British actor Daniel Caltagirone is all set to play Lord Clemont in Thangalaan, an upcoming film which is headlined by Vikram. Directed by Pa Ranjith, it is quite interesting to note how the actor reveals his coming onboard story.

“Pa Ranjith met and pitches me the idea, and normally you would read the script. But I didn’t do that and instead watched Sarpatta Parambarai. I called Ranjith and said I will do the film. He asked if I read the script, which I did not. I had given him my faith, and without reading the script, nodded yes to the project. He is more like Spike Lee of India,” he says reveals he has never read the script so far.

Daniel says how it worked when he was able to trust the director on the sets, as he adds, “I knew exactly what I had to do, and it was always Ranjith’s idea and me allowing myself to be driven by him. It was more organic.”

Daniel Caltagirone Interview for Thangalaan

When did you realise Thangalaan is a massive project?

Vikram and I were shooting and coming back from sets, and we were in the middle of a valley. We thought to walk back together instead of taking vehicle. As we spotted a hill and it was 2 am, and about two thousand people surrounding the sets to catch a glimpse of Vikram. It was at that moment I realised how big it is. And this place was middle of nowhere, which gave me the indication of how much fans of Vikram and Pa Ranjith and their commitment to their stars. Until then I did not have any idea how much love they had and it was just tip of the iceberg. The buzz on social media too is relentless.

What were the difficulties in shooting for the film?

I have worked in different environments. But none was like this. The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. We were shooting in Thailand under harsh weather conditions in jungle. But it was for a short while and we went back to studio. But this was different because it was consistently being shot in mountains, rivers, deserts. It was dirty, hot, and experienced different seasons. Ranjith demands that level of commitment and efforts. You cannot let your energy levels drop without him noticing. It was one of the hardest projects I have ever done. In Thangalaan, we literally worked with blood and sweat.

Your character seems to have a military background, sharing similarity with your real life. Could you elaborate on that?

You might hire a British actor for a small role, or hire someone who pretend to be British. When I first spoke to Ranjith before signing on the film, he said that he wanted something different and proper parallel lead to Vikram. He said I will be working in harsh conditions and my character is former military officer who worked in the 1800s. He needed some intensity from me, given how the star cast of Thangalaan really gives it all. I too have a military background, which gave him a relief.

How is it different playing a British man in Indian film and the same in British films?

Well, I was worried about that. There was another part of conversation with Ranjith. If you look at RRR, which I loved, there is a cliché portrayal of the English. I did not want to play the typical British man. Ranjith was clear that my character was multi-layered and not cliché. I trusted him and in fact, for first few weeks I did have issue. I was doing naturalistic acting initially but Ranjith wanted me to be bigger. It was not realism, and documentary. It has mythical and magical world and had fantasy in there. He wanted me to inhabit in this world and punch up the performance, which I felt like overacting. But later, I was able to see what Ranjith said and it looked fine.

What is Pa Ranjith is doing an international film. With the population and so much talent, cinema is still alive here as compared to the West. With the advent of OTT platforms, I see how cinema is being pushed here as a priority. It is crazy to see premieres now happening on streaming channels and that is crazy. I feel the Indian film industry is the biggest one in the world.

What were you to learn and unlearn from working in Thangalaan?

When I finished Thangalaan, I had to unlearn very fast. Lord Clemont is very intense character and very hard one to let go. It was more like flight or fight response where I had to let him go. It was like nice getting to know him but at the same time not-so-nice as well. I need to step away because I was agitated. That was the unlearn. The learning was how beautiful it was building this world, and about different culture, working practices. It was really important to learn the sensibilities, people, how they conduct, approach them, here in Tamil Nadu.

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