The movie tells of Malco’s alter ego Tijuana Jackson who is an ex-convict set on becoming a renowned life coach. The couple joined Malco at the end of March to shoot their part in the upcoming movie.
Their international movie debut comes after soca star Machel Montano debuted his own movie, Bazodee in 2015 in TT.
Malco is known for his roles in such films as 40-year-old Virgin, Almost Christmas, The Love Guru, Think Like a Man, Baby Mama, The Tuxedo among others.
In an interview with Newsday, Fay-Ann said they got involved with the project after, “He [Malco] put out a casting call and Ian was like he saw there was a casting call for the movie. And he [Romany] was like, ‘yeah would you all like to be in it?’ And we were like, ‘sure’. They then made the arrangements and we came up there.” Bunji and Malco have been friends for a while. His TT connection kept him aware of things happening in the West Indian community.
“Being from Trinidadian background he has always represented West Indian and their stuff in New York or LA. He has always supported whatever is happening on the West Indian circuit. He is abreast of what is happening on the music and things like that.” Bunji plays Malco’s best friend, Upgrade, and Fay-Ann plays Sexton, head of the dog and prisoners’ rehabilitation programme.
The experience taught the couple a lot about the acting world.
“We went on set like regular actors.
Did the whole filming. Had to do our part and get into character and costuming…I would say of the process it is very, very time-consuming. You literally have to do takes over and over and it takes like an hour to get one scene or particular things done. I have an even greater respect for actors.” While the acting experience was completely new for them, Fay-Ann acted before but it was her first time being in a film.
The late TV personality Marcia Henville introduced her to acting and encouraged her to continue working at it.
The couple has opened up to doing more work in the acting field.
“Yes, we will be doing more film work. Malco has already extended an invitation to us for other films he will be doing.” They have already accepted Malco’s invitation and will be ready when he calls for them to be a part of future projects.
While they will be doing more film work, eager fans might have to wait a while before they see a Viking movie on screen.
“It is something that we definitely think we should get into because the possibilities are endless.
There are so many types of movies, types of things for new talent, new energy and new vibe.” “We have not discussed nor contemplated doing our own movie because we understand the logistics behind it and we know that it is a lot of work. It costs so much when you don’t have the funding to be able to do the kind of movie that you want to.
“He [Malco] did crowdfunding [funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the Internet] which is a concept we did not know existed.
That is because we are still in the learning stages so for us the more important factor here is to learn as much about the industry and agencies that help get you in with the right people.” And, Bunji’s character showed his Trini roots as Malco’s best friend. Fay-Ann said: “He sounds as Trini as he could without compromising diction. When you hear both of them doing their dialogues, you hear a clear distinction in accents. Romany’s character has a heavy, prison black American-type accent as opposed to Bunji’s character which does not have that heavy, black American- type accent.” On set there was a lot of discussion about Trinidadian food, particularly roti. “There was talk about roti and stuff like that so we are hoping that the parts that mention that is kept…there is a part which is really hilarious where he keeps promising Bunji Trinidadian food as a prize for being such a great friend when he comes out of jail, which cracked the whole set up. Even funnier than that, everyone on the set was basically trying to sound Trinidadian because…
it was funny, because everyone on the set was talking about when they came to Trinidad who stay in Arima, who went Maracas beach, some people had pictures eating bake and shark…” While the couple has not ruled out doing their own movie, Fay- Ann said: “It is nice to dream and say you want to do this and do that but we prefer to gather information and understand what it will require of us…we are in stages of understanding the different concepts and approaches we can take.” The couple has also spoken to other actors in LA such as Lyriq Bent from Saw who gave them tips on acting, getting into the industry and its ills.
As for how the couple intends to approach Hollywood? “We have to be very smart. You don’t leave what you have going for something that you would like to get going, unless you know the longevity and the long-term plans.
We are approaching from a realistic aspect, of what possibilities are and what we can and cannot do.” The experience made them reflect on TT ’s own film industry.
“We are thinking that after seeing what Romany has done with getting the public to support his movie. We are thinking that our film industry should definitely get more attention and get more love and support, whether from a Government base or whatever.
We see Trinidadians like Romany who could be an integral part of helping to get the film industry started with their expertise and knowledge of directing….”
