Livin’ La Vida Lopez
Craig Hough speaks to Liverpool’s Leon Lopez to discuss his ever-evolving career and transformation from actor to director
Actor, singer-songwriter, West End performer, model and now, film and television director – have I missed anything out? Of all the roles mentioned which do you take most enjoyment from?
Ha ha. I think you’ve been more than generous with what you have listed so maybe leave it at that!
I love everything that I get to do. As an actor you spend most of your time out of work so whenever I get to do a job I love, I am grateful. But at the moment I love directing. I don’t really miss acting as much as I thought I would, but that’s maybe because I still get to work in that field -just in a different way. Technically I’ve not given up acting. Directing jobs book you so much further in advance, and one job has led to another and now I have work booked in until February next year, which is almost unheard of as an actor unless you’re in a long running show. So, I don’t have any time to audition for acting jobs.
Your break-out role was playing Jerome Johnson in Channel 4’s Brookside. The long running drama was edgy, pushed boundaries and was a breeding ground for young stars. Do you look back fondly on your time in the show and is there a place in today’s society for a show like Brookside?
That show shaped who I am today as both an actor and a director. I feel lucky to have been part of such an iconic show that helped shape the TV industry as well as the careers of many great filmmakers and actors. I definitely think there is a place for a show like Brookside and can’t understand why it was cancelled in the first place. But then maybe its iconic status came about because it was ended before it’s time. Either way, that show will always have a special place in my heart, and I will be forever grateful for the time I spent working on it and the many amazing people I met as part of it.
Your first feature film as a writer and director, Soft Lad, premiered at the East End Film Festival back in 2015. It’s a coming of age film showing a young man wrestle his demons on a journey that forces him to come to terms with his sexuality – where did you get the inspiration for the story and what was your process in writing it?
Soft Lad came about as a play I wrote around 2009 when I was working on a musical called ‘Elegies for Angels Punks and Raging Queens’ which told the stories of people who had passed from AIDS related illnesses and the friends and family members of those they left behind. The show was in aid of a charity and the reception was warm but each night I heard reactions and comments of “how sad it was back then” as if HIV was gone and didn’t affect people anymore. As a gay man I felt really strongly about telling a story of modern day gay and straight people and HIV - how the virus is still about and how important it is for us to take care of our sexual health. I’d had several incidents where my own sexual health had been compromised because of lack of information from casual partners and my own lack of education on the situation. I also had many friends who were HIV positive who were living healthy lives on medication and I wanted to show a modern, rounded view of how the virus is still in our lives, yet how it’s no longer the death sentence that it had been viewed as in the past. I wanted to show that it’s not only a duty to yourself, but a duty to the people you love and care for to be honest about who you are and take care of your sexual heath. So Soft Lad happened. I started with the character of David and I honestly had no idea where it all came from. I just started writing and my sub conscious kicked in. Stories and people’s experiences from my life all combined and over the course of a few nights the play was written.
The self-funded film featured the talented Daniel Brocklebank (currently in Coronation Street) and Jonny Labey (former Eastenders star) as the lead characters. Did you write the screenplay with specific cast members in mind?
The film version is literally the play I wrote. I never wrote it to be a film, I never filmed it thinking it would be released. I shot it because I had been directing short films and scenes for people and I wanted to try my hand at a longer film and a friend who had read it recommended that I shoot it. So, I did. And just like Brookside, it changed my life again. Neither Dan or Jonny had their jobs on Corrie or Eastenders when we shot. I met Jonny at an acting workshop I was teaching, he’d never acted on screen before, but he looked like the character I pictured in my mind. I had worked with Dan on a short film I acted in. Dan was already hugely successful, and he read the script and agreed to play the part. The rest of the cast were already in my mind as they were friends. So, when I found Jonny the rest fell into place. I loved every minute of making the film. We had just 7 days. I managed to fundraise fifteen thousand pounds with help from my family and using personal funds - I wanted to make sure the cast and crew got a wage. It wasn’t much but it covered their costs and we got most of the locations for free donated by friends. It was hard work, but it was a passion project so never felt like work. Plus, I was working with all my mates so mostly I just had to press record and let them all go to work. The entire cast was everything I could have hoped for.
As a LGBTQ+ role model how important do you feel coming of age films like Soft Lad are still being made and series like It’s A Sin (by Russell T Davies) are also vital to show the struggle the community goes through? Have you any plans to work on further LGBTQ+ projects?
Ha ha, I don’t know how much of a role model I am. I feel very strongly about LGBTQ+ work being made. We still have a way to go for acceptance. It’s a lot better but I still feel representation is sketchy at times. All stories are relevant to someone and marginalised communities even more so. Russell T Davies is a huge icon to people like me. He helped set the path for us all to follow. It’s A Sin shows just how important these stories are. I just hope television commissioners will now take the chance on other LGBTQ+ story tellers who aren’t as well-known as Russell and let them tell their stories or else it will always be people like me making films on no budget, that get limited DVD release. There is a lack of good LGBTQ+ stories being commissioned, but I don’t feel the problem is because there is a lack of stories, it’s just TV networks don’t like to take chances. Russell is a huge name with huge previous success so if they want something gay they go to him. I do indeed have projects I have written that are LGBTQ+ themed. I’m trying to build my directing credits up so that when I do go before a network commissioner, they will feel like they are taking less of a chance on my original work.
Throughout your successful career you have appeared in some of Britain’s biggest shows. From Brookside and Hollyoaks: In The City, to Doctors, Holby City and more recently EastEnders. When did you decide to turn your focus to directing? Did anyone influence this decision or help mentor you?
I have always been interested in how things are put together. I’ve always been inquisitive, and this helped me - as when I came to get behind the camera I knew more than I thought. I didn’t have a mentor - I started making films because I wanted to produce a project that I could act in. I got my friend to write it, I cast it and another friend to shoot it. But it didn’t come out the way I wanted so I decided to start learning how to light scenes. I bought a camera and started shooting some scripts I’d written when I was younger. Then I realised I loved being behind the camera more. I set up a business making showreels for actor friends to help me practice what I was learning and then people started asking me to shoot projects for them and that’s how my company, Brown Boy Productions was born and that’s when I decided I wanted to make something bigger and made Soft Lad.
Coronation Street recently celebrated its 60th birthday and you have recently directed on the famous cobbled street. Talk me through that first day walking into ITV Studios – was it surreal meeting the Ken Barlows and Rita Sullivans of the (fictious) world?
Ha ha! It’s funny as I know a lot of the cast from my acting days and those I don’t know, know people who I know. So, most of the time I spend gossiping! Filming on the iconic street was surreal. And working with legends of British TV felt like an honour. I never thought I’d ever work on that show and I am so glad that I was able to and I hope to return later this year.
It’s not only the cobbles that you have had the opportunity to work on recently- you have also spent time directing in the dales and at Hollyoaks. How challenging Is it working as a freelance director – do you struggle keeping up with characters/storylines etc?
It is a struggle at times, but I try to keep up with the soaps. Each week I usually watch a couple of episodes of each I work on. But to be honest these shows are run like clockwork. They are so precise, and they give you back story, previous story lines to look over. So, if you’ve missed anything the producers and script department are there to hold your hand and help you out. Plus, the cast know their characters better than anyone, the crews shoot the show day in day out. It’s a massive set up so you feel secure and supported in every step.
Is the buzz you get from directing a scene similar or completely different that the one you get acting in one? Have there been scenes you’ve directed as of late that you thought “I’d have loved to have played that”?
Not really no, which is sad in some ways. But when you get that killer scene with a performance to match, I’ve sat behind the monitor in tears and that’s when I know it’s something great. I’ve had that a few times when the acting and script are both perfect and you help to shape a scene that really sells that episode. It’s magic.
Being Liverpool-born what are some of your favourite things about the city – where do you like to go out?
I left Liverpool almost 20 years ago but still spend lots of time in the area as my family are still here. It’s never really stopped being my home. But sadly, I don’t really go anywhere. I’m a bit of a hermit. I go to my mum’s house and when I’m working, I go to work. If I need to buy something I go to town. That’s literally it.
Having achieved so much from such a young age, what is your next goal? What’s next for Leon Lopez?
I just want to keep telling stories. I want to keep shaping stories and being part of interesting projects. I hope to have one of my own shows I’ve written, produced one day. And I just want to keep doing what I love. I feel very lucky and lockdown has made me appreciate that more than ever. I love my family and friends and want to spend more time with them, and I want to create work that people can enjoy.
Photogrpahy © Gaz Sherwood and Terry George
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