Valmike Rampersad is a T&T born actor based in London. He graduated with distinction from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, England. His roles include an assassin and son of BAFTA nominee, Art Malik, in Hotel; and a manic depressive, opposite BAFTA nominee Saeed Jaffrey, in Open Secrets.
He has acted in several features in Hollywood, including The Exquisite Continent by Emmy-nominated director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and Radio Mary by Sundance award-winning director, Gary Walkow.
Valmike completed 125 episodes as the lead in British TV drama series Cloud 9, shown on Sky and Virgin TV. He starred in Brit Indie feature Meet Pursuit Delange alongside Jason Flemyng, Colin Salmon and Peter Bowles. He is also one of the lead characters in Bazodee, a movie shot in the Caribbean and directed by six-time Emmy nominee, Todd Kessler.
His villainous role as Nikhil in Bazodee has earned him critical acclaim internationally with some reviewers citing him as one to watch. Bazodee was premiered locally earlier this week. Here, Guardian's Nyerere Haynes interviews Rampersad about his role.
Q: Your portrayal of Nikhil in Bazodee has been met with good reviews. How do you feel about that?
A: Ultimately, I am happy to know that people enjoyed the whole film rather than just my performance in the film. Working on a film is a collaborative process and if someone enjoys the film, it means all the hard work that the cast and crew put into making the film paid off.
You do the villain well. Why is that?
Thanks! Playing the villain in Bazodee was the first time that I had done such a role. It was a lot of fun to become that character. My acting coach was a huge help and I trusted our director, Todd Kessler, who was very easy to work with. Being given a well-written script with a brilliantly written character is half the battle.
Costume played a big role, as the suits were custom-made to feel like what I imagine a corset must be like. The suits automatically changed my posture, which ultimately brought on other character traits. It is always a lot of fun to play a character far removed from myself, and something like the villain gave me a chance to explore a whole new range of emotions.
Talk about what you've been up to.
I recently finished shooting a film called Padlock which tells the story of a man who is being abusedby his girlfriend. It was quite a tough character to relax from at the end of the day, as I was also living and sleeping on the set. This made it difficult to switch off daily. It was great to be able to immerse myself into a project to that extent.
Prior to that, I shot a lead ensemble feature called Boots on the Ground. It is a thriller/drama/horror along the lines of Blair Witch meets Dog Soldiers. That was a tough shoot in that we shot at nights so finished on average at 4am daily. My body clock was all over the place. Of course wearing actual soldiers' uniforms and using real decommissioned weapons, despite being very heavy, added to the authenticity of the experience.
Talk about Padlock. Why is Padlock a significant film, and why did you accept the role?
Domestic violence in the media is usually portrayed as being against women, but in reality, men can be victims and women can be perpetrators. I play the lead, Matt, who is the victim.
This is a project that I wanted to bring to life for some years after having read one man's story in the papers.
I pitched the original script to various production houses, but I think they probably thought it was too risqu�. I then resorted to relying on friends to get it made, but every time we came close to shooting it, another project came up and it had to be delayed.
I then pitched the idea to a brilliant director, Ben Hyland, whose work I am a fan of. He was really intrigued with the concept and re-wrote the script along with Jonathan Young. I was glad that he re-wrote it because he created something way better than the initial one that I had suggested.
On average 19 men die from domestic violent relationships every year in the UK. For a number of reasons, men do not talk about it. If anything, I hope that Padlock resonates with at least one person and gets him to seek help.
You have a knack for accepting roles in award-winning films. What draws you to these roles?
It is always nice when a film you have worked on picks up an award, but I would not advise entering into a project thinking about award potential.
Initially I have to connect to the character and see the story unfold as I read the script. As long as the character has a story that I would want to tell and the script is well-written, I jump at the opportunity. It needs to be a challenge, something I can really sink my teeth into and learn from along the way.
Then I look at the director's work and the work of the other actors on board. One of the joys of acting is that you are always learning something new, be it a skill, an accent, or from watching other cast and crew members, you are always learning.
When will you be in Trinidad again?
I am hoping to be here before year end to film once again. Danielle Deiffenthaller and Mervyn De Goeas have created an amazing TV pilot called Plain Sight. It is a very original gritty thriller detective drama set in Trinidad.
The script really is excellent and has a number of surprises along the way, none of which I saw coming whilst reading it. It highlights the good and the bad and shows Trinidad in a number of different lights.
They saw my character Nikhil in Bazodee and have created a brilliant character for me to play. This is going to be a tough one, as the character is a very nasty piece of work, but I hope that with my coach, Danielle, and Mervyn, we can create someone interesting and fun to watch.
Is there a difference for you between acting on TV and cinema?
In film, as an actor you have more time to gradually show the emotional journey of the character, but with TV, you shape the character as the show evolves.
In terms of the actual method, I haven't done anything different, as the main thing is to deliver real and raw emotions.
In cinema you usually have the luxury of working for weeks, sometimes months on a character before you actually shoot, then again, you might find out tomorrow that you got the role and you are shooting the following week. Less scenes are usually shot daily when working on a film, whereas TV can often be very fast-paced–scenes and dialogues can change just as you are about to shoot.
