Readers may remember that I reviewed the Oscar nominated short Detainment back in January. It was classed as rather controversial (James Bulger’s mother wanted the movie to be dropped from the Oscar nomination and the movie not to be shown anywhere in any way.) and I thought it was well written and filmed. The children who played the roles of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson (Ely Solan and Leon Hughes respectively) played the roles well and Ely Solan won 2 awards:
Richard Harris International Film Festival: Best Actor in a Male Role 2018
Young Artist Award: Best Performance in a Short Film Young Actor 2019
On top of that this short movie has won a further 11 awards to date as well as being nominated for a further too, so this short was well received.
I have been lucky enough to interview Ely since his Young Artist win to find out his thoughts on acting, Detainment, and what the future holds…
(Please note this interview was done by email, my anxiety was majorly kicking my ass at the time, but I was determined to get it done and this blog is one of the things that gets me through it)
Ely Solan, thank you for taking the time to read this “email interview” for my blog. What got you interested in acting?
I think it was just watching movies and being fascinated by them and thinking about how much fun it would be to act in them. I’ve just always kind of had an interest in film.
Congratulations on the award, how does it feel to be the recipient of Young Artist Award in Hollywood?
It feels fantastic. I put so much work into Detainment and I loved every second of it. So to do that and have fun doing it as well as getting an award for it is amazing. It feels really good getting some recognition for something I worked so hard on.
I was fortunate to review Detainment when it was nominated for an Oscar this year and I have to say I thought it was a brilliant and powerful piece. How did you feel to be a part of this short?
I was so lucky to be part of this short film. It had such an amazing cast, crew, script, and director so it was such an honor. It was obviously challenging at times but I really did enjoy every second of it.
There has to be more than acting in your life, what do you do to relax when you’re away from the cameras?
When I want to relax I like to hang out with my friends and just laugh. It’s nice to shake the temporary stress you get from acting off by relaxing with friends.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
I would say my biggest inspirations are the Stranger Things kids. They are all such amazingly talented actors and most of them weren’t very well known until they did Stranger Things. They are all clearly very hard working people and I think they are amazing. If I had to pick one though it would probably be Gaten Matarazzo.
What do your friends and family think about your acting career?
To be honest we don’t really talk about it that often but they think it’s really cool. In my friends case that is. My brothers don’t like to give too much away but I think deep down they do think it’s all really cool. My parents are super supportive and that’s a huge help.
So looking to the future, what’s next? Are there more movies lined up? TV series?
There’s a few productions which will be released soon. I play “Rory” in the new season of ‘Drop Dead Weird’ which will screen on the Seven Network in Australia and RTE in Ireland. I also play “Robert” in the upcoming feature film ‘Four Kids and It’ which stars Michael Caine, Russell Brand and Daniel Bruhl. I am currently being considered for a role in a feature film and am waiting to here back on that. But until then I am doing a lot of auditions and putting lots of work into them as I am motivated more then ever now to act.
If you could play any role in any movie, what would it be?
I am not sure if you mean an existing role or a new one but I’ll go with a new one. If I was to play any role it would have to be a villain. I am always fascinated by the villain and how they came to do what they are doing. If not the villain then maybe a comedic role.
Who is your favourite actor/actress?
My favourite actor is probably Leonardo DiCaprio.
Again, I thank you for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. May you have an awesome career Ely! Thanks so much I appreciate it.
And there we have it, it was a great honour to be able to chat to Ely and get his thoughts on things. I think he has a great career ahead of him whatever he decides to do.
Four Kids and It is currently in post production.