Read our Streetdance 3D review here.
“Carly’s a very sweet girl, but she’s very driven by her dancing ambitions,” says Burley. “She’s not had the luckiest of upbringings but, nevertheless, she has always carried on doing it and it’s always driven her. She’s challenged a lot throughout the film and the exciting and inspiring thing about it is how she overcomes those challenges. Personally, I would be terrified at the thought of having to teach ballet students how to street dance. But she is actually stronger than even she realises. She just needs the encouragement to let that out. And, once she does, she ends up becoming the best that she can be. It’s all about her finding that inner strength, and finding out who she is.”
Carly’s best friend, and a source of much support throughout the film, is Shawna, played by Teneisha Bonner. “Shawna’s a loud mouth,” laughs Bonner. “Her day job is a hairdresser and she’s a straight talking, sassy, sexy kind of a girl. She says it the way it is.” One of the most fun parts about the character is Shawna’s outrageous look.
“She’s very colourful and loves big earrings and crazy wigs,” grins Bonner. “She’s got a wig for every day of the week so I actually wear about eight to ten wigs in the film. It’s a lot of fun playing someone like her.”
Bringing comic relief to the street dance crew are Mack and Boogie, the jokers of the pack.
“It’s really nice to work with a whole bunch of people that totally get you,” says Lex Milczarek, who plays Boogie. “Everyone’s so dedicated and hard working but, at the same time, everyone loves to have a laugh so we have a great time together. There are no egos on set. You do worry that, if you do films, you’re going to get stuck-up types; thespians or whatever. But everyone’s so chilled out and we get on really well. Which is great because we play a crew so we’re supposed to be like family.”
Bradley Charles, who plays Frankie, originally joined the project as assistant to Kenrick Sandy, the film’s street dance choreographer. “Kenrick and I were running the auditions when they saw me dance and asked me to audition for a role in the film,” Charles explains. “So I did a screen reading and a dance audition, then they offered me the role. It all happened by chance.
Frankie is one of the film’s more serious roles. He’s unhappy about Jay leaving the crew, and is extremely unsupportive of Carly’s attempts to take over as leader. “He feels that he would have been a better choice to lead the crew,” reveals Charles. “He gets in a huff about it, has a go at Carly and then leaves the crew. But he’s ambitious so he eventually comes back because he wants to win the competition.”
Frankie’s girlfriend is Steph, the role created for internationally renowned b-girl Steph Nguyen, who appeareed in Blaze: The Streetdance Sensation earlier this year.
“The character is basically me,” explains Steph. “Although the costumes are a little more sexy than I would normally wear! I wanted to be a part of this film because dance is my passion, it’s my life.”
Rounding off the street dance crew are Aimee (Sacha Chang) and Justine (Danielle 'Rhimes' Lecointe, also of the London Waacktitioners):
“Justine sings in the church choir and her mum thinks that she’s an angel,” explains Rhimes. “Little does she know that her Justine can be really bossy, with a big personality. The rest of the crew call her Big Justine.”
As for Aimee? “She’s basically a bit of a bitch,” laughs Chang. “She spends a lot of time bitching with Justine.”
“Eddie’s a lot like me,” he admits. “He’s quite cheeky and he really wants to be in Carly’s crew. He’s got a bit of a crush on her too. But, no matter how hard he tries to get involved, she says no.”
Eddie gets his chance to show what he can do on the dancefloor, despite Carly’s best efforts to prevent him.
“He doesn’t so much get his chance as make his chance,” says Sampson. “Not being biased, but he is the best character!”
Sampson had already worked with the directors, so he felt at home on set.
“Max and Dania directed my music video, Headz Up, last year,” he explains. “So they asked me to do a screen test to see if I could act and, luckily, they thought I could. This is my first film and I’d love to do more. I’m so excited to be involved with this because it’s the first British dance movie.”
George Sampson - Headz Up video
Sampson cites his inspiration as not only the usual suspects of Usher and Justin Timberlake, but also his childhood dance teacher. “His name was Swanny and he was my biggest inspiration,” says Sampson. “He has passed away now, but it was him that made me want to do it. He was in one of the first break-dancing crews that danced in Manchester’s Hacienda in the 1980s. It’s because of him that my style is quite old
school.”
Rhimes is extremely excited about the emerging popularity of street dance in the UK and thinks that Sampson’s springboard, Britain’s Got Talent, is partly responsible.
“Britain’s Got Talent is watched and voted for by not just the kind of people that you would expect to be into street dance, but by normal British people sitting at home on a Saturday night.” she says. “Dance has a wider appeal now because it has evolved, it’s got younger. And it’s entertaining for people. For me, it’s a passion. I teach a lot of young people and I’m always telling them, if you’re going to do this, it has to be from your heart.
And, as the passion grows, people inspire each other. A lot of films about young people in Britain are all about the ghetto and knives and guns. But we’ve come into this industry trying to inspire young people to be ambitious about something.”
