Musings on Making

A Room for Romeo Brass

by jose martinez

Returning to an actors workshop in Nottingham where he found many of the actors for his last film, Meadows explains, "There’s something I really enjoy about working with first-timers, because it’s all so fresh for them. That helps me remember how it should feel, and the energy they bring is quite extraordinary."

In addition to baby faces Andrew Shim (who plays Romeo Brass) and Ben Marshall, Meadows also cast his college mate Paddy Considine. "We were the naughty pair in college," Meadows laughs. "We were constantly causing mayhem."

A funny and harsh coming-of-age story about two 12-year-old boys who are best friends and neighbors, the pair fall out of favor with each other when they encounter an eccentric and dangerous stranger who becomes obsessed with Romeo’s sister. A fan of improvisation, Meadows admits, "All of my films to date have stemmed from my experiences."

One of those experiences includes getting arrested for stealing a chicken sandwich. "This is how the story goes," the director confesses in between bites of fruit. "This family up the road were really broke and they couldn’t get out at night so I said I’d pinch a breast pump for them so they could leave their kid with breast milk with someone. I went into the local pharmacy and pinched this breast pump and no one had seen me do it, but I was really hungry so since I pinched that, I might as well pinch a sandwich. And that’s where it all went wrong. It was the most pathetic crime in all the world. I was never built for being a criminal. I once pinched a key ring and my conscience got the better of me and I got caught putting it back."

Growing up watching English television, Meadows was inspired by the early works of Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, and Mike Leigh. "These guys were making incredible television," the 28-year-old enthuses, "and I found cinema through video. I saw Scorsese’s work and Jim Jarmusch’s."

While Meadows acknowledges that he was more at ease directing this time around, he recalls a particular day during the shoot that threw him for a loop. "I had a migraine on set and it was really bad, but we couldn’t stop because we had so much to do. So they took me to the hospital to have these injections, and I hate having injections. I didn’t realize the nurse left the door open and the people that brought me from the film could hear [and see] everything. I had to have two shots and stand there with my pants and trousers [around my feet]. It was humiliating, and everybody was waiting on set for these injections to start working. It’s a mad process."