''The Kid'' is a 2010 British

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Nick Moran Nick Moran (born 23 December 1968 or 1969, sources differ) is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his role as Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels''. He appeared as Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...

and co-written by Moran and Kevin Lewis. The film, based on Kevin Lewis' autobiography of the same name, details Lewis' adolescent and young adult life, having been raised in a violent, abusive family on a small council estate called New Addington in the 1980s. Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall wrote the song 'Boy' for the movie

Plot

Based on the real-life story of Kevin Lewis, the film follows his childhood of abuse, his descent into a life of crime and how he put his life together again afterwards. The screenplay was written by Mark Thomas and Kevin Lewis with additional writing by the film's director Nick Moran.

Cast

Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...

as Kevin Lewis **

Augustus Prew Augustus Prew (born 17 September 1987) is an English film and television actor. He is known for his roles in '' About a Boy'' (2002), ''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008), '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010), '' The Borgias'' (2011), '' Kick-Ass 2'' (20 ...

as teenage Kevin Lewis *

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the ''Hornblower (TV series), Hornblower'' seri ...

as Colin Smith *

Natascha McElhone Natascha McElhone (; born Natascha Abigail Taylor, 14 December 1971) is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in '' Ronin'' (1998), '' The Truman Show'' (1 ...

as Gloria * Con O'Neill as Dennis *

Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in t ...

as Uncle David *

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017). She came to prominence ...

as Jackie *

David O'Hara David Patrick O'Hara (born 9 July 1965) is a Scottish stage and character actor. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he is best known to audiences for his numerous supporting roles in high-profile films; includ ...

as Terry *

James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...

as Alan *

Kate Ashfield Kate Ashfield (born 28 May 1972) is an English actress, who has appeared in stage, TV and film roles, most famously in her role as Liz in the 2004 zombie comedy ''Shaun of the Dead''. She is the co-writer of the 2017 TV series ''Born to Kill''. ...

as Madeline *

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in ''Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in ''The Boat That Rocked'' aka ' ...

as Gordon Peters *

Denise Gough Denise Gough (born 28 February 1980) is an Irish actress. She is the elder sister of the actress Kelly Gough. She has worked in film, television, video games and theatre. Gough is a double Olivier Award winner. Early life Born in Ennis, Cou ...

as Patsy

Production

Development

Director

was linked to the project after being approached by development producer Mark Thomas who wrote the screenplay with Kevin Lewis. The two of them watched Moran's debut feature with executive producer Stephen May at Mayflower Studios. The film was called Telstar: The Joe Meek Story. The decision was made to tone down the level of abuse in the film. "You get the feeling of what goes on and your mind will come to its own conclusions", said Lewis.

Casting

In order to learn how to box,

was sent to train with former WBO World middleweight and super middleweight champion

Steve Collins Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO mi ...

. Moran explained that the make-up team had to make

less attractive for the role; "Yes we put a lot of make-up on her to ugly her up a bit for the role, but it's not 'Planet of the Apes' type make-up, she still had to act underneath all that stuff and she was amazing and really breathed life into the character." Due to the accuracy of the make-up, Kevin Lewis had difficulty being on set because she looked so much like the real-life Gloria; "It was such a shock and I walked off the set when I heard her as Gloria shouting."

was not at first meant to be the teenage Kevin Lewis. They were going for the other actor because he looked more like Rupert Friend. To look more like Rupert Friend, Augustus Says that he got his photographer friend to take pictures of him, with the same suit, same pose and blue contacts in his eyes. He then became Kevin Lewis. To become more like Kevin Lewis, he lost over a stone of weight, wore shoes 4 sizes too small and wore clothes that were too small. He was also always hungry during shooting to become the character, because the real Kevin Lewis told him that he was always hungry and his muscles ached.

Filming

Various locations were scouted, including Lewis' home estate in

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

, south of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but it was ruled out due to the distance. The main locations were filmed on the

South Oxhey South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census S ...

council estate, on the borders of North London and Hertfordshire; however on the first day on set the filming was disrupted by the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

removing a dead body from the local woods.

Music

British singer/songwriter KT Tunstall wrote a song called "Boy" for the film.

Release

The film was affiliated on release with the British children's charity the

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

, and the film's premiere was attended by the charity's ambassador Kylie Minogue. Moran spoke of his hope that the film would result in a resurgence in this genre in the British film industry, "There's been a spate of rather silly British comedy films being made in the past few years and for a time that seemed to be the only type of film being made in this country so I hope 'The Kid' is a success and it opens the doors for more serious drama to be made in the UK."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kid 2010 films 2010 biographical drama films 2010s crime drama films British biographical drama films British crime drama films British independent films Child abuse in fiction Child abuse in the United Kingdom Films based on biographies Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri Films set in England Films set in the 1980s Films shot in England 2010 drama films 2010 independent films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Nick Moran 2010s British films