Actor Dean Sills hopes new film will ‘paint’ his name in lights

PAINTER and decorator Dean Sills is out to make a splash on the international acting stage after his film was snapped up by a foreign film festival.
By Michael Upton
Published 8th Mar 2016, 11:39 BST
Updated 11th Jan 2017, 10:18 BST

The Bolton on Dearne actor was delighted when the chilling short The Railway Carriage was picked for a screening at the first Goldensun Short Film Festival in Malta later this month.

The psychological horror, directed by 21-year-old Ross Adgar from Doncaster on location on The Elsecar Heritage Railway, garnered rave reviews from movie critics after being one of 50 independent films selected for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last August from more than 2,100 submissions.

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Dean plays John, a dad haunted by his two murdered children,

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    “It was a fun shoot but a very depressing role,” he said. “John was really cool, he was such a great character to play.”

    Dean (47) was soon turning his attentions to lighter fare, with a self-written comedy short called Up North.

    He teamed up for the project with director Steve Call, who worked with him on gritty drama Tears in the Dust last year.

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    “Steve has a great passion and this will be my third project with him,” said Dean.

    “We got on superbly on Tears in the Dust and make a great team.

    “It’s a short about two neighbours who show us how society is up north — one family is posh and the other is common as muck.

    “I play Mick Smith, the common as muck bloke, and my screen wife is played by the actress Carley Motley — she is brilliant as Rosie Smith.

    “We’ve got a great cast and the film’s nearly finished.

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    “It’s really fun stupid humour, which I’ve enjoyed doing, but I still like horror and dark characters.”

    Proof of this is provided by Dean’s recent appearance as an American police officer in an indie horror feature called Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown.

    “It was only a small role but I got to work with the fantastic director MJ Dixon,” Dean said.

    “I had a fantastic time and got to play with guns and grew a beard for the role.”

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    As if that wasn’t enough to keep anyone busy, Dean has been starring alongside This is England star George Newton in the latest video by rock band Gentleman’s Pistols.

    His upcoming projects include a feature about human trafficking called On The Run.

    He added: “I do have other projects going on but can't say too much about the other ones at the moment.”

    You can see the trailer for The Railway Carriage at http://tinyurl.com/railwaycarriage and the music video for Devil’s Advocate On Call by Gentlemans Pistols at http://tinyurl.com/gentlemanspistols.