Music, Style & Culture

Interview: Simon Phillips

We chat to the star and producer of How To Stop Being a Loser.

The acting/producing creative team of Simon Phillips and Dominic Burns have turned their hands to comedy for this week's How To Stop Being a Loser.

Burns follows up his debut film Cut with something a bit lighter, directing Phillips in his first comedy role. The star of the Jack Says/Jack Said/Jack Falls series of British gangster flicks plays the titular loser James.

Distraught over the suicide of his unlucky-in-love friend (Richard E. Grant), James hires pick-up artist and womanising guru Ampersand (Craig Conway) to teach him the way of seduction. Gemma Atkinson, Stephanie Leonidas, Martin Compston, Billy Murray, Colin Salmon, Martin Kemp, Sheridan Smith, Adele Silva, Colin Salmon and Neil Maskell co-star in the lightweight London comedy, out on 18th November.

We got Phillips on the phone before the London premiere (footage below), where he chatted not only about his Loser co-stars, but his amazing time filming Burns' new film Airborne with Mark Hamill.

So, how was your first foray into comedy?
It was nice to do something different. Most of my roles require me to wear a leather jacket and carry a gun and look as cool as possible. It was nice to be as stupid as possible! It's much more in tune with my real personality.

You're also wearing your producer hat for this role - how active a producer are you?
I must admit, I don't like taking the credit so much - I more get it off the ground than do any work! Where my talents as a producer lie is getting the people together who will eventually make the film. I put Richard E. Grant in there, and got the director, and get the people interested. A friend of mine, Chris Grezo, and Rupert Knowles, who wrote the script, came to me and said, Simon, this is something for you, and if you wanted to do it, you could play the role. And they knew I could put it in the hands of the people who would like it. Beyond that I don't really do a great deal! My enthusiasm hopefully spills over.



How easy was it to get the cast you wanted?
It was pretty easy. Having done a few things with people before, it was less a case of ringing up agents, but ringing the people directly. I was lucky enough to be able to email Richard E. Grant because we've known each other from when I've tried to attach him to a project previously. It hadn't worked out on that film, but we kept in touch. I think he liked the script. There were only certain people I had in mind. I'd never worked with Craig Conway before, and I didn't know him. I didn't know Stephanie Leonidas either, and she's a fantastic find. Some are new, and some are old, and that's how we do it between us - we will use the people we know and like, because loyalty is quite good for us.

You're working with Dominic Burns again - can you describe your relationship?
I must've done about five films with Dominic - we just understand each other a great deal, and there's a mutual respect for what each other does. It's nice to be doing different things. We're a great supporter of each other.

What did you like about the screenplay?
When I first read it, it was something familiar and yet new. As soon as I said to people the title of the film was How To Stop Being a Loser, and said it was a British indie comedy, people were like, oh right. I have to admit I was a bit suspicious at first, but the title was so good, I just got it. I totally understood what it was trying to do.

How was it getting to play a stereotypical loser?
It was so much fun. Dominic would come up to me and say, you can't look stupid enough. Don't worry about what you do - the more ridiculous you look and act, the better. For me, the more fun bits were when he was a real geek at the beginning of the film. He goes on this transformation to "normal bloke", but it was less exciting for me!

What were your favourite scenes to film?
All the scenes with Craig Conway, who plays the Ampersand guy. Most of the interactions with him, where he's trying to get me to do things, where chat-up lines go wrong. What I like about Ampersand, is that he thinks he's better-looking than he is, and he's the true testament to pick-up lines. He makes these lines work for him.



What's Gemma Atkinson like to work with?
She's fantastic. We have a bond, so we played pranks, and we're just totally relaxed. She's not like her image. When I didn't know Gemma, I was like, uh oh, model - she's going to be a pain in the arse. She's totally not. She's down to earth and much more fun than she appears on the screen. She plays a little bit of an unlikeable character, but she's great.

What's the status of Airborne, starring Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill?
We literally went to a screener of it the other day, and we're now just confirming a deal. It's very close. That was a bit of a dream come true. I'm a boy who grew up in the 80s, so Star Wars is a big deal to me - to get to work with Mark Hamill was incredible. We were making genre films, and we wanted to make a film set on an airplane, as we love airplane movies from the 50s and 60s - these hostage movies set on a plane. We hadn't seen this since for a while - understandably, since 9/11. We wanted something science-fiction related. Me and Dom are sci-fi geeks, and we were going through all the names we wanted, and we just thought Mark Hamill. He was voicing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, so we just thought we'd email and ask. We eventually got through, and asked if he'd have a read, and he did. He came over and was absolutely lovely. His wife came with him, and said he doesn't often take stuff as he doesn't like travelling. He also doesn't like the big studio thing, and working with big companies. He just fancied it - we hit him at the right time! He was a dream to work with - one of the most humble people you could meet, considering who he is. He would only bring Star Wars stuff up because a pair of geeks like me and Dom want stories.

You've also worked with another 80s legend, Rutger Hauer, on The Reverend.
I don't have any scenes with him unfortunately! I only saw him. I've just wrapped U.F.O., which is another film with Dominic. Jean-Claude Van Damme's in it, so that's just as awesome!

Watch Filmbeat's report from the London premiere: