In this extra episode of The Screen Podcast, rising UK actors David Jonsson and Tom Blyth discuss their new film Wasteman and share their insights into the state of the UK film industry. 

Watch above or listen below.

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Jonsson and Blyth talk to Screen reporter and video producer Ellie Calnan about working with debut director Cal McMau on the Bafta-nominated prison thriller, distributed by Lionsgate UK. 

”The filmmakers were being scrappy. The crew had to get scrappy at times. We all kind of chipped in,” says Blyth. “That’s the beauty of doing low-budget indie filmmaking, especially when the script is this good, because everyone just rallies around and makes it happen no matter how they have to.”

Jonsson, a former Screen  Star of Tomorrow, executive-produced the project and went on to set up his own production company, greyarea, with Wasteman  producer Sophia Gibber.

“We bonded over making this movie and fighting for it to happen,” Jonsson says of his partnership with Gibber. “We want to tell stories that don’t live in black or white, but they’re somewhere in the middle, hence our name.”

The duo also discusses how they balance working in the UK and the US, the challenges facing young actors today and whether they worry about AI. 

“It’s really starting to pull at the threads of what is true and what’s not,” notes Blyth. “I genuinely think we’re starting to undo our mental wellbeing and our understanding of what is truth, which I think is dangerous.”

The Screen Podcast is produced and edited by Ellie Calnan. Wendy Mitchell is editorial director. New episodes every Thursday. 

Thumbnail photo credit is IMAGO / WENN.

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