On the face of it, new Prime Video comedy Deep Cover doesn't exactly sound like the kind of film that would be based on real events.
The film is directed by Tom Kingsley (Stath Lets Flats) and stars Bryce Dallas Howard as an improv comedy coach who gets recruited by the police to complete a sting operation that takes her to the heart of London's criminal underworld.
She takes two of her students – a struggling but dedicated method actor played by Orlando Bloom and an awkward IT guy played by Nick Mohammed – along with her for the ride, and the trio soon find themselves becoming respected by the gangs they are infiltrating as they get sucked into a number of increasingly dangerous situations.
As far-fetched as that might seem, the film was actually inspired – albeit rather loosely – by a true story. Intrigued? Read on for everything you need to know.
Is Deep Cover based on a true story? Writers Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen explain
Ahead of the film's release, screenwriters Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen – who also appear in the film as a pair of London cops investigating the criminal gangs the improv comics are infiltrating – spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the unlikely roots of the project.
"Well, we owe the original idea to not only two other writers – but reality," Ashenden explained.
"In New York, there was a news article that seemed to suggest that actors were being hired by the NYPD to do very low-level stings, going in and buying counterfeit handbags and things like that, on the basis that actors were good at sort of staying in character – better than police officers."
He continued: "Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, who are the writing partnership best known for the Jurassic World franchise, developed an idea from that and said, 'What about if it was improv comics?' And they developed a story and a script but it didn't happen.
"And then a decade later, we met Colin acting in Jurassic World: Dominion, got talking, and he's a big fan of this live comedy scene here in the UK, and just gave us a huge chance, a huge opportunity, and said, 'Listen, I've got this script... based on that idea, would you guys fancy taking another run of it? Do a rewrite. Don't set it in New York. Set it in London. Let's put British actors in there. Make it feel like a sort of true British comedy film, tonally'.
"So yeah, that's the origin point, a glimmer of something true!"
View oEmbed on the source websiteWhile that original idea is pretty much where the true story aspect of the film ends, Ashenden and Owen were also inspired by their own life in the comedy scene when it came to creating the three central characters.
"I think there are probably useful elements we were able to bring to bear on the psychology of the three main characters," Owen explained. "Our priority with the three main characters was giving them three very different perspectives on live performance.
"So Bryce Dallas Howard's character is an expert improv comedian, she teaches a class. Orlando Bloom's character is an actor who uses improv comedy as a tool to improve his character work, but he's a very intense and serious actor, and Nick isn't a performer at all – he's enrolled in the improv comedy class to try and improve his communication skills, and he's a nervous wreck.
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"And so I think we were able to draw on elements of people that we know, at least for Bryce and Orlando's characters!"
For their part, the cast were also surprised to find out that there was an element of truth to the film's concept – indeed, Bloom explained to RadioTimes.com that our interview with him was the first time he had heard this information.
"I thought I was making it up, and I was questioning myself," Mohammed added. "But it was based on, yeah, like a very small thing, it obviously didn't escalate in the way it escalates in the film.
"But yeah, it's really... I mean, it sounds like the premise to a film, which it obviously is now!"
View Affiliate Playlist on the source websiteDeep Cover is now streaming on Prime Video.
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