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Liverpool’s Leon Lopez on his tropical lockdown directing Death in Paradise

2 years ago

Liverpool’s Leon Lopez on his tropical lockdown directing Death in Paradise

As job specs go itā€™s not exactly the worst ā€¦ nine weeks on a tropical island, surrounded by endless sunshine and sand.

But Liverpool actor and director Leon Lopez says working on the new series of BBCā€™s hit crime drama Death in Paradise wasnā€™t quite the Caribbean holiday fans of the show might think.

Especially as the cast and crew arrived in Guadeloupe just as strict Covid rules were coming in which shut down pretty much everything on the island.

ā€œI went out over summer and when I first got there they had some restrictions but then they went into a much harder lockdown,ā€ he says. ā€œThe shops closed down, everyone had to wear masks, even on the street, and you werenā€™t even allowed on the beaches which definitely felt a bit weird.

Leon Lopez - Death in Paradise

Credit: @leonlopez on Instagram

ā€œAll the big sightseeing attractions were closed so you could really just go for walks, but I was lucky I did get to see quite a bit of the island because we were filming in a small airfield on the opposite side to where they normally film. There were markets as well so Iā€™d go there to get food, and I still got a good sense of the place without doing the touristy stuff.Ā 

ā€œBut to be honest I was so busy, even though all the restaurants werenā€™t open I wouldnā€™t have had chance to go anyway because it was my first time there and I wanted to do a good job so I was really just focused on that.ā€

Leon, whose directing credits including top soaps Corrie and Emmerdale, has directed two episodes of this latest series of Death In Paradise. The first one, about the suspected murder of a skydiver, is screened tonight (Friday).Ā 

The setting is obviously idyllic even though filming in temperatures well into the 30s did bring its own challenges.Ā 

ā€œTo get the maximum amount of sun, we had to be at the studio for 6am to start shooting and we were there until about 6pm which was exhausting,ā€ he says. ā€œIt is nice working in the heat but itā€™s tropical heat and thereā€™s no air conditioning so youā€™re literally hovering around fans blowing hot air at you. Itā€™s still fun, and it was a really amazing experience, but it definitely wasnā€™t like a nine-week holiday.ā€

For Leon, Death In Paradise is the latest in a long list of TV and film credits which began back in 1998 when he was cast as Jerome Johnson in Brookside.

In between heā€™s had a successful singing career, appeared in high profile West End and touring theatre and musical roles and set up his own production company.

Leon Lopez - Death in Paradise

Itā€™s an adaptability which has meant heā€™s had hardly any gaps between jobs since Brookie ended 20 years ago.

ā€œThat is what keeps me working, 100%,ā€ he explains. ā€œI teach as well at drama schools and I always say to students, ā€˜make sure you get something as a back-upā€™. Iā€™m just lucky that my back-up is still in the industry.

ā€œWhen I left Brookside I moved down to London and joined a band. For three years they didnā€™t want me to work as an actor because they thought it would take away from the band so I was living off my savings. In the space of a year theyā€™d all gone so I ended up doing promotion work, handing out flyers in the street.Ā 

ā€œWhat I learnt is that youā€™re not always going to be in an acting job so if you havenā€™t got something to fall back on to make some money it can be a hard life.

ā€œI kept everything going because I knew that thereā€™d be times when Iā€™d need to do other things. Every time an opportunity came up, Iā€™d take it because my passion is to be a creative so I made sure I had enough strings to my bow to be able to survive.ā€

In fact, although heā€™s certainly not given up acting, heā€™s found he loves the directing side of the business more now.

ā€œWhen I was acting, I was constantly putting myself down and nothing was ever good enough, I was too much of a perfectionist and Iā€™d always be looking for the flaws. Now I can look back at what Iā€™ve done and enjoy it without picking it apart.Ā 

ā€œWith Death in Paradise, after filming I had about three weeks with the editor so I got to go over it, all different takes and angles, and make it what I wanted it to be. By the time itā€™s on screen, Iā€™ve probably seen it about 100 times.ā€

Leon Lopez - Death in Paradise

Credit: @leonlopez on Instagram

Leonā€™s booking up with directing jobs for 2022, but says heā€™s always open to new challenges.

ā€œMost days I pinch myself and Iā€™m just grateful to be working on amazing shows with amazing people and people have been really kind and positive about what Iā€™m contributing.Ā 

ā€œThereā€™s no one show Iā€™d like to work on, but I do really like the dark crime dramas like Vera. Iā€™d never watched it but then I spent a lot of time staying with my mum over lockdown and she watches it so now Iā€™m obsessed with it.Ā 

ā€œAnd I loved Anne. To get a script like that about such an amazing woman, that would be a dream.ā€

Article by Dawn Collinson


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You can visit theĀ Liverpool DirectoryĀ here for the best food, drinks, shopping and attractions in the city.

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