Fredi Nwaka, the director of upcoming film Jafaican, has spoken about the controversial film - and praised Peter Andre as an actor.
Many were up in arms last month when a trailer dropped for the flick, which sees singer-turned-actor Andre, who was born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia, donning fake long dreadlocks and using a dodgy Jamaican accent.
The plot of the crime-comedy follows a small-time crook from London called Gazza (Andre), who takes on a high-stakes con job to cover a £35,000 bill for his grandmother’s care home fees. The plan is to impersonate a notorious gangster and steal £3m, all while navigating a crash course in Jamaican culture.
And director Nwaka has now opened up about working with the Mysterious Girl singer, saying he was “blown away by his talent”.
“Everyone knows him as a singer, as a presenter…but as an actor?” the director told The Au Review.
“His comedic timing is on point, his attention to detail is on point. He’s a great actor, man. I think he’s going to do a lot of great stuff.”
Last week, Andre also addressed the backlash to the film in an interview with Channel 7.
The interviewer pulled no punches, outright asking: “The trailer did see some headlines about an English-born Australian-raised actor playing a Jamaican character, you know about that. Are you surprised there’s been some mixed feedback here or were you anticipating that?”
Andre replied: “ I think it’s good to get all sorts of feedback. I mean, this is not … it’s my first lead role but I’ve done quite a few roles before.
“And all of them, I’ve played different characters.”
He continued: “So for me, it’s acting – I get to do something light-hearted, something funny. Something that y’know is the kind of film I’d wanna watch. So it’s almost like a little bit self-indulgent in the sense that I get to do something that I’ve really, really wanted to do.”
Speaking about director Nwaka, he added: “[He’s] so good because he doesn’t let me just play the character that you think you’re gonna play.
“He always gets me to play someone very, very different.”
Those in the UK will be able to make their own minds up when Jafaican comes to UK cinemas on May 20.
