Images of Peter: Finding Peter Godwin

Peter Godwin: So to cut a very long story short, I got an acting agent and started acting. I did a couple of vampire movies, the lead in one, but independent, low budget. Sentinels Of Darkness was fun, because I got to film in the legendary Ealing Studios and on location in Athens, where I had performed as a solo artist years before, having released Correspondence in Greece. The director, Manos Kalaitzakis, was partly funded in his movies by the family business, which had been passed down from father to son: a touring puppet theatre!

Other than these horror genre B-movies, I also did a lot of mainstream British TV. Usually, just one episode, a “cameo,” as thespians like to call it! I was in Minder, Life Begins, Eastenders, and many more.

I had my experience on the cutting room floor, too. One of the first things I did was a David Ward movie called King Ralph and I shot a scene with an actress and the star of the movie, John Goodman. That ended up as too much “back story” they said and the scene was deleted. I played the lead in a French short film called Somewhere, Someone, directed by Juliette Blanc which was quite interesting.

Peter Godwin today

I also went on stage and played the lead in a play in London at the Battersea Arts Centre called Lechaim. I even sang, played guitar and danced a tango in the play, too. I became friends with the Israeli writer-director Dafna Rubinstein and we collaborated on writing a play called Homesick, which ran at The New End Theatre in Hampstead in London and got some good reviews, including Critic’s Choice in the popular Time Out magazine. The amazing Steven Berkoff’s plays had débuted at the New End many years before, so there was some history in that room. . .

Actually, I have too many tales to tell of this parallel adventure into acting for this interview, but let’s say it was interesting—most of the time. I learnt something, met some very cool people, and got to travel to some interesting parts of the world that I hadn’t seen, like Cuba, for example, where I could also enjoy the music, of course, and absorb new stories and influences.

But I never saw it as much more than a sideline, almost a hobby. . . I have always loved the amount of control you have over your “art” in music, whereas in acting, you are often at the mercy of other visions that you don’t always rhyme with. . . unless you’re an “A-list” Hollywood movie star. I love film acting especially, with a passion, but I never got to do a really wonderful big or truly appropriate part in some stunning piece of European cinema. That would have been different. A Kieslowski movie for example, or a Bertolucci. Or indeed, a phone call from the States from Scorsese would have been welcome.

Well, never say never, maybe the next Coppola will read this and “make me an offer I can’t refuse. . . “! Actually, his daughter Sofia is quite a talent!

Many thanks to Mr. Godwin for taking the time to answer questions. Stay tuned for more from Mr. Godwin in a future issue of Popshifter. In the meantime, check out the Nuevo website.

Introduction:

Cherchez la femme: “Images of Heaven”
Discovering Peter Godwin
Rediscovering Peter Godwin

Click here to read more from Peter Godwin on. . .

Setting The Scene
Influences
Cult Following and Italo-Disco
Benitez, Bowie, and Electronic Music
French and Spanish Inspirations
Producing and Writing
The English and European Aesthetic
Working with Steve Winwood
Off The Map
Working with Others
Forays Into Acting
More On Acting

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