ones out of the equation, I would invite Marilyn Monroe, she was an amazingly funny actress, often judged on what she looked like, but she would have been amazing if she’d been performing these days. I’d invite John Lennon as well; he can play the piano while Marilyn and I talk about films. I would also invite Jesus, in case there isn’t enough to eat or drink. I seem to have picked all dead people. That’s ok, I don’t mind digging.
What is your favourite word?
I tend to make up words, usually when I’m angry, to convey how I’m feeling. You can’t go wrong with making up your own swear words. Actually my little sister and I have our own language between ourselves, nobody else understands us. It’s mostly just playful insults and sarcasm.
What’s coming up for you in 2012?
I recently signed with a new agent, and I’m still pretty excited about that. I have a few things I need to follow-up on and I have a few more photo assignments coming up as well. I would like to do another play this year, I’m not sure if I can fit one in but I would like to. I tend to prefer comedy roles, when I am doing a play anyway.
I think it’s time Jerry Bruckheimer brought the ‘CSI’ franchise to the UK. I would be all over that. Although ‘CSI Tamworth’ might not have the glitz and glamour to counter the seedy crime underbelly, is there a seedy underbelly in Tamworth I wonder??
Thanks for the interview!
Matt J. Horn 