Peter Andre lands first TV drama role in mystery murder show after his film Jafaican faced race row backlash

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Reality star Peter Andre, known for his lightweight showbusiness appearances, is all set to star in his first straight TV drama role - as a Greek pathologist!
The Sunshine Murders, a mystery murder show, shot by Cork Films, whose guest stars will include Stephanie Beacham, Camilla Rutherford and Nick Moran is due to start on Channel 5 in September.
And Peter, who was brought up in Australia, will take a starring role having been specially chosen by Anglo - Antipodean film makers, mother and daughter team, Merryn and Emily Corcoran.
Peter will be in serious mode as he swops his usual casual look of trendy torn jeans and trainers for a white doctor's coat and clinical rubber gloves as he examines victims of gruesome murders.
He caused a stir earlier this year with his comic impression of a Jamaican Rasta criticised as politically incorrect casting for the film Jafaican.
But now the ex Strictly star is back in more familiar territory - his parent's homeland of Cyprus filming in Paphos and Larnaca, near Kiti (where he still has a villa).
His eldest son, Junior, even visited him on set with Merryn sharing some photos to Instagram.
Peter said he faced a 'hard challenge' filming controversial movie Jafaican - which has been branded 'profoundly disrespectful' amid an ongoing 'race row' backlash.
The singer has now discussed how he prepared for the 'challenging' role, which required him to wear dreadlocks and adopt a Jamaican accent to play con artist Gary Buckle.
The Mysterious Girl hitmaker also plays Denton 'Kill Man' Powell in Fred Nwaka's blockbuster, which was released at Odeon cinemas on May 20.
'I think that with the Jamaican side of it, the Patois parts were dubbed over by a Jamaican actor but instead of me miming over the Patois, I had to learn all the [words] that were delivered on screen,' he told the Daily Star in a recent interview.
'They dubbed over me, so that was a real challenge but it was one that I absolutely loved doing.'
The British-Australian TV star revealed he 'loved' playing Gary because he 'really felt the character'.
He added: 'Playing Denton I found really a great challenge, I absolutely loved that character. I loved the seriousness of him, the tone changes and it was a brilliant part to play.'
The I'm A Celebrity alum has under fire publicly, and defended his choice to take on the controversial during a recent appearance on This Morning.
Peter appeared on the sofa alongside director and friend Fredi to chat to Alison Hammond, 52, and Dermot O'Lear y, 51 - with plenty of fans raising complaints.
During his appearance, Peter and Fredi opened up about the three-year process of creating the film, and how much thought had gone into it and how surprised they have been over the negative comments about it.
Peter said to Alison and Dermot: 'If at any point where anyone said "This is not right, we shouldn't do it"...
'That's why we were shocked. We had approval from everyone, we laughed. Laughed so much doing it. We were a little bit like...'
He added: 'I've always said if someone is genuinely offended by something, you need to hear them.
'The problem is when you get people that are offended, but they you go "What are you offended about?"
'And they're like...'
The pair urged viewers to go and watch the film for themselves to make their own opinion on it, rather than just viewing the trailer.