ACTOR
LIFESTYLE MEETS ACTOR AND WRITER, DANIEL P LEWIS HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FILM INDUSTRY? Since a young age I always wanted to be an actor but I was too ashamed to admit it. Growing up in the area I grew up in and the group of friends I had I worried about what people would think. From the age of seven I boxed and dedicated years to the sport and was actually pursuing a career in boxing. However October 2014 I had an accident just weeks before my professional debut and seriously injured my back. I was actually in a wheelchair for a short while, using crutches and having rehabilitation for months. I spent the next fourteen months not knowing what to do, gaining weight and becoming severely depressed until one day I burst into tears and my fiance asking "what do you want?" and I instinctively yet nervously answered "I want to be an actor!" January 2016 and that old "New Year new me" mentality kicked in and I started that journey...
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HOW HAS YOU ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCED YOUR SCRIPTS? I had been acting for five months and was thinking "why aren't I in Peaky Blinders yet?" It's fair to say this acting game isn't as easy as that. So I thought well if no one is going to give me the opportunity I'll create my own. I've not got a GCSE to my name, was kicked out of school at the age of fourteen and used to struggle with my reading and writing. However I started to write my own script. I reached out to student filmmakers and produced my own short. All of a sudden I can now get an agent because I've got a showreel piece. However this "showreel piece", this five minute short film was viewed by hundreds of thousands all around the world. I was nominated for eleven 'Best Actor' awards in five countries and I won five 'Best Actor' awards in three countries. I received an email from BAFTA who applauded and congratulated me on my performance and I was encouraged to use that as a pilot to help fund a feature length version.
So within five months of chasing this lifelong dream I'm now a multi awardwinning actor but also a writer. I would never in a million years think I would be a writer but it is one of my biggest passions. I love being creative and putting my thoughts on paper. It's actually really therapeutic and relaxing for me. I've been quite open with my story and my past in recent documentaries, podcasts and social media. I had a tough time growing up and went through some nasty experiences and dark times. But just like Ying and Yang there has been good times, surrounded by personalities and funny stories. Working on the doors of night clubs and security since I was eighteen. In and around the boxing lads. I've met some characters and those experiences, stories and people have all influenced the scripts I write.
