I watched quite a bit of the recent  Paralympics (or Paramedics as my mum inadvertently called it)  and it reminded me of a  surreal encounter I once had with a one legged naked  bloke in a hotel steam room.  Don’t worry, this isn’t going to descend into the sort of thing you might find in one of the grimier corners of the internet!

It turned out that this bloke was a Paralympic 400 metre runner  and he was attending a training camp at a local athletics stadium. We got talking and he was telling me how he’d once had a free trip to Ireland and made a few quid on top working as an extra on the Oscar-Winning  film, Saving Private Ryan. Apparently, the make up department had built him a  very authentic looking prosthetic leg , which was then promptly filmed being blown off, complete with fake blood.

It seems that despite what I’m fond of telling you here, there are some money making opportunities which definitely AREN’T open to everyone.

Speaking of  must-see films (I should write this sort of thing for a living) our own  film, Twenty8k is out in both in the cinema, on DVD and on various pay per view platforms very soon.  I say ‘our  own’ because I’m more than happy to take full credit for anything which turns out well. The truth is that I had some input on the production side and am listed as Executive Producer as a result, alongside some people who actually know what they’re doing.

I also appear far too briefly as a background character listed only as ‘ Vest Wearing Tattooed Tea Seller’. Given that I don’t have any tattoos, don’t own a vest and  never make tea, I feel that I was miscast. It didn’t really matter in the end though because in the final cut, the cinema going audience will only get to see the back of my head. People who have seen it say that it is possibly the best back of head performance  they’ve ever witnessed though, and I was immensely relieved that I’d remembered  to wash my neck when I saw it blown up on screen to  ten times its normal size.

Anyway,  you can  find the various ways you can  get to see the film here.  It’s a contemporary thriller  co-written by Paul Abbott (Shameless,  State Of Play, Hit and Miss) and stars Parminder Nagra,(Bend It Like Beckham, ER)  Kaya Scodelario, (Skins, Wuthering Heights)  Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood,  Hit & Miss)  and Stephen Dillane (Game Of Thrones, 44 Inch Chest.   Oh and of course me in a vest.  It has to be worth double the price, just for that on its own. Let us know what you think….about the film, not me in a vest.