Five Questions with Actor Ian Mitchell

Ian Mitchell as 'Terrance'

This week we highlight one of the great actors in The Coming of Org, Saint Lucian Ian Mitchell, who plays Terrance.

1. How did you get involved in The Coming of Org movie?

I saw a casting call on Facebook and I figured I should give it a try. I went to Davina's office at the time which was at Rodney Bay Marina and Katherine (Casting Director) and Davina gave me a few lines to read from one of the scenes. They seemed to like the way played the part, or maybe they were scared of me while I read it... either way, it was a good thing. A few days later, Davina informed me that she wanted me to play Terrance...

2. Describe your character Terrance.

I see Terrance as a survivor in the Game with ambitions of money and power. However, he isn't particularly concerned with heroism or fame. In fact, he's pretty much amoral. He's smart and he's willing to do anything to anyone to get what he wants. He can be very charming and knows how to make a lady take notice, but he would use, abuse, flatter or wine and dine any woman to get his desired result. He will kill, cower or forgive and forget if it is expedient to do so in order to achieve his ambitions. Terrance knows he's on the path to Hell and so he plans on riding there is style...

3. What was the experience like, working on set with the director Davina Lee?

Davina is fantastic to work with. She is humble and yet brilliantly creative. She is willing to accept the ideas coming from those around her as long as it helps to achieve the result she's looking for. She's also very patient and never gets frustrated when scenes need to be re-shot or when she is short of crew members. She simply does what needs to be done to get the shot. She is also very punctual and good at communicating. I see great things for her in the future...

4. Did you have any acting experience before the movie?

I never had any movie experience before this. However, I had a very short role in the play "She Stoops to Conquer" when plays used to run at the factory shells at Bisee in St. Lucia. I also had a major role as "Madison" in the play "Cash Pandora" by Kendel Hippolyte while I was at Cameron University. My only experience in front of the camera, however, was in an advertisement for RJB Hotel Supplies. 

Ian on set

5. Any stories from behind the scenes that you can share with us?

The first scene that I was involved in was at Anse La Raye. We went into the village and parked near a friend of Davina's house for a little while until it got dark. Then we moved across to the spot where we planned to film. It's hard to explain but when we got there, which was only about a one minute drive away, I felt like we had gone to a foreign place... In fact it felt more like we had all fallen asleep and were having the same dream... There was a street lamp providing soft light to the narrow roadway skirted by several closely built old wooden houses and a mango tree. There were dirt paths in between the houses probably leading to adjacent streets. One of the houses was converted into a small canteen and this served as one of the shot locations. The artwork on the outer walls of this canteen was simply amazing. It was white chalk sketches on the rough black surface quite accurately depicting great historical figures including Haile Selassie, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Barack Obama and several others. There were several young men sporting dreadlocks and just an unusually high concentration of young boys, mostly bareback, who seemed curious about the cameras and lighting that were being set up. There was a gentle white mist in the light in most directions. I assumed there was some sort of meditation taking place in several of the dark areas around us ;) There was, however, a sense of mistrusting curiosity in the eyes of some of the older men who were observing us. For some reason though, I felt like it was exactly where we needed to be to bring out the right atmosphere for our characters. The authenticity of the location contributed significantly to the successful outcome of the scene. I only wish there could have been more of the location included in the final cut...