'Deep Cover': Director Tom Kingsley opens up about working with Nick Mohammed, Orlando Bloom, Bryce Dallas Howard in new comedy

Time of India

a day ago

What do you get when you mix undercover police work, a trio of improv actors, and send them off into the gritty underbelly of London's criminal underworld? The answer is in director Tom Kingsley's 'Deep Cover', a high-octane, genre-bending caper that's equal parts action thriller and comedy.
Known for his sharp comedic instincts, Kingsley brings to screens the hilariously ill-fated tale of struggling performers mistaken for operatives, who quickly find themselves in deeper waters than they ever rehearsed for.
ETimes sat down with Kingsley to unpack the madness behind the method, what drew him to the story, and how he built his ensemble featuring Orlando Bloom,
Bryce Dallas Howard
,
Nick Mohammed
and
Paddy Considine
.
Deep Cover - Official Trailer | Prime Video
Tom, Deep Cover feels like a genre-bending project—what first drew you in, and how would you describe it?
Deep Cover is a very fast and fun action comedy about a group of struggling improv actors who are recruited by the police to go undercover in a very low-stakes surveillance operation… but because they commit so seriously to their characters, they accidentally get themselves way too deep in London's criminal underworld.
It's a great premise because it very quickly puts our hapless comedy trio way out of their comfort zones, and the result is something that's tense, absurd, and very exciting.
I was drawn to it because I love the work of the writers Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen, and I could feel their charm and wit throughout the script.
What inspired the idea of using improv actors in a dangerous, action-heavy setting? Was it about exploring the chaos?
The core idea is that the skills you need for improv comedy - staying in character and coping with whatever curveballs come your way - are the same skills you need to be an undercover cop.
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The heart of the movie is Nick's character Hugh, who starts as a hilariously terrible amateur comedian, but by the end, his character becomes so incredibly skilled that it makes me want to punch the air in joy. It's really fun watching situations spiral into chaos, and our characters have to work very hard to get things back under control.
The cast is stacked—Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed, and Paddy Considine. How did this ensemble come together?
Nick Mohammed's adorably bumbling character.
Hugh is the one who absolutely had to be played by a comedian, and we were so lucky to get Nick, he's one of the funniest performers I've ever met, and makes me cry laughing. We've worked together several times before and I knew he was going to make the movie as funny as possible.
Orlando Bloom's character is a ridiculously intense method actor, and from the very first time I spoke to him, it was clear he totally understood the assignment.
The more seriously and authentically he played it, the funnier it would be.
Bryce Dallas Howard is the perfect foil for Nick and Orlando's characters, she has such a wonderful exasperated energy as she tries to stop them from descending into chaos - kind of like Kermit the Frog helping the muppets keep the show on the road.
Paddy Considine was a joy to work with. He's a very relaxed and instinctive performer, and he brought so much humanity and warmth to a role that could be have just been a stereotype
All three—Bryce, Orlando, and Paddy—have action film experience. Did that influence how they approached this more comedic, improvised structure?
I think of this film as much more of a comedy than an action film.
And for the comedy in this movie to really work, it's important that the audience totally believes that our shambolic undercover agents are in properly dangerous situations and a lot of that comes from the actors just being great actors, whether they've been in action movies before or not.
You've had success in both TV and film. Which medium do you find more creatively fulfilling?
Thank you! I think when you're planning, filming and editing there's absolutely no difference between TV and film.
The satisfaction of making a difficult scene work, doing justice to the script, or being able to make the audience laugh or cry - those things are all rewarding, whatever the medium.
Hopefully, I'll continue to do both things. M heart is in movies, but I love the pace and collaborative energy of making TV.
With Deep Cover being such a dynamic experience, do you see it as a film best watched in theatres or does it translate well to streaming?
We definitely made Deep Cover to be shown in cinemas: we shot it to look like a proper cinematic 80s action comedy, we put so much care into the incredibly detailed ear-splitting sound design, and we put all the money we had up on screen. Plus, the joy you get from watching a hard comedy with a big crowd is one of my favourite things. The communal experience of the cinema makes you laugh more, feel connected to the audience and the movie - and you pay attention more too! That said, the film is the same film wherever it's shown, and we all feel very very lucky that Amazon is releasing it in every country around the world - they've made it way more accessible and given it a way bigger platform than we ever thought possible.
'Deep Cover', which also stars
Ian McShane
and
Sean Bean
begins streaming on Prime Video on Thursday, June 12.