Today (July 15) sees the release of new British psychological drama 'A Thousand Kisses Deep', Dougray Scott stars as 'Ludwig', a charismatic, troubled and manipulative jazz musician. In the film both a mother (Emillia Fox) and daughter Mia (Jodie Whittaker) are devastatingly drawn to him, before Mia gets a final chance to put things right.
At the premiere, a charity screening for Women's Aid, we caught up with the actor to ask if he relates to the darker side of his character and the issues behind the film.
'A Thousand Kisses Deep' Is Out Today (June 15.)
Q: In the film you play a charasmatic but self destructive character, do you see any of that in yourself?
DS: "Wow, what a question, well certainly I have I guess had experiences in my life like that in the past, you know we all have a self-destruct button, we all have a little devil within us sometimes that tries to take us to the dark side, so there's certainly aspects of that, that I could utilise, from my own life to play Ludwig for sure."
Q: When you play roles like that, do you enjoy letting that side of yourself go on screen?
DS: "Yeah I do, I do, I mean, acting is kind of, sorry I'm trying to talk about acting without sounding pretentious, acting is a release, although it's kind of a controlled release, it's really about trying to find the truth but an interesting truth as well, because the truth can be boring as well sometimes, it's about you creating emotions, character, the history of a character that's recognisable so that when people see whatever character you play on screen they go 'I know who that is'."
Q: Your character's very musical too in the film, do you like jazz?
DS: "I do like jazz music, I guess that the guy that I listen too most was Chet Baker, you know I listened to hours and hours and hours of Chet Baker, his story, his lifestory is really interesting. The character's not based on Chet Baker, but there are certainly lots of aspects of his life that one used and one read about that were kind of similar in some respects to Ludwig."
Dougray Scott and Jodie Whittaker as Ludwig and Mia
Q: In the film Ludwig has relationships with both Emillia Fox's character and Jodie Whittaker's, who did you have more chemistry with?
DS: "Do you want me to choose? No both of them I'd say, I love them both, Emillia I adore, I mean she's fantastic and Jodie similarly is fantastic as well, so we all got on very well."
Q: You also have a few scenes as a slightly dishevelled clown, did you enjoy them?
DS: "Yeah it was fun, yeah that was really fun."
Q: There's a serious issue in the film too.
DS: "Tonight there is yes, we're supporting Women's Aid, which really is good that we're doing this charity screening for it yeah."
Q: What do you think about the way the film depicts those abusive relationships?
DS: "I think they happen, unfortunately they occur in our society and it's unfortunate, it's wrong and any support these women can get in these circumstances is welcome and hopefully charities like Women's Aid can help women stand up for themselves and look forward."
Dougray Scott at the film's charity premiere
Q: And what about the way that the women in the movie keep going back to a charismatic guy like your character Ludwig?
DS: "That's been the way since time began, charasmatic men can often be violent men, whether it's emotional or physical, mostly emotional with my character, although at one point he does get physically abusive when he ties her up, but women do that, men do that, they make the mistake of getting embroiled and involved with people who are not good for their health really."
Q: In the movie the character of Mia goes back and tries to put things right, do you have any things in your own life you'd like to go back and change yourself?
DS: "No regrets, no regrets no, I'm cool, I'm hip, I don't mind I'm happy with the choices I made."
WATCH: The 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' Trailer
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