The Somali-American actor tipped for an Oscar (best supporting actor category) for his strong performance in “Captain Phillips” “oozes evil and is the right bad guy” to star in a future film about the Westgate attack, one film critic told the Sunday Nation in a telephone interview from New York.
Tom Hanks, the lead actor, is widely believed to have delivered a career-best performance and could win an Oscar in the best actor category in early 2014, if the pundits are to be believed.
In the film, Barkhad Abdi, 27, plays Abdiweli Abdiqadir Muse, the ruthless leader of the Somali pirate gang that hijacked US container ship Maersk Alabama off the Somali coast in 2009.
The gripping documentary-style drama by British film director Paul Greengrass has been widely acclaimed as one of the best films of 2013.
Barkhad’s powerful and visceral performance – lauded by critics as method-acting at its best – is compelling stuff that dramatises the desperation and hopelessness that drives young Somali men to join pirate gangs.
His unscripted chilling line – “I am now the captain” – delivered in a menacing tone when the pirates stormed the captain’s cabin is one of the film’s best spoken scenes.
“What I love about what Barkhad and the other guys did is they show that ferocity,” Greengrass told the film review magazine The Grio.
“These are hoodlums … but of course they come from the desperate parts of the world. What I think Barkhad has also given you is the desperation of these guys, and that’s what makes them dangerous. It’s the oldest story in the world. If you’ve got nothing to lose, you know, then that man is a dangerous man.”
RISE TO STARDOM
The tale of the humble Somali-American youngster’s rise to stardom is in itself dramatic and the subject of great media interest since the premier of “Captain Phillips”.
Barkhad is a first-time actor who before starring in “Captain Phillips”, was a limo driver in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the mid-western state where more than 50,000 Somali immigrants have settled.
His lucky break and entry into the glitzy world of Hollywood came one afternoon when he saw an advertisement on a local TV station calling on Somalis interested in a film role to apply.
“I and three friends of mine applied – half in jest and not out of any seriousness. We had no acting experience. We actually forgot about it immediately,” Barkhad told a local Somali radio station.
One day while driving, Barkhad received a phone call from the “Captain Phillips” casting director inviting him to an audition.
“We were about 40 young men, and I never thought I had a chance,” he said.
But he did have more than a chance. He actually landed the role of Taliye (Commander) Muse, the leader of the pirate gang.
The casting team were impressed by his good linguistic skills and natural ability to transform himself into a ruthless character.
“I and a number of others, all of us first-time actors, were taken to Los Angeles where we underwent nearly two months of intense training.
We learnt all the pirate craft skills,” he said laughing.
Barkhad did not know how to swim or handle firearms. He was taught to swim, to operate skiffs, and how to storm ships.
Acting and memorising his lines proved a tough challenge for the budding actor at first, but coaching by Tom Hanks was a great help.
Barkhad grew up in Mogadishu during the civil war where he watched films in ramshackle public video kiosks. Ironically his screen hero and idol was Tom Hanks.
“I was intimidated at first to encounter a man whose acting I loved and whose films I had watched in the backstreet alleys of Mogadishu as a young boy and as a refugee in Yemen,’’ he said. “Tom was extremely supportive, down to earth and very encouraging. We quickly formed an excellent working relationship.”
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