I hated playing a drug dealer .. I had to re visit things from my life, stuff I’ d seen that I don’ t like to think about
I feel there are stories in Scotland that aren’t being told GARRY FRASER DISCUSSES SHOW
BAFTA-WINNING director Garry Fraser “hated” playing a drug-dealing psychopath in his intense new drama.
In The Grey Area, which he co-wrote and directed, violent thug Buddha is a purveyor of misery who is all too familiar to reformed crack addict Garry.
He said: “I hated playing him because to prepare and get into character I had to revisit, in my mind, things from my life and stuff I had seen that I don’t like to think about.
“I think I am a decent guy, who believes in compassion and empathy and that character was far from that.”
From the fragments of a once fractured life, Garry has built a career as an award-winning documentary maker and writer.
He is so beloved of creative doyens Danny Boyle and Irvine Welsh that they gave him an assistant directing gig on Trainspotting 2.
Garry’s new drama, which is to be shown tonight on the new BBC Scotland channel, is a tough but gripping watch.
It follows the story of a young rapper and father, Mikey, who takes a circuitous route through drugs and violence on his way to redemption.
Mikey’s tale is interwoven with the story of burnt-out addict Marcus and teenager Stephen, who is the everychild of the schemes.
The script was an amalgam of experiences pulled together in workshops with recovering addicts and the casualties of social deprivation.
There is an honesty and authenticity, a nuanced perspective, that is an antidote to the poverty porn of reality shows Benefits Street and The Scheme.
But Gary said: “I also wanted to make sure it was entertaining.”
Garry is from Muirhouse, an Edinburgh estate that became a notorious black spot for heroin and HIV in the 80s.
He was physically abused by his parents and then, while in care, he was sexually abused.
Later, he became a drug dealer, embroiled with the Turkish mafia in London who helped him make £4000 a day in his home city until he got hooked and lost it all.
It was through a creative project for recovering drug addicts that he
discovered a gift for writing and film. After an HNC in film-making, while still on methadone, he made the stunning Everybody’s Child, an autobiographical documentary, which won him a BAFTA.
It was while he was working with youngsters on an arts project in Muirhouse that he started to draft The Grey Area.
He said: “I feel there are stories in Scotland, specifically around people from schemes, that aren’t been told in any mainstream way.
“I felt it was important for me to bring some nobility back to these working class characters. When you hear about poor people in the media, it is usually derogatory, that it’s their own fault they are poor.”
The title refers to the spartan surrounds of the schemes and the multi-tonal realities of social deprivation.
He said: “A lot of the people who I know survive in a grey area, where it’s not about good or bad but being a victim of circumstances.
“When you look at any council scheme, it’s grey, there’s no colour. I just felt the grey was the canvas.”
The drama, which was co-written with producer and cinematographer, Garry Torrance, has a largely amateur cast, some of whom are recovering addicts. He himself has been clean for three years. The Grey Area has a Ken Loach realism to it but there was no improvisation – only skilful delivery of a tight script.
Garry said: “Casting was important. We needed people who were believable, that if I stuck them in Muirhouse or Possil, people wouldn’t know they were acting.” The lead in the film is Shaun Bhatti (aka rapper Zesh) who plays Mikey. He has an edge but also a vulnerability, which leaves room for empathy. Garry, who also raps, had asked Shaun to come along to a reading and create original music for the film and he delivered. But Garry also asked him to audition for a role. He said: “As soon as I saw him play Mikey, I couldn’t see anyone else in the part. Shaun is incredible and I don’t think he even knows it.” The film is brutal and tamer viewers will instinctively recoil. But Garry said: “If you haven’t witnessed my world, this drama seems violent and shocking but it is watered down from the reality I still see every day.” Between film-making, Garry is a support worker with Edinburgh charity Cyrenians, which helps people with complex needs, including the homeless and addicted. As he talks, he is outside a court where one of his clients is in the dock. He said: “Supporting young guys like him is just as important to me as making movies. It’s like a calling.” In The Grey Area, a youth has a terrifying experience on ecstasy because “that’s everyday behaviour for kids where I come from”. Garry said: “I am not trying to preach to them but I wanted to make them see the dangers. Taboos are not healthy. We have to have a conversation.” The 41-year-old has moved to Gorgie and feels he has graduated from “underclass to working class”. Certainly, his experiences have expanded far beyond the scheme. Author Welsh has been supportive, as was Boyle in their work on the Trainspotting sequel. Garry said: “The main thing I learned was to be nice to people. When I was watching Danny, no matter what, he was full of enthusiasm for the project and he made you feel a part of it. “At first I was daunted but the crew told me that Danny trusted me and so did they – that I wasn’t there because of my past but my technical craft as a director.” On the red carpet at the premiere, the cast, including Ewan McGegor, were congratulating him on a job well done. He said: “They told me I should be proud and I was. I knew I had done a good job and I know a lot of people were expecting me to f*** it up.” Boyle called him from New York and asked him to do the honours when he couldn’t accept a BAFTA Scotland award for best director. The acclaimed director told him he wouldn’t have to say anything but presenter Edith Bowman pushed him in front of the mic, insisting he did. Garry said: “I thanked the cast and crew, reciting from the Oscars. Then Edith told me to say who I was. I just said, ‘I am Garry Fraser. I am Danny Boyle’s lovechild’. I couldn’t really take it all seriously.” He has travelled far from the kid he was in Muirhouse but not far enough to satisfy his ambitions. He said: “I am now more motivated than anyone I know. I want to have longevity as a director and I feel as long as I help people on a daily basis, the planets will align for me and the success will keep coming.” The Grey Area is on the new BBC Scotland channel tonight at 11pm.