The Cut
Ben Bailey Smith
Actor/rapper/comedianWe talk to the acting, rap and comedy renaissance man about the films that have inspired him and his work. The born-and-raised Londoner’s stage name springs from film – the moniker dates from his schooldays, where his gangly and geeky appearance saw him dubbed Doc Brown, after Back to the Future’s livewire scientist.
Ben Bailey Smith /
BFI Player film picks
Brewster's MillionsBrewster's Millions
Comedy 1985 101 minsDirector: Walter Hill
Richard Pryor plays the everyman who inherits a vast estate with a massive catch: he’ll have to spend $30million in 30 days in order to inherit it all.
LockeLocke
Drama 2014 85 minsDirector: Steven Knight
Tom Hardy commands the screen as the only star of Steven Knight’s bold, mesmeric drama, which is set entirely in a car and unfolds in real time.
A Prophet [Un prophète]A Prophet [Un prophète]
Crime 2009 156 minsDirector: Jacques Audiard
Jacques Audiard’s award-winning crime drama chronicles the rites of passage and eventual rise to power of a young French Arab. Tough, taut, truthful.
The Selfish GiantThe Selfish Giant
Drama 2013 91 minsDirector: Clio Barnard
Two Yorkshire tearaways struggle with life and friendship in this challenging, compassionate growing-up tale by the director of The Arbor.
MoonlightMoonlight
Drama 2016 111 minsDirector: Barry Jenkins
Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture (eventually!), Barry Jenkins’ intoxicating drama follows the furtive life of a gay black boy through 80s Miami.
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
Early years excitement
‘As a five-year-old, the sheer spectacle of The Return of the Jedi terrified me. I spent a lot of the time hidden under the cinema seat.’
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
Sibling support
‘If she becomes the millennial Dickens, I’ll sell it’ – Doc on safeguarding his sister Zadie Smith’s first writing desk.
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
How video inspired a passion for film
‘In the 90s, the video shop was vital for falling in love with cinema. It was our own choices, not what the TV networks had decided we’d watch.’
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
Why Locke rocks
‘That’s what you want to see in a movie, isn’t it? The most important moments in a character’s life’ – Ben on Locke.
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
The fun of solo film-going
‘I go to the cinema alone, in the morning, preferably when it’s empty. I can just soak up more and think about it more afterwards.’
Ben Bailey Smith /
bonus bits on his sister, Star Wars and falling in love with film
What makes great cinema
‘Great cinema is about seeing some element of the human experience that you recognise.’
The Cut is co-funded with the Creative Europe programme of the European Union
