celebrity

So last week was the official premiere of Our Cyprus, a short film I acted in which was directed by Alkin Emirali and co-stars Andy Lucas.

Without giving too much away, the film is set in modern-day London and tells the story of two men – a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot. The film looks at what happens when two opposing views collide.

Our Cyprus was part of the Euro Shorts International Film Festival, and was screened along with four other short films.

Anyway, this is what happened…

Before the Screening

I actually got there pretty early as I was meeting a friend, although as you can see from the picture below, the crowds must have known I was going to be in one of the films as the cinema was crazy! Look at them all queuing up around the block!

I’m pretty sure I could even make out a couple of placards saying ‘Angelo is great’ too. If you squint you can probably see them.

(You have to squint quite hard…)

And the adoration didn’t stop there either. I walked away from the cinema to avoid getting mobbed and a couple of fans ‘accidentally’ sat right next to me. Look at them! Shamelessly staring at me!

The fan love was getting too much at this point.

Having that many people grabbing at you and wanting autographs and photos can get quite dizzying, let me tell you. I nearly went home.

The screening

OK, so all that about being mobbed was obviously nonsense. Back in, well, reality, the screening itself went really well.

I’ve never watched something I’ve acted in on a cinema screen and with an audience, so it was quite surreal to be honest. I also hadn’t seen the completed film at this point either, so I was watching it for the first time along with everyone else. Fortunately the film was very well received, and a lot of people seemed quite moved by it too. I won’t spoil anything, but at the end of one scene a lady sitting behind me audibly gasped!

Once all five films had been shown, there was a short Q and A with the directors, and I also made a brief appearance:

After the screening

After the films were all screened and the Q and A had ended, I was of course accosted by all my fans again. For anyone who thinks that being a world-famous celebrity is fun, look at the photo below.