First appearing as a young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and arguably best-known for his role as heroin addict Nick Clark in Fear The Walking Dead, the 34-year-old actor will undoubtedly soon be in high demand once more people see his tour-de-force performance in Urchin.
The directorial debut of actor Harris Dickinson casts Dillane in the lead role of Mike, a homeless man attempting to rebuild his life after a stint in prison, where his attempts to find work, permanent housing, and a life free of drugs proves a constant challenge. If this sounds like a straightforward Ken Loach political drama, then I need to stress that this isn’t what you should expect at all – this is a more complicated character study which doesn’t offer easy answers to the questions it raises.
Mike winds up in prison after attacking a man who had agreed to buy him lunch, stealing his watch to sell for a paltry £40, and we discover that he has an adopted family who he could stay with, but he refuses to reconnect with them. It’s easy to root for him and empathise with his desperation – but Dillane and Dickinson do their best to highlight how some of his wounds are self-inflicted, adding a greater depth to his plight.
“Desperation has its own language”, Dillane told Zavvi. “People can only strive with the cards they’re dealt, and if you haven’t got a good hand, you must do whatever it takes to get by on a day-to-day basis.
“I don’t think that we should necessarily define anybody by their biggest mistakes or see that as an excuse not to have sympathy for them. Maybe this is an actor’s answer, but I have enormous sympathy for everyone.”
Throughout our conversation, Dillane is uncomfortable talking about his process getting into Frank’s headspace, or the extensive research he undertook with charities on the streets of London into those with similar desperate situations. He worked with charity Single Homeless Project for a few years before making the film but still doesn’t feel comfortable when journalists ask him to elaborate on this research process.
Whereas other actors would speak at length about this, perhaps to cynically fuel an awards campaign, Dillane describes this as “glib” - in retrospect, I sense he didn’t want to trivialise a traumatic situation through his second-hand experiences of it. He’s more animated talking about the film’s urgency at tackling this issue but hopes the film won’t be seen as “political” despite taking on charged topics.
“I can only speak artistically, not politically, and I think Harris feels the same way, although I don’t want to speak for him. We didn’t want to stand on a soapbox trying to preach empathy, even though we hope audiences will feel it; I feel that this world is a coat hanger for us to attach a more universal human story to, about understanding your push and pull impulses, mistakes, hopes and dreams, and how we pick ourselves up again when it all goes wrong.
“I never felt there was a political side, even though the idea of wealth inequality is always present due to the nature of this story, and this is being released at a time when that is growing in this country. I fear this will get worse – I saw that on Fox News the other day, a presenter was suggesting without irony that anybody who sleeps on the streets should get a lethal injection.
“When a film like this comes out in that context, it’s going to be perceived as political, but it’s a work of art first and foremost.”
The actor signed up to star in the film several years ago, long before Dickinson secured the funding to make it. He was attracted to the “expansive” world the writer/director had created, feeling that he’d written a character that he “could do anything” with. However, it wasn’t an immediate yes, as Dillane was initially apprehensive about playing a character with such a different background to himself within a milieu which felt lived-in.
“You always have to overcome yourself with acting at some point”, he explained. “And creating a character I could hide inside was the best way of doing that.
“I come from a middle-class family background and was initially frightened to engage in the themes and experiences Mike has had and was still living through, as I felt that they would cost me. His world is full of confusion, suffering and thwarted ambition, and those aren’t the most enjoyable ideas to spend so much time mulling over.”
The gamble paid off, with Dillane receiving unanimous acclaim since the Cannes premiere of Urchin back in May, even picking up a coveted Best Actor award from the prestigious festival. However, he’s still nervous about what his next act might be after his first major lead role; a bigger spotlight means bigger anxiety, after all.
“Am I nervous about leading another movie? I mean, I have nerves just getting up in the morning! I just love telling stories, and I love acting, and I enjoy being able to look past that anxiety and be given the scope to tell a story and steer it in a good direction.”
He may be too humble to ever acknowledge it, but he gives one of the most compelling lead performances of the year in Urchin – here's hoping he keeps fighting those nerves.
Urchin is released in UK cinemas on Friday, 3rd October.
