Last week I sat down with actor/producer Robert Fucilla to discuss The Big I Am, the new British gangster film that is his biggest acting accomplishment to date, not to mention his first time behind the camera as a producer.
With an all-star cast, The Big I Am tells the story of a small-time crook who is unexpectedly given the keys to a mobster's criminal empire for 24 hours.
What inspired you to get into the film industry as both an actor and producer?
I left university after my first year and literally just packed my bags and went to LA. I was 19/20 years-old at the time. I had a friend out there who was also trying to be an actor and I just wanted something different in my life. I've always enjoyed acting — I went to drama school when I was a child — it was something I was good at. I spent most of my time sleeping on people's couches until I started to find work out there. I only did a few small bits and pieces, but it was only when I came back to England that I started working with a producer and became friends with him. He was also a director. As I had a full-time job in finance, I kind of had the right connections to put a project together, so I sat down with Nic Auerbach, the director, and we thrashed out loads of ideas and thought that it would be great to do a Lock Stock [and Two Smoking Barrels] kind of film, something gangstery [sic] and exciting.
We finally agreed on a project and Nic brought in the writer and we carried on from there really. Once we had the script and investors, it was then all about going out and finding a cast, but that was more Nic who was working out what actors fit in where. For me it was my break into the acting world — I'm starring next to Michael Madsen and Steven Berkoff, some of these guys who are very talented actors, legends in the industry. I was also working with Vincent Regan, he was in 300 and Troy, a lot of these big Hollywood films, so it was good to be alongside these guys and see how they work. Since them I've done a lot of different roles, but for me it was definitely my break into the film world.
Was the crime genre the one you had always wanted to work with in your foray into film-making?
We were thinking of something commercial and these kind of gangster flicks always do well as there's the market for them, but also we wanted something we could have fun with, with all these different characters: you've got a drug dealer who's totally out of his head; Steven Berkoff, who auctions off women; Michael Madsen, who's kind of like a washed-up ex-crime boss who's always drunk, etcetera. So there's so many different characters. There's Paul Kaye as well, who puts a little bit of comedy into it — grows weed like a crazy chemist. It's good fun with all these characters.
What was the experience like of working with Hollywood star Michael Madsen?
Michael Madsen [laughs]. He is wild, but he's also a very talented actor and if you watch the film you'll see that his performance is great. He and Vincent Regan make the film. People found him difficult maybe, but I had a good laugh with him on set. He was a fun guy to be around, always joking and laughing. Maybe with the crew he might have had his ups and downs, but never with me. I thought that he was very good to work with.
The film has an impressive cast. We discussed Michael Madsen's involvement, but what was it like working with such reputable actors as Steven Berkoff, Paul Kaye and Vincent Regan?
The thing is I was of course nervous working with all these big names, but after the first take I was thinking that I was fitting in and that it was working. I know now that I've got the talent to work with anyone, I think. I wouldn't like to put that to the test right now [laughs], but I definitely think that I could stand up with any actor. In the film you'll see that we all gel very nicely and no one's weak. I definitely held it together with some of the others. It was good fun. I didn't really enjoy the producing side, I found that a strain to do. To try and be a character — a gangster — and then be yourself and try and have your business head on sorting things out, it's difficult to change from one to another, but yes, I didn't enjoy the producing side and I don't think I'll be doing much more of that [laughs]. I think I'll concentrate on the acting.
The film is already getting quite a name from the story of its problematic production. Could you explain some of the disasters that happened?
We had problems with the producer that we had at the time. He wanted to spend spend spend. It's only right that the director wants to get the best film possible and he wants to bring in everything very lavish, but also you've got to remember that it is a business, you've got to keep things together. We've got a nightclub scene for example and literally we had this massive warehouse that was turned into a nightclub. It looks great in the scene, but things like that could have been toned down, I think. It was like a big army warehouse and then we had to light it which took tons of lights.
On the first day of filming Leo [Gregory] broke his nose, someone dislocated their arm, it was just straight away that problems kicked in. And with Leo breaking his nose, literally he was in every scene, so we found ourselves sitting around for another two weeks. There was a time where, on one of our biggest days on set, Michael Madsen was taken ill, and that was another big, big blow.
Beatrice Rosen, who's in the new 2012 film and The Dark Knight — she plays the same character actually [laughs], an Eastern European girl. She had extensions and stuff and that all caught fire one day and literally shrivelled up during a make-up session, so it was just stuff like that that dragged the whole set behind and made us constantly have to reschedule, and there were fall-outs between some of the crew, so we had to literally pick up from Wales and move everything to London. Stuff like that is just a headache, you know. I just want to get on the set and be creative and have fun, and not worry about who needs to be paid and what needs to happen, I'd rather just let someone else deal with that and get on with what I want to do.
How was your relationship with director Nic Auerbach tested during production?
It was a rollercoaster [laughs] and I think at one point I tried pushing him off [laughs]. We gelled in the beginning, as we went through production it was kind of a downhill struggle and towards the end we kind of picked it up and we were back on again. The best way to describe it is as a rollercoaster, but we're still good friends and we're looking at other films together and it's all good.
What was the reaction from your investors to the various problems that littered the film, like with the huge rising costs throughout production?
Well the investors don't really want to know, they just want the film finished. If you say that there's an issue they'll say it's not their problem. There were times where we had to go and rebudget, but they were more concerned with how much we needed and not what the problems were, “That's your problem, you deal with that. What is the issue here? You need another £100,000 here and another £50,000 here?”, that kind of thing. The discussions were really that we've got this many scenes — we've got this action scene, that action scene. We had a car chase scene at the beginning of the film, but due to rebudgeting, that was dropped, but to be honest I don't think we needed it anyway.
Could you ever have imagined making a film would be quite so exhausting? Especially with it being your first.
No. To be honest I think in a way I was probably naïve and I trusted people in positions that I shouldn't have put them in. What we should have done is put people into power that you can trust and you can work with, so if there are problems you know you can get through them without having the headache. Especially because it was in Wales and I'm in London, so going to my job which was in finance and then being told that I'm on set now and to come to Wales ... so I get in the car at three o'clock and drive all the way to Wales, shoot until two in the morning and then drive back again to get back to the office. One night I nearly killed myself coming back from the motorway, I nearly fell asleep at the wheel. It was only that I lent on the hooter that I woke up [laughs], I let myself go to the other side of the road, and then literally I thought fuck this — I pulled over and I fell asleep on a petrol station, just fell asleep till about five/six o'clock and then drove back to the office, but yeah, it was really hard work.
I knew that it would be a good chance for me to get into something that I've always been passionate about, something that I've always wanted to do — the acting — so I did work 24 hours a day, you could say, and at the time I had my wife, who was pregnant, so it was very difficult. Literally, for some reason, everything was piled on me at that particular time. You know when they say it doesn't rain it pours? That was a perfect example. My wife actually had the baby during the filming [laughs], so I was at the hospital and then back out again. It was just very surreal the whole thing, and when it finally ended it was just like, “Thank God, I can go home, get myself out of here and start on other projects”.
Looking back now, it was a great journey. You know when you're there, at the time it doesn't seem that way, it's when it's all over and you look back and can laugh about it. I wouldn't have changed anything in that sense, I've learned a hell of a lot from what happened. Anything that went wrong in our film went wrong for us on the production side, and I think I've learned everything there is to know about making a film now. If something comes up, I know exactly how to deal with it. It was definitely a very good experience.
Being both an actor and a producer, do you have any interest in working in other areas of the industry spectrum, such as following in Nic's footsteps and becoming a director?
I'm working on another film at the moment which I will be producing, but I'm not going to be “hands on” producing, I'm going to be bringing in the right people and the director that we like, the line producer and that sort of thing, but there will be another who will be the main producer that's going to put the film together. I'm just going to be more of an associate producer, you could say. I don't want the hands on day-to-day scenario and dealing with actors — they can get a bit funny sometimes.
I think directing could be fun. I think as a director you're looked at differently by the cast. You're the guy who's either going to give them the screen time or not and you get a lot of respect there. They'll think, “I don't want to piss him off, he won't give me the screen time!” [laughs]. But acting is definitely the main thing. Since The Big I Am I've done four other films that I've starred in and I'm doing another two hopefully this year if it all comes together, or early next year. One's an action film by the guy who did Daylight Robbery — Paris Leonti, which is more of a rescue mission film, which is exciting.
Where do your interests lie creatively in working in film in the future — what genres would you like to work with?
Action, or life stories, like with a character who's a drug addict who has to pull his way out of it — the whole journey — something like that, something that can drive you. I like to be challenged as well.
Having worked alongside Michael Madsen, what other Hollywood stars would you like to work with the most?
I've always been a big fan of Robert De Niro. You grow up watching these guys. Also somebody like Leonardo DiCaprio as well, I've got a lot of respect for that guy. When he did Titanic everybody was saying he's not that great, but I personally think that he's a top actor, very talented.
As for directors ... if it was an action film, it'd have to be someone like [Steven] Spielberg [laughs], or Paul Greengrass, who did Green Zone and the Bourne trilogy. It would be a dream, wouldn't it?
Finally, I'd just like to say that everyone involved is really happy with how the film has turned out. Despite the problems, it's come out as a really strong movie and we're all very pleased with the finished product.
A big thank you to Robert for taking the time out of his day to have a chat with me and discuss his new film, the product of his first role as a bonafied producer. You can read the review of The Big I Am here.
• The Big I Am arrives on DVD nationwide through E1 Entertainment on April 12th