From Salford to Walford, Stephen Lord is now starring
in EastEnders…but the Langworthy lad is premiering his
first steps into film making at the Salford Film Festival…
Words: Stephen Kingston
Photos: Steven Speed
For once, Stephen Lord is lost for words. We’re opposite Chimney
Pot Park, strolling through his old stomping ground around the
back streets off Langworthy Road when he just stops. And looks
around. Totally. Genuinely. Shocked.
“It’s just…I mean…it’s hard to swallow…obviously…this was a
vibrant community and now you’re looking at streets that you used
to play in and everything’s boarded up with f*ckin’ metal…I mean,
sign of the times and all that but…yeah…it is hard to swallow…I
mean, the mad thing is that everybody in Salford knows this exists
but the outside world…people who aren’t aware of this…this would
be classed as f*ckin nowhere land…This is seriously barren…As a
kid, to me this was posh…this was f*ckin’ posh.”
He tries to piece together the former area that’s now characterised
by grassed spaces, tinned up terraces and a bombed out
community. It’s so quiet, it’s eerie. There’s not even a loose dog
around…
“I went to Seedley school and these little terraced houses were
just dead posh” Stephen repeats “I was from the fl ats, the little
three storey fl ats, and all the kids who I used to hang around with
were from our estate and Sutton fl ats, so people who actually had
a house…one of my best mates, Jackie Pollock and her family
were from here and we used to think they were dead posh, you
know…
“There was a belting pie shop on there…” Stephen recalls,
pointing to nothing…and, shuddering in disbelief, listens to the
recent history of ripped up community consultations and Salford
Council demanding `wow factor’ housing, against the wishes of
remaining residents still fi ghting to stave off the bulldozers. In the
future the area is probably going to be an overpriced suburb for
media city at the end of Langworthy Road…
“F*ck-i-i-n’ ‘ell…”
The whole thing is very strange and very surreal. It could
almost be the plot of a soap opera. Young lad from Langworthy
dreams of becoming an actor…after many years gets a top role
in EastEnders, the biggest show on the BBC…comes back to his old neighbourhood and finds it fl attened to make way for his
new employers. Did Stephen ever think that might happen in his
wildest dreams/nightmares ?
“Never” he says quietly “Never…”
Ironically, Stephen Lord is heading up this year’s Salford Film
Festival with a real life comedy/drama premiere about a bloke who
calls himself an `ecological property developer’ and even dances
with squatters who have occupied the building he hopes to turn
into class apartments in London. It’s
Not The End Of The World
is Stephen’s debut as a director and he’s presenting the feature
with two other short films,
Untitled and In Loving Memory Of… at
Salford Arts Theatre, off Liverpool Street, almost around the corner
from his family home.
It’s a long way from EastEnders, Common As Muck and Real
Men movies in which Stephen has made his acting name but he’s
having a go at the tv and film industry on all fronts.
“I know I can act” he says without any hint of an ego “but can
I write and direct ? I’ve got to prove it. You’ve got to start
somewhere and these films are, for me, no masterpieces. They’ve
been a learning curve and about building up confi dence, because
I doubt myself as I’m sure everyone does. I had no experience
in film making at all when I made In Loving Memory Of…. It was
that thing of `Can I, little old me, have a go at it?’ So I got off my
bollocks and had a go…”
The film, featuring tv actor Chris Hargreaves, only lasts about
three minutes, sets up a whole series of possible sinister
scenarios in the viewer’s head…And then stops. The second
short film, Untitled, is set in Salford Lads Club, stars young
Langworthy actor, Stephen Buckley, who made his debut in the
BAFTA nominated Talking With Angels, premiered at the fi rst
Salford Film Festival. It’s basically about a kid training to be boxer
but fi ghting his world and his own psyche.
“It was me re-visiting my roots” says Stephen, without elaborating.
What he does talk about is It’s Not The End Of The World, a
documentary that would make the fly on the wall itself buzz with
disbelief. It’s about a real `ecological’ property developer called Mark Evans going through the motions of trying to make his fortune – hamming it up for the cameras, making hen-faced solicitors and
agents look total prats, and getting down with the kids who have
totally wrecked his potential golden goose property. It’s off its head.
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“It’s that feeling of Borat meets an inconvenient truth” Stephen
laughs “Mark can be hysterical but he can also be so on the pulse
that it makes it really interesting viewing. He’s a character and his
life is fantastic. I’d like to make a whole series with him but we’ve
got this ninety minute feature with a beginning, a middle and an end,
and we’re premiering it in Salford.”
That Stephen Lord is doing all this when he could be happily
pocketing the cash from playing Jase Dyer in EastEnders and
becoming a gossip column soap prick, speaks loads about his
attitude, which he’s got in common with virtually all Salford’s actors.
It’s about playing the game by your own rules, not being put in a box
and keeping credibility.
After getting noticed for playing Jono in the brilliant nineties binman
comedy, Common As Muck, Stephen ended up in two series of the
popular cop series City Central.
“I got offered a third series which I turned down” he recalls “To turn
down quite a large amount of money was a big move but I had to
do it. And that led to being pretty much out of work for a long time.
Also, because I didn’t accept things there was a possibility that
people thought `Oh he’s diffi cult…who is he to turn down gear?’ But
for me it’s all about doing the right job.”
He went to America for a bit, did some writing, came back and got
parts in, amongst other things, Sea of Souls and Real Men, the
controversial drama about child abuse. There was also a lead
part in the feature film The Truth, co-starring Elaine Cassidy and
Elizabeth McGovern, which had its world premiere at the last Salford
Film Festival, and went on to be voted one of the top ten British
movies last year. After that, bizarrely, he was off to Bulgaria with the
`Muscles from Brussels’…
“They do about four Van Damme features a year in Eastern Europe
where he basically plays a character who wipes people out and
saves the day. About 18 months ago I did a little cameo in one
called `Til Death, and then Van Damme insisted on me playing the
main bad guy when he did his next film.”
The film is The Shepherd, it comes in early 2008 and Stephen plays
a disturbed American soldier who deals in arms and wants to get
rid of Van Damme because he’s interfering in his operation. But as
soon as filming was fi nished, he was off to America to sort out an
animation project he’s got on the front burner, called Getting On,
which he’s done with Salford writer, Tony Flynn.
“It’s about family life, we’ve made a taster with Elaine Cassidy,
Chris Hargreaves and Paul Nicholls and I like to think it’s on the
pulse” he enthuses “It’s something we’re looking at putting on tv at
the end of 2009 if anyone’s got the balls to pick it up.”
For the time being Stephen’s got a big storyline coming up in
EastEnders, where his character, Jase, comes back from prison to
get to know his son, Jay Brown. But his past returns to haunt him.
“There’s going to be major shenanigans in Walford and Jase is at
the centre of it all…he goes on a bit of a rollercoaster and it should
be good viewing” Stephen says, adding that to be in EastEnders
wasn’t in any of his plans
“I’m driven by characters I know I can play and that are interesting
for me to play” he explains “I hadn’t worked on tv for a bit and the
timing felt right. He’s a great character, I’m working with some
lovely people and hopefully viewers are enjoying it.”
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