When Dimitri is being himself, he is a really warm and friendly person, and greets everyone like a long lost friend. He was born in the north of Cyprus, and speaks with a gentle Mediterranean accent. In Faith, he plays the part of Nico, a Russian immigrant

For a detailed Filmography see the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/

Stainforthonline Interview

Adge Covell - Dimitri Andreas (Nico / Faith)

Adge: Hello Dimitri. Could you tell me a little about the part of Nico, whom you play in Faith?

Dimitri: The part of Nico, as I understand it from the director, is based on a real character. I have tried to work out his history, and as far as I can surmise it, he was born around 1922. He actually would have fought in the Second World War, and then, because he is involved here in the unions and is a very communist minded person, he would have fought in the civil war, on the side of the communists. He ended up, after the civil war, in Russia, and via Russia, he came to Yorkshire and ended up working in the mines. Basically, he must have worked in Russia, and now he is very, very involved in the unions

Adge: Is his wife English?

Dimitri: Yes his wife is definitely English, she's a local girl. I think that maybe…, she may have married him very quickly, in order for him to be able to stay here. I mean, he didn't have a marriage of convenience, but might of fell in love, and…, you know, because in those days, unless you had an invite to come to the country, it was very difficult to…. or he could he could have asked for political asylum, having come from Russia. It's very complicated, but he is a very interesting character to play.

Adge: So, is the first time you've had dealings with a mining community?

Dimitri: Yes definitely, yes. Face to face, yes. Although, I know and I have read quite a lot about the mining community and the strikes, and the strike of '74, having lived through the three day week. It's…. fantastic, that this is being done now, because it's going to give people the opportunity to learn a lot more about the strike of 84 to 85, and how the objective was to actually… dissolve the mining communities and close the mines. That was the basic objective; to break the unions, close the mines, and the strongest union in this country was the miners' union

Adge: Did you become politically involved at the time of the miners' strike?

Dimitri: Yes.

Adge: So you empathise with the miners….

Dimitri: Yeah yeah, definitely. I had no qualms about being involved at all, or supporting… any strike, that had any meaning. Not superficial strikes, but strikes that were meant by and had a political agenda by any government of the day. And this was basically what happened with Thatcher. She meant to break the unions, break the miners, and changed the country, the whole direction of the country.

Adge: Can we talk about your acting now?

Dimitri: Yes!

Adge: You've been actor for many years…, errm…, your earliest work was in 1957?

Dimitri: Yes. It was made in 1956, but it was released in 1957, which was a film called, "Ill met by moonlight", which was based on the abduction of General Kreipe, a real general, based in Crete. The boy I played in it was called Nico, so now I am playing Nico again, although a real character, some forty eight years later. That was a fascinating introduction into the film world for me, and that's what made me decide to be an actor.

Adge: When I researched for information about you, I found that film on the internet, and I also found one called "Suspense" from '62, where you played a "house boy".

Dimitri: Yes, that's right.

Adge: In the intervening years you've been in lots of different things. You played Latrine in Top Secret…, Uncle Yan in London's Burning…, loads and loads of stuff. Out of all the things you've done, which would you say was the most satisfactory role to play?

Dimitri: Well, I enjoyed most of them…, I enjoyed a lot of them. But, as for really satisfactory.., I would say it's a show that we did in…, '78 or '79, called, "Tomorrow's Warrior", which we financed and made independently. It was based on the invasion of Cyprus…, by Turkey. I am from the northern part of Cyprus and my village is under occupation. I have not been able to go to my village for thirty years…, or my home, and now I know that people are actually living in my home, from the Turkish mainland. It was a very personal thing to do, because…, it expressed a lot of things about me, and what happened.

Adge: That's really interesting. I never knew that.., and that you had experience of suffering in a kind of separatist…, country.

Dimitri: Yes. Well it is, because we spent two years doing the film. Because we started off doing the film, and then we needed more finance, and as we were partly financing ourselves, when we ran out of money we would stop and raise more money, and do it by the night.
At that time, the tent cities were still in existence. What we shot then was done without actors…., a bit like Faith….. Well, not a bit. It was exactly like Faith, where we used the actual people, the actual refugees. We even had people arriving, as refugees, who were still living in the north, leaving their belongings on the track. So, with our storyline based on certain events, we used real footage, and the real people, living in tents in a tented city.

Adge: Can we talk more about that after this interview?

Dimitri: Yeah, for sure.

Adge: Have you got any plans for what you are going to do after Faith?

Dimitri: Yes I have. I'm working on what I call a very "fun" project. It's about real people, about the community, living in London. We're just doing it on a cross section, from the older generation and the new generation. It shows the different levels… I am an immigrant, a first generation immigrant, and…, my family are borne here, my son is borne here. So I try to tell the tale of being the father, and my kids being born here, and the differences. They are very English, and I still try to cling back to old way of things. I think somebody should get married at a certain age, and the family, and whatever. It's therefore you have the conflict in this situation. It's a very interesting film, because of the way we set it out. We hope to do the film sometime next year, and we raise the finance independently, and do it…, shot entirely in London.

Adge: You mentioned marriage; are Greek weddings really such lavish occasions……

Dimitri: Yeah they are..

Adge: with lots of plate smashing?

Dimitri: No plate smashing, no, no. No, the weddings we have…, we have a very good system for weddings. We don't give presents. We don't buy presents, but we do pin money, and if you are the best man you contribute money. And so.., the couple will normally collect £30,000 to £40,000 on their wedding day; and what they do, with a little bit of help from their parents, the girls' and the boys' parents, they go and put a deposit on a house. And so it gives them a good start and enables them to be able to buy their home.

Adge: Beats the arse off getting two toasters!

Dimitri: Yeah, that's it exactly. I mean, you know…, otherwise…, with the way prices are now, they wouldn't have enough to start out with.

Adge: Is that a remnant from the old culture?

Dimitri: Yeah. Yeah it is, and they adhere to that very much so. So that is…, good.

Adge: Well Dimitri, it's been really nice talking to you. Thank you very much.

Dimitri: No, it's been a real pleasure talking to you.

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