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Exclusive Haven Interview With The Gentleman's Game's Lead Actor Simon Davis

By Gabriel Daiescu | Published on 26 07 2024

Simon Davis from "The Gentleman's Game" shares his thoughts on playing the protagonist of his first thriller film in his interview with Haven Magazine, and what he had to say was quite interesting to say the least. With the sudden popularity that has taken over the globe with thriller films, as seen with streaming platforms (Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, and more), it was only a matter of time before young new twenty-five-year-old Anglo Indonesian actor Simon Davis would land a role in one of them, and with so many thrillers releasing every few months, he managed to get lucky with a film of this scale, something that he never worked on before.

Simon Davis entered this project with little acting background, however was determined to make it work. "I wanted very much to start my career with something relatively big, rather than start small, like some people would like to do," Davis responded when asked why he decided to audition for the role in the first place, while still being a new actor in the overall entertainment industry. It wasn't until he revealed that he had moved around a lot when he was a kid. Growing up with a single parent was tough, and he makes very clear to that statement. "I hated the fact that we grew up with less than what others had. I think that that was the main driving force to push through into getting what I wanted, which would be financially stable for me, but also be something that I actually enjoyed, something that my mother wasn't very known for."

"The Gentleman's Game is nothing like anyone has ever seen before... It is truly an honour to have Haven Magazine feature it on its first edition."

Mason Mayfair, founder of Haven Magazine

Having had to move around a lot, as well as my mother having to work extra hours at work, I was mostly alone. Even with a few friends here and there, the new schools and environments made it a bit difficult to connect to some people immediately. So I strangely turned to Chess. It was a bit weird, as I was playing this board game while others played online on PCs, or PlayStations, but I thought that the premise the entire game was based upon, having to think at least three steps ahead of your opponent, was very intriguing to me and so I started to play daily. I also spent a lot of my time watching films, mainly action films, which just felt so cool. It made me wonder what I would do in situations like those. I really enjoyed secret agent movies when I was younger, like most kids do, and I was imagining myself as like, the next James Bond or something like that, which drew me into the film even more. I think that I somewhat share that with my character in The Gentleman's Game, as the movie also includes manipulation tactics and varying intelligence. Top that with secret spies and awesome style fighting, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to audition.

Now, the film (without any serious spoilers ahead) is about a secret agent who goes on an undercover mission to find out a sinister plot related to the current world chess champion (played by Jack Scott), making him have to work his way up through the ranks in the world of Chess in order to get closer to him, with obviously a side of good thriller action to accompany a movie about a game that's considered by some as "boring".In fact, it was actually Chess that sparked Davis's attention to the film, and encouraged him to audition for the main role:

Davis, throughout our interview appeared to be greatly passionate about the game, and how it related to the movie, and to himself. "I always care about the characters that I play, and I always try to understand how, somehow, they are relatable; I think that that makes acting out my roles much easier." He mentioned how he also may not have been as inclined and drawn to the role if it wasn't for the fact that Chess was going to be a key factor in it. And who can blame him? Although thrillers are considered epic by majority of the world, it can be agreed that some thrillers are much the same as any other thriller story, whether it's in characters or plot. But seeing a new thriller that utilises Chess feels a bit refreshing, especially when you bring in secret agents into the mix.

Continuing on with the interview, we managed to get Davis to speak up more about what we can expect from his debut film other than the simple quick synopsis. Under all the action packed and tense scenes involving this secret mission, is a film filled with comedic moments and simple humour. As Davis stated "The film isn't all serious all the time. If it was, the I think that it would be pretty boring and bland, I mean, real people don't act all serious and tough all the time, you know? I see it more as being a black comedy, making light on certain dark matters, which if done right can get a laugh from the audience, and can make for memorable moments".

One thing that I absolutely loved alongside chess was my attachment to action thrillers. And majority of these action thrillers also involved Crime as one of their big themes, which is present in Power Fist films like Roundhouse, or The Criminal World Is a Utopia. There was just something about those films that struck me to my core, I mean, when you watch those films involving all these criminal activities, depending on who's committing those crimes and what reasoning they have, it can completely change your outlook on the criminals within the film or TV show, where you might root for them there, but in the real world, some real criminals might do the same thing but you definitely may not root for them there because it is real life. That's what majority of the Power Fist stories are about, though. Each film or series set in that universe has the protagonist be someone fighting crime or someone committing the crime, and people's rooting for the character may go both ways. Take a look at Money Heist for example, great show by the way. So when I heard that Kane Beckett was making a new film that had the potential to not only be an action thriller, but set in that cinematic universe, it would have been a dream come true, to be part of such a popular action packed film that gave me nostalgia from watching these types of films growing up!

Furthermore, we actually got conformation from Davis, that the film actually takes place in the already established "Power Fist" universe, created by Kane Beckett. For those that may be unfamiliar with what "Power Fist" is, it is a connected cinematic universe consisting of films and TV series which all have one thing in common: Crime. This cinematic universe is made up of stories that are not directly related to one another, but do share some sort of connection, whether it'd be a place, or character. Upon learning that Kane Beckett was going to be the director and one of the co-writers for "The Gentleman's Game", it only made sense that he would go for the lead role. When asked about what else may have influenced him to audition for the lead role other than his incredible love for chess, this is what he had to say:

Haven Magazine cannot wait to experience "The Gentleman's Game" when it releases and wishes Simon Davis his best as this film is guaranteed to become 2024's biggest film, laying out the path for this young talented actor to thrive within the film industry, with the great possibilities of winning some future Oscars or Emmys.

The Gentleman's Game is due on August 29th 2024