Peter Andre has at last addressed the backlash around upcoming film Jafaican.
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.
Now, he has given his first interview about Jafaican on Channel 7 in Australia ahead of the film’s premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival in Queensland on Friday.
He enthused to the camera: “[It’s] a heist like you’ve never seen before! [Gary] is in a situation where he has to get money to help his [grandmother].
“He tries everything and basically comes up with this scheme because apparently Gary looks like this guy in Jamaica who happens to be ready to inherit $3 million. So he comes up with this planning thinking ‘well if I look like him, surely I could just go to Jamaica for a little bit and keep my mouth shut maybe and I’ll get the money and help my nan’. And of course, that’s not gonna go smoothly at all.”
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: “Well, to be fair, I mean, 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.”
The Mysterious Girl hit-maker went on to praise director Fredi Nwaka, saying: “[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.”
UK fans will be able to make their own minds up when Jafaican comes to UK cinemas on May 20.
