Dean
Middhat
✩ We talk to Dean about all things acting and
How did you get into acting?
I started acting in secondary school after my
year 7 teacher encouraged me to audition for
roles in the school prodcution of Greeca and
Fame. It was very much an outlet for me to
distract myself from life, express myself and
make others laugh. I left
acting when I went to study sports and exer-cise
science at college and then at Canterbury
university. I then competed as a combat
sports athlete in
boxing and MMA. This took a huge amount
of time and dedication, and the lifestyle kind
of took me away from acting. It was only after
doing a Channel 4 show in 2015 and being in
front of the cameras that re-ignited the acting
flame within. I auditioned for a lesser part in
the play Macbeth and ended up
getting the main part as Macbeth! I still train
and teach martial arts in Eastbourne at MSK
school of martial arts however!
You landed a small part in the big screen
movie Christopher Robin. How did you
prepare for the role?
It was only a small role but It depends on the
role and the character. For this one I used my
imagination and people watching. My
46 Eastbourne Lifestyle
Ewan McGregor ✩
character was a train passenger who was a
injured pilot that was home after WW2 and
was traveling at the same station as Pooh. I
used
mannerisms and posture that I had seen from
my grandad who was a proud and long serv-ing
army veteran, coupled with the use of my
imagination of what it’s like to be rushing
for a train in a busy post war London train
station. It’s kinda easy, you just play a game
of make believe, it’s really that simple! You
can make a character your own and I like to
put my own spin on each character I play.
For some roles I use method acting, which is
where you live out the character in real life.
You interact with people as the character, like
out at the shops or in your car, which is quite
fun!
It’s all about preparation and becoming the
most believable character you can possibly
be.
Did you audition for that movie?
Yes I did, got that part through my agent and
I had to go an audition. My car broke down
on the day, so I had to drive my brothers car 2
hours to the audition location. But I smashed
it and got the role! It was only then that they
told me what Disney film