Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Steve Oram felt like a “rich Westerner” voyeur when he visited slums on the outskirts of Bangkok for his new thriller film Crushed.
In the movie, Oram plays Father Daniel, an expat vicar who is living in the suburbs of Thailand’s capital city with his wife May (May Nattaporn Rawddon) and their 10-year-old daughter Olivia (Margaux Dietrich).
But after Olivia is exposed to a disturbing animal cruelty video by her friend’s older brother, a “crush” video of a kitten being stomped on by a scantily clad woman, it sets off a chain of events that leads to her abduction.
Whilst shooting the film on location in Thailand, Oram decided to step away from the bright lights of Bangkok and the tourist areas and explore the reality of the impoverished slums. It felt like a “descent into the unknown”, which is what his character Father Daniel experiences as he desperately searches for his missing daughter.
In an interview with BANG Showbiz, he said: “I walked around Thailand. On one of my days off I walked around one of the slums, just to see what it was like. It was pretty bad, but there was dignity there. I felt like I shouldn’t really be there. It was an interesting place but I did feel scared.
“I felt like a voyeur, that’s exactly it. Obviously, I didn’t take any photographs. I’m not an influencer so I didn’t do any of those idiotic things, but I did feel like a rich Westerner with an iPhone in my pocket and all that nonsense. So I did leave, it didn’t feel right. But it was interesting to see.
“There’s this extreme poverty in Thailand which you don’t really appreciate if you’re just in resorts or Bangkok. If you go out into the slums you see utter poverty and people with no social security. It gives you a sort of medieval feeling.
“That in itself was a descent into the unknown, which is what a very sheltered person like Father Daniel experiences. That’s a very interesting thing for a human to experience.
“It’s a fish out of water thing and you are in a place where there is no rule of law. If you are from our country, the UK, we are brought up in such a comfortable and protective environment, really. Although there are many flaws, it is not like living in Thailand.”
Oram’s alter ego Father Daniel has his Christian faith and humanity tested as he searches for Olivia with his wife May and the help of his church congregation, with the couple going on an agonising journey that reveals the deepest depths of human depravity.
Oram – who has starred in The World’s End, Doctor Who, Aaaaaaaah! and A Dark Song – insists director Simon Rumley’s story makes the viewer question what they would do in that situation, what they could be capable of and whether humans are as evolved as we think.
He said: “My character Father Daniel is an expat vicar and he’s a Western guy now living in Bangkok with his Thai wife and kid. He’s living in this small community with expats and leading a congregation of people. He and his family go through hell when their daughter goes missing.
“It’s a descent into hell in so many ways and so many questions and themes are brought around it. He’s really a kind man and a gentle man and sort of an introvert and an ordinary guy who is taken to the limit. He was a very interesting character to play. He’s not really a demonstrative bloke, he’s really introverted and studious and then has to find a way of negotiating what happens to his daughter.
“It’s a visceral feeling for him, it’s very primal at the end. When you’re dealing with something of that magnitude, it’s the worst thing that can happen to any parent and the unmanageable happens. It does make him question his faith and also puts his humanity and morality to the test. It poses a really primal question about being human. How far have we come? Do we just seek revenge or do we try and have a moral high ground? I think it’s a fascinating question. I think we, as humans, need closure.”
Crushed is on UK digital from October 5 from GrimmVision.
