Daniel P Lewis

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...

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.

WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON?

I have just finished my own feature called 'BILLY SMITH' a dark thriller set in the 90s, Arkansas, USA. DHM.films in association with PRODUCTION HAUS have worked on this really unique and fun project. I wrote, produced and star as Billy Smith who is so far from the real me. Co-produced by my good friend Keith Hyland and amazingly directored by the talent Joshua Blewitt. It will be hitting all your screens very soon. In the new year I will be finally going into production of 'THOMAS' the feature length version of the award-winning short I done back in 2016. This one is special and I am so blessed to have secured some BIG names in this project. I can not wait to get started.

WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE?

I take inspiration from a lot of people. Of course the heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and QuentinTarantino. Someone like Charlie Chaplin who is someone I admire hugely. He wrote, produced, directed, starred in and even built the sets. However on a more personal level my uncle Tucker. Whatever it may be, boxing, acting or life in general he's always given me that fighting spirit. That never give up and show no fear attitude.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS?

There are a number of things I'm proud of that I consider achiements. Of course the acting awards. I am a boxing world record holder. One of four directors of a growing media company in DHM.media. I am an advocate for mental health awareness and often talk on behalf of charities and organisations about my experiences in the hope to help others. However my proudest and biggest achievement is finding out that soon I'll be a dad.

YOU'RE ABOUT TO BECOME A DAD. HAS THAT CHANGED YOUR

ANYTHING? Absolutely! It's changed everything (for the better of course). It's given me a whole new purpose in life and even more motivation to succeed in what I do. Nothing in this world is more important than this little boy and everything I do now is for him. I can't wait to meet him, hug him and love him. He will have everything I never had.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING NOMINATED FOR A LIFESTYLE AWARD?

I heard the news that I was nominated for a 'Liverpool Lifestyle Award 2021' and now I'm a finalist in the 'Best Innovative Business / Person' category. I was really happy after I Googled what innovative meant... I'm just someone with a dream and I'm doing anything and everything to make that dream a reality. I'm someone doesn't take "no" for an answer. I hate being told what to do and when I hear "you HAVE to do it this way" only makes me want to do it differently. I'm very stubborn and a little arrogant (but in a healthy way and not a ugly egotistical way). I know I've do things very unconventional but I've surrounded myself with other "innovative" and like-minded people and now things are slowly but surely happening. It would be pretty cool to win an award of course but to be nominated is a blessing also. It shows I've been noticed and respected for the hard work over the last couple of years. Things like this is much more to me because I've come from such a dark and horrible place. So it represents more than "just an award" it proves ANYONE can come from deepest and darkest places and achieve things. So a huge thank you to Amanda and everyone involved / voted at the 'Liverpool Lifestyle Awards' as this means a lot.