Peter Andre has spoken about one of the “challenges” filming controversial film Jafaican.
The film has received heavy criticism since the trailer dropped last month, as singer-turned-actor Andre — who was born in England, raised in Australia and is of Greek-Cypriot descent — was shown playing a Jamaican gangster wearing fake dreadlocks and speaking with a dodgy Jamaican accent.
But now, Andre, 52, has opened up more about working on the project, which was recently released in cinemas.
“I think that with the Jamaican side of it, the Patois parts were dubbed over by a Jamaican actor but instead of me miming over the Patois, I had to learn all the [words] that were delivered on screen,” he told the Daily Star.
“They dubbed over me, so that was a real challenge but it was one that I absolutely loved doing.”
In the film, Andre plays two characters - as he is also Denton 'Kill Man' Powell.
“Playing Denton I found really a great challenge, I absolutely loved that character,” he added.
“I loved the seriousness of him, the tone changes and it was a brilliant part to play.”
Recently, Jafaican’s director Fredi Nwaka addressed some of the backlash, in a filmed Q&A shown after some screenings of the film.
Asked about the criticism of the trailer, including accusations of cultural appropriation, Nwaka said: “Do you know what, we live in a world that is so serious right now.
“People are getting sick and dying. This is really serious and I feel like I just want people to leave with laughter, leave with love and this feeling they had back in the day that you could live, laugh and almost take the p*ss out of yourself.
“It’s a comedy. Comedies are supposed to make you smile, they are supposed to make you laugh, they’re supposed to make you feel good and when you go home, it’s a bit of relief from everyday stuff.”
Suggesting he viewed the project as a love letter to Jamaica — where part of the film was shot — Nwaka, 53, added: “Also, another thing is, go to Jamaica. It’s an amazing country, man. If you haven’t been, go to Jamaica — you’ll love it.”
Jafaican had its official debut at the Gold Coast Film Festival in Queensland, Australia earlier this month.
In an interview with Channel 7 ahead of it, Andre - who deleted his original social media post featuring the trailer following the furore - was asked: “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.”
The Mysterious Girl hit-maker 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.”
