This week, Chris Sullivan sings the praises of actor/director Nick Moran's heartrending drama, The Kid, and talks to the film's star, Rupert Friend, and its real-life protagonist, Kevin Lewis...
A film that slipped under many people’s radars, The Kid, absolutely knocked me sideways. Directed and co-written by Nick Moran (last seen on our screens chasing Harry Potter around the British countryside), it’s based on the international best-selling memoir of the same name and tells the incredible true story of Kevin Lewis - a singularly determined lad who beats the odds to come out on top.
The product of an absurdly dysfunctional family, Lewis (as a child played by William Miller and as a teen by Augustus Prew) hailed from a tough South London council estate. He was battered with various metal implements by his vile and sadistic mother, Gloria (stunningly played by Natasha McElhone), locked in a room and starved almost to death.
Twice he was wrestled away from her abusive clutches (she wanted the state’s child support money) and put first into care and then foster homes until he was finally fostered by Alan (James Fox) and Margaret (Shirley Anne Field) and actually began to experience a normal family life.
Rupert Friend delivers a superb performance as the adult Kevin. “As soon as I read the script I knew I wanted to do the film. I thought it was a great and very moving story,” he says.
While few could avoid being overwhelmed by this heartbreaking yet inspirational tale, Friend could empathise with Kevin more than most.
“School was not a nice place for me," says the actor. "I was bullied physically, emotionally and verbally. But I had one huge advantage over Kevin in that I went home to a loving family every night. But, I do believe that someone who has had nothing go wrong in their childhood may find it harder in adult life.
“So perhaps oddly Kevin’s experiences galvanized him into becoming the man that he is today and achieving all that he has. I think he feels he believes he can do anything he sets his mind to.”
'He fell into the charge of a gangster and consequently became an illegal bare-knuckle fighter'
During Kevin’s sojourn in a perfect foster home, he took up boxing until his foster father died and then fell into the charge of a gangster and consequently became an illegal bare-knuckle fighter.
Kevin originally wrote the book for his wife Jackie. “For years I kept my past to myself, ashamed of what happened, desperate to block it out of my memory, until I decided to explain my life to the one person I love more than anything else," says the author.
“I wanted her to understand what happened to me,” he explains. “Once the book was written I decided to try to get it published in the hope that others would understand what it’s like for a child to have no hope, to undergo years of physical and mental torture as well as suffering the constant ache of hunger.
“I hope I can give a little more insight into why some kids go so badly wrong, so that we can find ways to help them feel less frightened, abandoned and alone in the world.”
An inspirational and heartbreaking film, the British children’s welfare charity, the NSPCC, are supporting the UK release with a campaign to raise awareness of their helpline - 0808 500 8000.
The Kid is available as a download or to buy, or rent on DVD
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