Opening to a Thriller - Character Profiles

Caesar:

Name: Caesar Arjana

Actor: Caesar Mahamba

Age: 20

Birthplace: Trinidad & Tobago

Nationality: Black Caribbean

Occupation: Student

Religion: Christianity -Church of England

Back story:

Caesar was born in Trinidad to a small and humble family. When living in the Caribbean, Caesar showed great promise for education. His parents, wishing him to make a better life for himself, sent him to live with his uncle in Norwich, England, at the tender age of eight. Now studying law at university, Caesar has set out to prove himself with the support of his uncle, long time girlfriend Helen and his faith in God. He has rarely ever met Helen's father, but knows he disapproves of her being with him.

We chose Caesar to play the protagonist in the film because his connections with James allowed us to organise a number of shoots in which the full cast could attend. Caesar's true age is 29, but he can pass as younger. The entire context of Blind Faith required a non-white actor for the lead role, therefore Caesar was perfect. We chose to reverse the stereotypes of race to highlight the unimportance of ethnicity and the evil of racism emanating from Jason.

Jason:

Name: Jason Edmonds

Actor: Steven Webb

Age: 45

Birthplace: Norwich, England

Nationality: White British

Occupation: Part-time driving instructor, veteran of the Falkland's War

Religion: Christianity -Catholicism (extremist sect of)

Back story:

Jason is an extremely patriotic middle-aged man born and living in Lakenham, Norwich. His live is humble and at times difficult, especially after returning from the armed forces with shell shock. His wife left several years ago with an attractive young man from abroad, leaving him to bring up his daughter, Helen, alone. These factors have culminated in his right wing political alignment; he was a huge supporter of the National front, votes for the British national Party and holds an unjustifiable hatred for non-white citizens. He sees Caesar as a threat to Helen and wants nothing more than for him to be out of the way, and will use any means necessary to do this, whether legal or illegal.

Again, Steven was a perfect choice for our antagonist because of his close proximity, contacts (he is James' father) and appropriate age/ethnicity for the role. With the right choice of clothing and stature, Steven could be displayed as a very frightening character.

Helen:

Name: Helen Edmonds

Actor: Sorrel Lawrence

Age: 18

Birthplace: Norwich, England

Nationality: White British

Occupation: Student

Religion: None (Atheist)

Back Story:

Helen is Jason's daughter. She detests her overprotective father and would have much rather left with her mother to live abroad. She fell in love with Caesar two years prior to the events of Blind Faith and they have been in a passionate relationship for almost as long. Her father plots to rid himself of Caesar, but Helen is oblivious to this insidious planning.

Because Sorrel was already a member of both our class and our filming group, she was the easiest choice for an actor. She is easy to relate to for our demographic and dresses fashionably enough for the role to be f