Up and coming actor on the big screen
Olga Aughey
Castletown Geoghegan man Michael Watts will feature on the big screen on October 19 in a feature film called Sodium Party.
The 27-year-old up and coming actor, who many of you will know from the DrinkAware ad campaign, ‘Rethinking our Drinking’, plays a supporting role in a haunting story which sees Slaine Kelly of The Tudors play a girl whose sheltered world is turned upside down when an imaginary friend from her childhood begins to re-appear.
Michael, who studied at the Gaiety school of acting and also trained under David Scott of Company D Theatre, is excited about the film’s world premiere – at The Gate multiplex in Cork city.
“The film has a fantasy element to it,” explains Michael, who star is clearly on the rise! “It’s basically about a young girl who has lived a sheltered life because of her controlling mother. After her mother’s death however a new world opens up but just as things seem to be going her way, her life begins to unravel in front of her eyes as the past refuses to stay in the past.
“I play a supporting role, and he’s a bit of a ‘sleazy’ for want of a better word,” he laughs. “He’s known in the film as ‘The Glasses Guy’. It was shot in Dublin and some scene in Wicklow and I really enjoyed shooting this.
“To date it’s one of the biggest things I’ve done. I’ve gone to plenty of auditions and I’ve acted in a few short films so I’m just trying to build up my CV at the moment,” continues Michael, who works part time in shift work to keep the money coming in.
“That’s life as a jobbing actor,” he reveals.
Michael has many strings to his bow however as he is also a musician and a writer!
“I play guitar and write too as I love music so that’s also another passion as well as screenplay writing.”
For those of you wanting to travel to Cork to support Michael, Sodium Party by Michael McCudden will be screened as part of IndieCork – Ireland’s new festival of independent cinema, that runs from October 16-20 across Cork City.
According to IndieCork co-director, Mick Hannigan, films like Sodium Party represent an exciting new direction in Irish film making and show that there is a vibrant indie scene here.
“We’re really excited to be launching films like these by new voices in Irish cinema. They look and sound superb. The filmmakers have clearly looked to the US indie scene for inspiration – from the films of David Lynch to those of the recent ‘mumblecore’ movement.”
But if you can’t make it as far as Cork, why not check out Michael in this link to the film here
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Or in the ad campaign ‘Rethinking our Drinking’ – he’s the one at the very end who refuses to rush his beer!
Link: http://www.drinkaware.ie/index.php?sid=12&pid=521