Silver Tooth Jack (Neal Ward) is about to paint the club red.
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with actor Neal Ward in his starring role in “24 Little Hours.” Check out the interview below.
Hi, Neal! Thank you for granting the interview. Congrats on your role as Silver Tooth Jack in the “24 Little Hours” movie. What should the audience expect to see?
“24 Little Hours” is a rollercoaster ride of trial tribulation and good old action. It has everything a film needs in this day and age to be entertaining and also inspiring. the film has some incredible talent attached to the film, for example, the DOP Richard Oakes, whose work is absolutely stunning using very minimal techniques to create very cinematic imagery, and also the huge Talent of Paul Knight who wrote directed and produced the film. The rest of the cast is it too bad either, with some amazing performances from Marc Bannerman and Kris Johnson.
Tell us about Silver Tooth Jack. Who is he? What is his personality like?
‘Silvertooth’ Jack is pretty much an out-and-out nutcase, he’s cocky and big-headed but also backs it up. He’s sort of like an East End Connor McGregor. He talks the talk but he also walked the walk and isn’t afraid of any situation that arises throughout the film. He’s a little bit unhinged and a little bit uneducated he means well but he would stove your head in if you took his last Rollo!
What role does Silver Tooth Jack play in the movie?
Jack appears in the film has pretty much the muscle for Marc Bannerman’s character Angelo. He’s brought into the crew to help them take revenge of the people Kris Johnson’s character wants to go after. He is also a source of comedy in the group with a quick wit and memorable one-liners!
Was it a challenge to play Silver Tooth Jack? Did you have to pull from experience?
I didn’t really have any experience to pull from on this character as
- A) I’m not from London and
- B) I’ve never killed anyone. Not being a fan of method acting either I just created a character in my head with an idea and stuck with it and it developed more and more as I was around other cast and crew.
It’s always a challenge playing characters so far removed from yourself, but this one was Fun as I had a lot to play with and Paul had given me free rein. Even agreeing to let me give the once titled Jack the new title of silver toothed jack because I wanted to get some silver teeth for him!
How did you get the role?
I’ve been in contact with Paul on social media for quite some time and I followed a lot of his work. I had always wanted to be in one of his Productions and Paul had rung me up to arrange a meeting to talk about something he had in the pipeline. We had a good catch up and a good talk about this film 24 little hours that he wanted to make in 8 days. He then offered me the role is he thought I’d be perfect for it I of course obliged. Paul’s such a great talent but a realist… I love his honesty and his integrity so I couldn’t say no… and why would I… being offered a role on a plate is something we all want as an actor and this was the second feature film I’d been offered in the space of 6months.
The subject matter of the movie is intense. How does the movie production bring something new to the story?
It’s plain and simple. It’s never been done before. There is no other film out there for this budget with such a good cast that looks like this. This is hugely down to Richard Oakes the DOP. His work is phenomenal! He uses minimal lighting and clever techniques he developed himself and you won’t find another guy like this in the industry that can make cinematography like his! And he’s also the nicest fella in the business! So with Paul’s vision and Richards’ eye, the film looks stunning… there’s also a few good performances in there too obviously. Marc Bannerman’s incredible portrayal of Angelo and Kris Johnson’s silent but deadly role really steal the show!
What is going to surprise people about Silver Tooth Jack?
Well now…. that will be telling. I don’t think there are many surprises with Jack he’s pretty much straight down the line. You’ll have to wait and see!
Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue and why?
I suppose my favorite line of dialogue is the one that I have in the trailer. Paul told me it was going to be used in the teaser trailer and I had to say it with some kind of gravitas!
But it is a really cool line. There are a few one-liners in the film I’m proud of as Paul let me keep them in!
When looking back on the production, what resonated with you the most and why?
I think it’s mainly that we achieve something that not many Productions do in the UK. We shot a film in 8 days which is incredible with the amount of cast and locations that we had within the film. We all came together and offered all of our services to the highest standard with the goal of making something special which I think we truly have achieved. It was also to work with a few names that I’d obviously seen on the television growing up and to actually work with them and consider them close friends now is a bonus and something you take away with you for life.
In your opinion, what scene in the movie is going to blow people away and why?
There is a particular scene in the warehouse at the end of the film which Richard Oakes has shot absolutely beautifully. It has the feel of a multimillion dollar film. How Richard has made it look like that I don’t know… it just looks beautiful!
What do you enjoy most about your character and role?
For me, it was the freedom I had to play a role that was intense unhinged and quite dangerous. We also got to play with guns. It’s always fun playing with guns for a role. Growing up watching action films you always wait for the day as an actor you get to use guns! A lot of fun was had all round!
Do you have anything else you would like to share about the movie?
The film is a true testament to the British indie film scene a group of cast and crew coming together to make a film with a quick turnaround. So I suppose to send a message out there to other people trying to get a film off the ground…it is doable and you don’t need millions of pounds to make a film look great! Just a hardworking, dedicated Director and writer add an expert cinematographer behind the camera and you have a gold mine!
I would work with everyone in this film again! It’s been a pleasure.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career and/or any advice to others?
Do what you do and have faith that the next project will always come along. I have a few other feature films on the horizon which I am attached to and I also have a feature film called ‘Two Graves’ from writer Gary Young who penned ‘Harry Brown’ which has just been picked up by Netflix coming out soon.
Connect with Neal:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nealward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nealynealy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nealward9
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2600002/
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