ON THE BIG SCREEN…
Lauren Molyneux chats with actor James Dryden, who has appeared in one of Steven Spielberg’s box-office blockbusters
Former St Mary’s College student James Dryden is currently on the big screen in the new science fiction hit Ready Player One. James secured the speaking role after an audition two years ago.
James, tell us about how it all started – how did you get into acting?
“It wasn’t when I was all that young, to be honest. I was probably around 13 or 14 years old, and I remember one of the boys at school telling me that they needed people for a production with Buddies – a local youth theatre group. The production they were advertising for at the time was a musical called HMS Pinafore by Gilbert & Sullivan. I decided to get involved and ended up really enjoying it, and just continued from there.
From that I ended up working in four or five productions per year with several different theatre groups. At the same time, I was just having to decide on which subjects to study at GCSE, and Drama was one of the subjects that I chose, and continued to study in college. Whilst at college, I realised that I wasn’t quite finished with my studies, so I decided to apply for drama school down in London. I didn’t get in the first time I applied – that’s the way it is for a lot of people, it’s very competitive. But I was lucky enough to be accepted on my second application, so I moved down to London to begin drama school the year after, in 2009.”
Would you say there are any particular actors or people in the industry who have provided inspiration?
“There are a lot of famous actors whose work I enjoy, but I wouldn’t say that I have been inspired by anyone specifically. A lot of people that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with along the way have been very experienced, and I’ve been in a productive environment where I can learn new things and develop my skills on the job. You meet so many different people doing these jobs, whether you’re doing a bit of filming or doing a play, auditioning, or rehearsing. You meet people who have done a lot more within the industry than you have, people who have far more experience and can provide tips and advice, and I suppose that is always very influential for me. You can gather bits of information from all kinds of different people, and even just seeing how people work as professional actors can be really helpful. I suppose it’s more of a practical influence. Sometimes it’s things that can’t be taught to you by a teacher – little pearls of wisdom that have been gathered through practical experience within the industry. And that’s really important. That’s my biggest influence, I still find that I use.”
Your recent role in Ready Player One – how did you become involved with that?
“My agent got in touch after finding out about the role, and I managed to get an audition for the film. They actually did the casting for a lot of the roles in the UK, so I didn’t have to fly over to the States to audition. I found out I had got the part around two months after I had auditioned, and I was quite shocked to be honest! Obviously, Ready Player One was quite a large-scale production so the auditioning process for each part must have taken a while, and I had almost forgotten about it when I got the call from my agent to say that they liked me and had given me the part.”
Were there any exciting locations involved?
“A lot of the filming took place at the Warner Bros Studios down in Watford, but one of the scenes was filmed in a really modern school in London called Holland Park. We were only supposed to film for a few days there, but then ended up working an extra day. On the last day of filming we weren’t able to use the school, so a set had to be built in the studios to act as a replica. And the similarity between both locations was unbelievable! You could hardly tell the difference. The set was just like the original, only a small section of it. The attention to detail was very impressive.”
With such a large-scale production, and with the story being based within a simulated universe, was there a lot of cinematic technology involved? Did you have to work with CGI and other such technologies?
“I didn’t actually have to work with anything like that, but whilst on set I remember there being a lot of people walking around with all sorts of weird clothes on! The part that I played was a character that was based within the ‘real world’, but I saw so many other actors on set wearing CGI suits so that effects could be applied to their characters afterwards.”
The film was directed by one of the most famous directors in contemporary Hollywood cinema, Steven Spielberg. Did you get the chance to meet him?
“Yes, he was always on set overseeing everything. And yes, I did get to meet him. He is a really nice, down-to-earth guy. As a director, he was really helpful and friendly with all of us, and just generally nice to work with. On some days we would be given new sections of script to perform that we had never seen before – you just have to go with the flow and learn them on the spot. But it was a really supportive environment, and it didn’t feel stressful or pressured, which I didn’t expect! You’d think there would be a lot of people under a lot of pressure to get everything perfect, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was just a brilliant experience. I could have done that forever – I loved it!”
Have you read the book?
“I have read the book! It was a while ago – I read it way before we filmed it – probably a couple of years ago now I think. But I really enjoyed it, it was right up my street. I loved it, but the film is great as well!”
Do you have any roles lined up for the future?
“Yes, I recently did a few days of filming for a new film which is due to come out next year, called The Voyage of Dr Dolittle. Robert Downey Jr is also involved, and plays Dr Dolittle. For that we filmed a couple of days in London and then went up to Kirkby Lonsdale. I’m also working on a BBC drama at the moment. Last year I worked on a Mike Leigh film called Peterloo, which will be out in November.”
Do you have any advice for aspiring actors and actresses?
“Go for it! I look back and I didn’t really think I could and do anything like this. Despite it being something I really wanted to do, I didn’t see myself living in London and being a professional actor. But it’s so important for people to believe that they can do what they want to do with their life, and they don’t always have to stick to the norm. I think you’ve got to go for it – if you want to do something, give it your all! I think maybe that’s something I wouldn’t have thought of when I was younger.”
After its success in the cinema, Ready Player One is due to be released on DVD on 24th July
The novel, written by Ernest Cline, is widely available
