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Taking the gritty road to fame

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

A SOUTHSIDE actor has just landed his first major role in a feature film based on gang crime and warfare in Dublin and the dark and violent world of underground cage fighting. Mark Smyth (37) from Drimnagh first started acting with the Dublin Youth Theatre at the age of 17. But after 20 years of theatre work and a brief musical career the actor is now starring in a lead role alongside former Eastenders star Martin Kemp in the new movie called Lost Causes. The film, which will be largely shot in Ireland, is based on a fictional tale of gang crime in Dublin with a major focus on illicit cage fighting. Fitness fanatic Mark who has run 15 marathons will play the role of Jimmy, a street fighter and gangster who gets an opportunity to take part in a competitive cage fight. Martin Kemp is due to be joined  by his brother Gary Kemp, which will be the first time they have played in a film together since they both starred in the hit gangster movie ‘The Krays’ in 1990. “This will be my first big break,” Mark told Southside People. “I recently decided to get back into acting and got an agent. He said there was a major film coming up that I should go for as I suited one of the parts. Fighting “He sent in my photos and CV with all the theatre work I had done in the past. So I went for three castings and then got a phone call telling me I got the part of Jimmy.” He added: “It is going to be a gangster movie based here in Ireland, the UK and Holland and it is going to feature cage fighting. “Years ago British gangster movies were based around boxing matches, so this film will be updated in a sense and will focus on underground cage fighting. It is a very good script and I was very lucky to get the part.” Mark will travel to Belfast later this month to see real competitive cage fighting to become more familiar with his role. “I am going up to the UK cage wars in Belfast to get the real inside track on cage fighting,” he revealed. “I will train with them and be trained by a three Dan martial arts experts who will show me how they do the moves.” He believes he was chosen for the part because of his love of fitness and running in particular. “My CV had a lot of fitness related things on it and they liked the look of me,” he said. “I have run about 15 marathons and I can run one in under three hours. I am mad into training. I run six days a week and am big into swimming and other sports.” Mark, who also had a career as a solo music artist in his early 20s will not only act in the new movie but has also written a song for the soundtrack entitled ‘One in a Million’.  The tune is about his young brother who passed away tragically from heart problems when he was just 15-years-of-age. The ambitious young actor  hopes his first big break in film will lead to other parts and perhaps a chance to go to Hollywood. “When Boyzone were put together by Louis Walsh people laughed at them,” he said. “But they had guts and they had belief and at the end of the day if you have the right people behind you and you have drive you can do it. “If I put my mind to something I am really dedicated and I put everything into it,” he added. “I'm very excited and hopefully it will lead to other things.” Lost Causes will begin shooting in August this year in Dublin and is due for general cinema release in 2011.