THN enter ‘Narcopolis’ with BSG’s James Callis

One of this weeks more limited cinema releases is Narcopolis, a science fiction murder mystery. The story is set in the near future of 2044 where all drugs are legal thanks to businessman Todd Ambro.

Ambro is played by British actor James Callis, best known to mass audiences as Bridget Jones’ friend Tom in the Bridget Jones movies. He is of course also better known to many as Giaus Baltar from the phenomenal television series Battlestar Galatica.

In preparation for the release of Narcopolis we got the chance to talk to James to find out all about his new movie, as well as sneaking in a few BSG related questions for good measure.

How did you come to be involved with Narcopolis?

They sent me a script, I really liked it and said i wanted to do it, and that was essentially it.

What was it about your character that made you interested to play him?

Well it wasn’t just the character, it was to be involved with the whole world and story. I loved the idea of, for me, being in one film, being one guy but being so different because of circumstances from one scene to another. That appealed to me but…it’s so hard to talk about this film without giving any spoilers away because of the choices with the story. I read the script the whole way through and about halfway through I thought ‘Oh it’s about this! I thought it was about this other thing!’, and then I had to read it again. I just thought that the vision…I just think it’s really brilliant, the story is really brilliant, that’s what I think.

The film was heavily funded by Kickstarter, as an actor how do you feel about the new crowd-funding landscape?

I think that if it can help people accomplish what they want to accomplish then that’s great. I think it’s phenomenal. There will be some films like this one that will play the big studios at their own game so I think it’s exactly what a social network is designed to do. It’s to help others and to build something, rather than using social media to vent your views on how much you hate somebody or snipe at somebody or to take something down, that’s not what it’s really about I don’t think.

So Kickstarter, and people and things that help a cause, say wonderful things about our society. Also, so many people who aren’t in the industry are also traded on the currency of ideas, it can’t be a bad thing.

Did knowing that the film had already been funded and therefore had an eager audience add any pressure?

I was not party to any of that so I don’t know. Luckily as an actor I’m on the set and I was just doing my job (laughs), or what I thought my job was. I wasn’t really concerned with anything like that myself. I can’t talk for the film-makers because I don’t know, but I think this was quite a visual piece. It’s all down to Justin and his team. You have to be smart to tell something like this in the first place but then to make it, and to make it look as visually stunning and plausible and real in a world like this, I think it’s genius.

Parts of the film take place in London 2044, where do you think London will actually be then?

(Pauses) Well the facetious answer would be London…but let me think about this a bit longer…I’ve got no idea. I really don’t know. I think I’d say as long as there isn’t any major conflict that kicks off, it will evidently change because everything changes, what do you think it’ll be like?

Hopefully the tube system will run a little better and to time, that might be nice.

(Laughs) Yeah I’ve got to say that the getting the tube network to run to time is essentially more science fiction than Narcopolis. I’m not sure that that’s going to be happening for anybody.

Funnily enough I think it is something that we should be asking ourselves, because without being to sweet about it the more we think about it being a certain way the more likely it is to turn out that way. I hope that it is similar to how it is but maybe a little better.

Narcopolis also features a drug that can take you where you want to go in time. If the drug were real where would you visit?

I feel pretty lucky living right now in 2015, but I suppose that’s part of circumstance. I don’t really have an ideal time I’d like to go back to, I feel like these are all great questions (laughs) and I’m possibly thinking about them too much and being a bit more serious, whereas everyone else is just ‘I’d love to go back to such and such a time’.

There are so many things I’d like to do, I’d like to go back in time to certain places and go forwards in time to certain places, but I’m quite comfortable in 2015.

It’s not that bad a time to be around…

For some of us Kat. I was going to say the film Narcopolis is set in a dystopian future, but I was just reading that depending on who you are and where you are right now it is a dystopian world [now] and that’s really upsetting.

During Battlestar Galactica your character Giaus has persistent visions of, and conversations with, Six. The reason for this, and the nature of the ‘virtual’ six are never properly explained in the series. What is your take?

Well I think it was explained in the last episode, but I won’t get into that because the writer really did have some really seminal thoughts about that and he kept it…I’d have chats with him about what I thought it was and he would say ‘Yeah whatever you think. I mean that might not be the reason but whatever you’re working on, I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong, I’ll tell you at the end.’

I think it was a form of, I want to use the right words, Giaus suffered a traumatic event, a massive traumatic event, once the nuclear bomb that went off. When this nuclear bomb went off his was with this woman, his girlfriend in this house, this beautiful house by the sea. I used to think that these constant conversations with this woman were essentially about trying to push his consciousness back in time to the moment before the explosion. Constantly going back in time to the moment before the explosion. Is there anything he could learn? Is there anything he might do slightly differently? It’s a constant re-visitation of a moment in time with a person in time. That’s what I thought it was and that lasted for some long while. It’s not just a voice in your head, it’s more complicated than that. I think that it’s driven by unbearable guilt.

Giaus had a very interesting story arch in Battlestar, whilst he helped start it all, he went through a lot over the four seasons. How was it playing such a dynamic and evolving character?

It was the journey of a lifetime, extraordinary, very lucky, privileged. If people write these scenes for you and you get to do them, what could be more exciting?

The journey, the somersaults and the back-flips and the sideways turns and the stepping over something naturally rather than in a linear fashion, it was almost like dramatic acrobatics, but based on something pretty real and fundamental. Based on a man who was just in denial about his own weakness. The more that he ran away, the more that events conspired to impinge upon him. The more that he owned it and grew up and took on board what he had done the better life became for him and those around him.

By the end of the series, do you think that Giaus still regretted his actions at the very start, or had he come to peace with it?

I don’t know about peace, he was certainly in therapeutic terms at least he was in a better place, which meant he was at least dealing with them. Which is quite a titanic change from essentially, on a very, very basic level, you’re talking about one of the most selfish people that you’ve ever met in your life doing anything because of his own chance as an individual to slowly caring about other people and his place with other people. I think that really helped build it in a way that takes out all of the majesty and all of the different things that happen, the rich colours, but it is a story about a man growing up or coming to terms with what he has done.

There have been rumblings and rumours that a BSG film reboot is being worked on, would you return and what character would you want to play?

I don’t think they’ll ask any of the cast back to be in the film if they make it. It’ll be a new vision totally. Who would you be? I don’t know, I don’t think that that’s got much chance of happening.

It would also totally depend on the script and what part it was. I loved playing Giaus Baltar, sometimes it was tough or it was upsetting, but it was still an amazing thing to do. But to do that again on that show like that? Possibly not. We were creating something and to then be recreating that I’m not sure…that’s a really hard task. I’d prefer to take everything we learned from that [Battlestar Galactica] and put it into something else.

You recently finished filming The Hollow with William Sadler, what can you tell us about the project?

That is a project that I had a highlight of a time doing. I had the most amazing time, we shot down in Mississippi. It’s based around three college kids that end up killed, one of them is related to somebody important in the political spectrum in America and therefore the FBI are sent down to this small town in Mississippi to find out what’s going on. But when they get there they find they might not get out of there because all manner of Hell is going on in this small town. It’s a dark, nourish thriller. I’ve seen some bits of it which look pretty awesome. It was amazing to be in New Orleans and Alabama again another privilege. It’s fantastic, I think the film is going to be very exciting.

What else is on the cards?

A few independent films that I’ve had my eye on are in pre-production. I hope to be starting one of them in a few weeks time. There are always things in the offing. There’s a film I hope to be shooting soon but can’t talk about it till I’m allowed to.

I totally agree with you and I think the thing is I make films and I’ve made films and I’m involved with them but the industry and effort to make a film is so extraordinary and then you’ve got to stick with it and then you’ve got to edit it, market it. For a film like Narcopolis to get a release and get the response that it is, I think it’s just a colossal achievement for the film-makers and I am so proud and happy to be just a small part of that.

Narcopolis releases in UK cinemas 25th September, and on DVD 28th September. It also opens in US theatres, on demand and digital 2nd October.