Interview with actor Nick Boraine

You were part of the cast of I Dreamed of Africa, directed by Hugh Hudson, what do you remember about the cast and Diu that experience? 

That was a long time ago!  I remember thinking that this was a huge break and then realizing that my part was of little significance to the whole picture.  We shot the film in a game reserve in South Africa and my accommodation was right next to a young Daniel Craig.  I was playing an Englishman and he was playing a South African - the reverse of who we really were.  Neither of us had much to do on the film but they kept us there for almost two months.  So Daniel and I hung out quite a bit - I had no idea he would go on to be the next James Bond.

You play Kronos in Percy Jackson Tv series. Can you tell us something about your character?

Other than he eats his own children?  Sure.  I’d had experience on Black Sails with the Percy Jackson creators - Jonathan E Steinberg and Dan Shotz - and when they called me to play Kronos I was thrilled.   Jon had a clear vision of what he wanted from the voice - a kind of half formed, dismembered feel that was both dreamlike but also terrifying.     Together we worked on the voice in studio and I think we came up with something really great.  

Do you have a role you've played that you're most fond of or attached to?

That’s always a tough question - I’ve done a lot over the years and I like different characters for different reasons.  One of the characters that stands out though is Frankfurter from the Rocky Horror Show. I played the part on stage for four months in South Africa and it was an absolute riot.  I just kind of gave in to the madness and the fun and night after night I was rewarded with the sheer bliss and privilege of being an actor.

Is there a role you would like to reinterpret?

There are a couple of Shakespearian characters I would love to play still - Iago, Malvolio, Nick Bottom.  I also really think we need to adapt Faust for a modern audience - the “progress deal” that humanity has made with the devil which has lead to a changing climate is a story begging to be told.  I would play Faust…maybe a bit like a deranged Elon Musk - you think he’s pro-climate but he’s actually just an ego maniac.

You are the Associate Artistic Director of Global Arts Corps, could you explain what you are involved in and what is the purpose of Global Arts Corps?

I have been involved with the GAC for 20 years working closely with its founder and creative director Michael Lessac.  The GAC was built on a prototype theatre production entitled, “Truth in Translation” - a play about the role of the interpreters in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation commission.  They would translate, in the first person, for both victim and perpetrator during the hearings into human rights violations.  The interpreters truly understood both sides of a conflict.  The play toured post conflict zones around the world and since then we have been developing theatre productions in (among others) Northern Ireland, Cambodia and Kosovo - always asking questions to provoke dialogue around forgiveness, reconciliation and a way of understanding the past in order to move forward without violent conflict.

What is your next project as director of Global Arts Corps?

We are currently working in Kosovo with children and teens to facilitate stories that they would like to tell.  We encourage them to interview their parents and grandparents to hear the oral histories that are passed down and then to really interrogate some of those histories and create new stories.  But really we follow the kids lead, allowing them to own their own stories.   We are then collaborating with the Sheshone tribe in Wyoming in the US to exchange stories with the kids from Kosovo.  We are looking to broaden young peoples knowledge of language, culture and myth beyond their own (real or imagined) borders - especially young people who have experience of violent conflict in their history.

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