Tackling Cryptocurrencies: A Conversation With Sophia Myles For DECRYPTED

Get ready to go underground and delve deep into the world of cryptocurrency and unscrupulous government agencies in this provocative film from father and son writing/directing duo Mick Sands and Tom Sands and producer Phil Harris, the team that that brought us Rupert, Rupert & Rupert and The Holly Kane Experiment.

When an extremely mismatched team of National Security Agency operatives take on a covert mission to kidnap the creator of Bitcoin – Satoshi Nakamoto – to extract, by any means necessary, the information they need to destroy cryptocurrencies, things go wildly wayward in this raucous romp.

The botched NSA interrogation forces together a homophobic field agent, a feminist technical adviser, a transgender asylum seeker, a crypto-anarchist, a racist Brexiteer and an inclusionist MI5 agent. Of course sparks start to fly when their opposing beliefs clash in major way. But a truth drug reveals a newfound honesty with riotous consequences…

Decode the devilishly debauched Decrypted, it will crack you up.

Decrypted stars: Sophia Myles (Transformers: Age of Extinction, A Discovery of Witches),  David Hoflin (Z: The Beginning of Everything, Bosch), Amanda Abbington (Sherlock, Mr Selfridge), Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean, Designated Survivor), Clive Francis (The Crown, A Clockwork Orange), Talisa Garcia (Baptiste, The Girlfriend Experience), Akie Kotabe (The Man in The High Castle, Jason Bourne), Don Gilet (The Stranger, Eastenders) and Sophie Barker (The Holly Kane Experiment, Caged)

Directed by Tom Sands, written by Mick Sands.

In our interview, The Fan Carpet’s Marc Jason Ali spoke to Sophia about how she got started in Acting, being the complete opposite to Beth and working with Julian Fellowes…

Hiya

Hi Sophia. How are you?

Yeah I’m alright. How are you?

I’m doing well thank you. We interviewed you, a few years back, it was Blackwood; the horror film with the Owl motif.

That’s right, that’s right. I thought you looked familiar.

If we go back to the beginning, was there a defining moment to get into the film industry?

Well, my defining moment was really a stroke of fate really. I was doing a play at school when I was 15, I had chosen Drama as GCSE, as one of the options. It was just because I wasn’t very good at art, that was one of the other choices, and sport was another one in the box, and I’m not very good at that either. So I chose drama and part of the exam was to put on a play. And Julian Fellowes was, at the time, he’d written an adapted screenplay of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper for the BBC, and he was looking for a young girl to play Lady Jane Grey in the adaptation.

And he had had not luck with the private schools, the TV thing was going to be filming over the GCSE exam period, so none of the posh schools wanted lose their students, they wanted all the kids to get high results so they didn’t want to lose any students.

So they did the rounds of the state schools and mine was one of them, and I went in and I auditioned for them and I got the job. And I just fell in love with the behind the scenes bits of film sets, it felt just like running away and joining the circus. And we got to travel all over the place and got to meet incredible, sort of, enigmatic, charismatic, crazy people. And I was hooked really, from day one.

Awesome. So what was it about Decrypted and, specifically, Beth that enticed you get involved and bring her to life?

Well, I was sent this script, Tom Sands the director, sent the script to my agent with a direct offer, which is always, as an actor, a lovely thing to receive because it means you don’t have to do an audition and I’m really bad at auditioning.

I’m alright when I’ve got the job, but I just hate auditions, they get me very nervous. And you’d think it would get easier, because I’ve had kind of a good, almost 30 year, career now, but I feel like I get more nervous at auditions now than I ever have done.

So that was a big draw (laughs) not having to do an audition. And I just found the script really different, I hadn’t read anything like it before, it’s very…..I love dark comedy, as an audience member that’s the genre of film that I like to watch. And it was very funny, very diverse, very daring, very dark and it was going to be filming in Brighton, which is close to home. I live in Kent, so it was going to be an easy commute. And, yeah, it was just worked all round really.

Awesome. How did you relate to Beth?

I didn’t really (laughs) because I’m not an American. I can’t operate a computer and she’s a kind of, crypto, computer genius, tech nerd and I can barely send an e-mail, so I didn’t relate to her at all. (laughs).

Okay. Fair enough. Where you familiar with cryptocurrencies before taking on the role?

Not at all. I mean, I’d heard the word bitcoin, but I have a……there is a word for it, I’ve forgotten off the top of my head, but it’s like dyslexia with numbers. So anything with statistics or digits, I just see everything backwards, all mixed up and jumbled up. So if you were to give me your phone number, if you were to say it to me now, if I had pen and paper I’d write it down the wrong way. So money and currency is like my worst nightmare, so.

Oh, wow. You work with a great crop of talent on Decrypted, do you have any memorable moments from filming?

I do, I do. It was one of those lovely jobs, lovely life experiences where you come together with a group of people and you just all have a laugh, and we literally spent most of the time belly laughing.

I particularly bonded with Talisa Garcia, who plays one of the lead characters. And from day one, we just hit it off and we’ve remained closest of friends, she’s just amazing. And I’d never…..I mean I’ve met Trans people before, but I’d never had a friendship or an intimate relationship with, I don’t men it in a sexual way (laughs), but I’d never had an intimate bond with someone whose Trans.

So, by meeting her and becoming so close to her, it was really enlightening, you know, it taught me so much, and I find her story fascinating and, yeah, incredible. She’s an incredible woman.

Awesome. So what is your preferred genre and do you have any favourite films?

Like I said earlier, I love dark comedy. One of my favourite films of all time is Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton, have you seen it?

Yeah it’s a good one.

Yeah. And I’ve had the privilege of working with Terry Zwigoff, the director, we did a film called Art School Confidential with Max Minghella, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston and John Malkovich. And yeah, dark comedy is my favourite to watch and it’s also my favourite to make really, because you just get to have a laugh all day.

But my problem is that I’m a terrible, what they call “corpser”, and once I’m off I find it very difficult to stop laughing and it’s not a choice, it’s almost like getting hiccups and you just can’t stop. And it gets to the point with me where it goes on so long It starts….., initially its funny, but then people start to get really irritated with me. And then that makes me even more nervous and I start kind of nervous giggling. But, yeah anything funny.

Yeah. Cool. Are there any other aspects of the film industry, because you mentioned you liked doing the behind the scenes stuff, is there any other aspects of of the film industry that you’d like to pursue?

Hmmmm, I think, I’d have to give a thought about that, I think the job that I would be most interested in doing if I wasn’t an actor, on a film set, I would like to be a stills photographer. Somebody that, you know, captures still imagery, especially of behind the scenes stuff and, you know, I think some of the best bits in movies are bits that the audience don’t see, unfortunately. Like, for me, when I watch a movie, often first I’ll skip first to the blooper reel (laughs), yeah.

Cool. Who inspires you in the industry?

People that inspire me generally are all the brilliant actors that I’ve worked with, and not only because they’re only just good at their jobs, but actors in general, I mean, they’re just such interesting people. They’ve always good great stories, most of them have a great sense of humour, as well, you know, and I’m a sucker for a laugh, you know, I’m addicted to laughter and I’ll do anything for I can to make other people laugh and to laugh myself. So, you know, if you can make me laugh, you’ve won.

Now, obviously over the last year and a half, we’ve all been watching Netflix and other streaming services. With their popularity, what do you think the future of cinema is?

Gosh, that’s a good question. I honestly don’t know. I honestly don’t know. It’s all changed so much, and I think, you know, what its taught me is that technology is evolving at such a fast pace and you really don’t…….

Well, you don’t…..I mean some people are kind of technological geniuses and know where things are going and where they could go. I mean, I had an idea that, eventually, they’d get to the point films were all be able to be broadcast to people in a holographic form, so that you’ll be able to have 3D images in your front room, rather than just on a screen. Who knows? Who knows?

I kind of now realised that I know nothing and, you know, I think it’s just important to……sometimes I get stuck in, you know, behaving like a bit of an old person and “Oh that’s not the way it was”. And, you know, but actually one just has to accept where it is now and embrace where it might be going, I guess.

Absolutely. And what are you hoping audiences will take away from Decrypted when they get to see it on Monday?

I just hope people have a laugh.

Awesome. And it came out the other day, there’s a first look at your next role. Are you allowed to tell us anything about that?

Are you talking about…..what are you talking about?

A Very British Scandal.

Yeah, A Very British Scandal (laughs). Yeah, so that’s…..I don’t know if you remember, the BBC made one already called A Very English Scandal which was with Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw about a scandal between politicians and sexuality, it was about sexuality. And this is a new story about, it’s a new scandal and it’s all about the Duchess of Argyll, who is played by Claire Foy. And my character is, so my husband is played by Paul Bettany, and he ends up having an affair and, as a consequence, then things get rather complicated between them and there is a scandal and this event that occurs, which I’m not going to ruin the story for you. But, yeah so that should be out at Christmas.

Right, cool. The BBC are going to be releasing a lot of good stuff over the next few months. Starting with Doctor Who this weekend.

Oh, is Jodie still doing it?

Yeah she is. I think it’s her last series.

Is it?

I think, I’m not sure.

Are you a Doctor Who fan?

Yeah I am, I’m looking forward to it. And you where very good in it.

Oh thank you.

With Tennant.

Yeah. It was a while ago. Yeah.

That’s a very good episode.

Thank you.

Alright. So, other than A Very British Scandal, do you have anything else that you’re working on or are you just taking it easy?

I am hopefully going to be doing a film with, ironically, I mentioned Julian Fellowes, so his son, Peregrine is now writing, directing and producing, he set up his own production company, so hopefully we’re going to be working together on something soon, it’s just kind of in the process of getting everything organised. So I won’t say anything more about that yet, because I don’t want to jinx it, but yes.

Awesome. That’s an immense pedigree to be working with, and what a name, Peregrine.

Peregrine Kitchener-Fellowes, yeah.

We don’t have those sort of names any more (laughs). So, anyway, it’s been absolutely wonderful to talk to you today. Thank you for taking the time.

No worries. Lovely to talk to you again. Hopefully speak to you on the next one.

Speak to you soon. Take care.

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