Tom Conti has admitted to utter terror at learning his steps for the new Streetdance movie, which will have its premiere next week.
The star of films such as Shirley Valentine said his scenes with sexy salsa dancer Elisabetta di Carlo, as the character Bam Bam, were a major trial. “Learning a dance for me is an extremely tricky process because it doesn’t come naturally,” said the Hampstead-based star.
“The effort is remembering what you do next. One can remember words but remembering those kinds of moves while you’re acting... It’s okay with props, I can deal with props. I can pour tea and do all sorts of things whilst talking, but turning on the ball of my left foot whilst saying my lines was a whole new terror.”
Conti, 70, is the surprise new addition to the cast of Streetdance 2 3D, the follow-up to the 2010 hit Streetdance. He plays salsa club owner Manu and was chosen by Max Giwa, co-director with Dania Pasquini, because he had “the whole look, style and swagger”.
He joins a cast which again includes Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson, 18, in a much expanded role from the first movie, and the Flawless dance crew as The Surge. But with a storyline that crosses Europe as well as London, there are also new additions in the German dancer Falk Hentschel and French-Algerian Sofia Boutella.
Pasquini said: “In Streetdance, we wanted to show the raft of talent in the UK. But in Streetdance 2, we wanted to open it up to the whole world.” George Sampson plays Eddie who offers to help Hentschel’s character, Ash, create an international dance crew for the world championships in Paris.
But Eddie decides they need something extra and visits an underground salsa club where he discovers Manu and his niece Eva (Boutella). They evolve a whole new style, fusing streetdance with Latin.
The premiere is at the Cineworld at The O2 on Monday with cast attending, and opens in cinemas on March 30.
