Peter Andre has defended his role in the upcoming Jafaican film, which sees him with a fake Jamaican accent and dreadlocks.
News of the film and its trailer were met with backlash when launched last month, ahead of the the film making its debut tomorrow (May 9) at the Gold Coast Film Festival.
The plot follows a British character called Gary Buckle (played by Andre), who decides to impersonate a Jamaican gangster in an elaborate scam to pay for his own grandmother’s care home fees. The film has been met with controversy due to the depiction of Andre wearing dreadlocks and speaking with a fake Jamaican accent – leading to some viewers taking to social media to slam the project as “gross” and “mocking Jamaican culture” as well as cultural appropriation (via GB News).
Now the ‘Mysterious Girl’ star – born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia – has spoken out about his role in the film for the first time following criticism, and defended the project as “something light-hearted” and “something funny”.
“[It’s] a heist like you’ve never seen before,” he told Australia’s Channel 7, before being asked whether he was anticipating the “mixed feedback”.
“Well, to be fair, I think it’s good to get all sorts of feedback,” he responded. “It’s my first lead role but I’ve done quite a few roles before. And all of them, I’ve played different characters.
“So for me, it’s acting – I get to do something light-hearted, something funny. Something that is a film I’d want to watch… It’s almost a little bit self-indulgent in the sense that I get to do something that I’ve really, really wanted to do.”
The ’90s pop star also shared his praise for the movie’s director Fredi Nwaka, saying: “He doesn’t let me just play the character that you think you’re gonna play. He always gets me to play someone very, very different.” Check out the interview in the post above.
Jafaican will launch at the Gold Coast Film Festival tomorrow and is set to be aired in cinemas in the UK at a later date.
Sharing the trailer on Instagram, the caption in Andre’s post read: “UK… we’re coming. Stay tuned for the Premiere Info, Exclusive First Release, Release dates — dropping soon.”