Jaime Campbell Bower Wonders Who is Watching Who

Jaime Campbell Bower is an actor with a few interesting roles on the horizon. Next week you’ll see him as Caius, one of the vampire elite in Twilight: New Moon. Next year you’ll see him as the dark and dangerous Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. But this weekend you’ll get to see him in his most unusual role yet — that of Number 11-12, son of Number Two in the AMC remake of the cult TV series The Prisoner.

London-born Jaime has been jetting his way around the world these past few months, working and doing press for his projects, but he found time to talk with me one morning last week.  Me near the beach in Southern California and him at the top of a skyscraper in New York — it was, most definitely, a global conversation.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will tell you that I’m often enchanted with the look of a TV show and The Prisoner is no exception. It’s simply beautiful to look at.

Jaime: Television has come along leaps and bounds in the last six years, everything is a lot more cinematic in a, the way it’s shot, b, the way it’s acted and c, the story lines. It’s either a really long film or a mini-series. (laughs) We did approach [this TV show] more cinematically and I think that’s great. It’s very unlike a lot of television that we, particularly in England, see.

I understand you filmed the series in South Africa.

Jaime: We shot the first two and half months in Namibia – bottom left, up a little bit, which was amazing but we all went a little stir crazy. We were in a rather small town and once you’ve seen the dolphins and the oyster farms and gone to the best restaurants in town for three weeks, you just have to do it again and again.

Then we had the shining light of Cape Town, the beacon of joy at the end of the two and half months. We spent two months in Cape Town having a great time seeing whales and doing all sorts of fun things, a little big of filming here and there, but it was mostly about the fun.

Ian McKellen plays your father. What was it like working with him?

Jaime: It was terrible (laughs).  He’s a lovely gentleman and very amazing actor and it was honestly a pleasure to be able to work with him. We’ve become friends and it’s just lovely, lovely, lovely.

I AM NOT A NUMBER

One of the themes of The Prisoner is this idea that we’re all becoming nothing but numbers. What are your thoughts?

Jaime: I think everyone suffers from a “lack of identity” crisis.  I’m sitting in New York now and out the window I can see some ginormous buildings and I feel like an ant in comparison to them. [I wonder] who is at the top of those buildings? What do they do? What companies are they running? Then there’s the idea of surveillance, the idea that we’re all being watched. Who’s watching?  All you need to do now is go on to Google maps and you can go to street view. If someone got hold of my address they could see my house and your house and see which would be the best way to get in if they wanted to steal something. It’s a pretty scary prospect.

It’s the evolution of man, maybe we’ll end up destroying ourselves, who knows, but I doubt we’ll be around to see it so we’ll be all right.

Another big part of the show is the idea of concept of freedom. No one is allowed to leave The Village but most people don’t want to since they have everything they need right there.

Jaime: For my character, having been born there and raised there, that’s all I know and who actually wouldn’t want to live in a society where everything is fine? That’s the idea of the village, everything is fine and everyone has a good time and smiles and hugs and sparkles. There’s something nice about that, but incredibly creepy as well.

Would I like to live in a world where I could have anything I wanted but I have to stay in the same place? I feel like that’s what I do anyway. Travel is so easy, but it doesn’t feel like you’re going very far and once you’ve been to a place before and you have to go back there, it doesn’t feel like much has changed.

A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Moving away from TV for a moment, I understand you also play in a band. How do you manage to fit that in with your schedule?

Jaime: It’s whenever I get down time; I play with my band or write music.  It’s a different outlet. Performing a script is very different than performing one of your own songs. When you’re performing a script it’s someone else’s words and ideas but when you’re performing your own song you’re putting your balls on the line, effectively. It’s your opinion; your thoughts. They’re two different things, but I love them both equally.

Is there a band you like that you think everyone should be listening to?

Jaime: Yes, there’s a great Danish band called Kashmir who are incredibly progressive with their sound.  They started off sort of post-punk, kind of Radiohead-esque and then moved on to more Jeff Buckley kind of spacey sounds.  They released an album The Good Life, which I actually hold as possibly my favorite album of all time. And then they released an album in 2005 called No Balance Palace. I really think people should listen to them.

Wrapping up with The Prisoner — what would you like people to take away after watching the show.

Jaime: I’d love people to sit up and ask the questions, ‘who’s watching us,’ and ‘why are they watching us.’ I hold faith in humanity that hopefully they will, but who knows what they’re reaction will be.

The Prisoner premieres on Sunday, November 15 at 8pm/7c on AMC. The series will air over three consecutive nights, with two episodes each evening, from 8PM to 10PM.

A man, known as “Six,” finds himself inexplicably trapped in “The Village” with no memory of how he arrived. As he explores his environment, he discovers that his fellow inhabitants are identified by number instead of name, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. Not knowing whom to trust, Six is driven by the need to discover the truth behind The Village, the reason for his being there, and most importantly — how he can escape.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men) plays the role of Two, and Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Thin Red Line) plays the role of Six.

Visit the official site for more info: http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/

Photos courtesy of AMC