Actors Jonathan Ajayi and Lucie Bourdeu on The Drifters – their odd-couple romance

On the surface, Benjamin Bond’s directorial debut, The Drifters, is full of colour and sun soaked energy, but underneath that seemingly frothy surface is a darker side, one that tests the odd couple romance at its centre.

The film introduces us to the talents Jonathan Ajayi and Lucie Bourdeu as the pair who first meet while learning English at evening classes and take off to the Devonshire coast when he needs to get out of town. Their attempts to escape their respective pasts – his in a violent part of Africa, hers more mercurial but with little in the way of responsibility – prove to be little more than an elusive dream and one that can never last.

Talking to The People’s Movies’ Freda Cooper, the two talk about the appeal of their respective roles and filming on location in Devon – where the sun shone just as much as we see in the film! Jonathan was still at drama school when he made the film, and was snapped up for a role in Wonder Woman 1984, working alongside Pedro Pascal. For Lucie, this was her first film in English, and she reflects on the challenges that presented, along with the ups and downs of appearing in a long-running comedy series in her native France.

Read our review of the film.
THE DRIFTERS is released in virtual cinemas from 2 April and on demand 5 April 2021 www.thedriftersmovie.com |Available on demand via: Sky Store, Virgin Media, Amazon, Google Play, You Tube, Apple TV/ iTunes

About the Author

Freda Cooper

Editor

Freda is a Senior Writer at The People's Movies. A lifelong movie fan and a film critic for over ten years, Freda’s natural habitat is the darkened rooms frequented by fellow cineastes. She can also be found asking questions of some of the biggest names in the business – from Cate Blanchett to Daniel Craig or Mike Leigh to Pete Docter – or crafting reviews for a number of sites and publications, including The People’s Movies. And listeners to BBC Local Radio can catch her views on the latest releases. She always – and probably always will – cite The Third Man as her favourite film of all time. Her top ten? That’s a moveable feast …..

Visit Website View All Posts