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Despite his sideline making music, actor Jim Sturgess avoids any digs at the cruelty of critics in the romantic drama Mix Tape, where he plays a music journalist. “I could have had some fun with that,” laughs the 47-year-old Londoner, who recently released his debut album under the moniker King Curious. “It didn’t even cross my mind!”
The star of 2011 movie One Day is clearly a lover, not a fighter, so it’s no surprise to find him in another star-crossed romance about teenage lovers Daniel and Alison (played by Sturgess and Teresa Palmer) reunited decades later by the power of song. But what’s on his mix tape?
This is a series about mix tapes. Have you made them in real life?
A mix tape was always a romantic tool, just like in the show. I remember making them at 15 or 16 and you’d work hard on your track listings, making sure you had some obscure ones, showing off your knowledge a bit. I’d often draw artwork on the front cover. There was something magical about making them. What was on my tapes was very similar to the ones Daniel makes for Alison – Manchester bands of the late 1980s. I was also into 1990s hip-hop.
Do you remember the last mix tape you made?
Yes – I made one as a gesture to my now wife. My new computer didn’t burn CDs so I ended up loading songs onto a USB stick and taping that inside a card, which I also illustrated.
Your wife, actress and presenter Dina Mousawi, was born in Yorkshire — did she help you find your Sheffield accent for Mix Tape?
That actually made learning the accent more intimidating and harder because I had her entire family saying, “Come on, let’s hear your Yorkshire accent. Let’s hear what you sound like!” I listened to Richard Hawley, Sean Bean, Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner. To practise, I read stories to my kid in a Yorkshire accent but he kept telling me, “Just talk normally, Daddy. Speak normally.”
Daniel and Alison reconnect over a song by the Jesus and Mary Chain — is there a track that transports you back to your youth?
The morning after my brother threw a party at our parents’ house when we were teenagers, there was a cassette tape sitting on the kitchen table. I remember putting it on my Walkman, going on my paper round and thinking, “This is the thing I’ve been waiting for”. It was the Stone Roses’ debut album and it was a profound moment. The album was psychedelic and poetic, with this groove and these incredible beats. I instantly wanted to have my hair cut like theirs and dress like them.
You and Teresa Palmer play characters who have a deep chemistry together — had you worked together before?
We had and we hadn’t. Early in our careers, we had a screen test together for the movie 21 and I remember getting on with her so well and hoped she would win the part. Sadly she didn’t, but she went off and did amazing things. We hadn’t seen each other since, so when I was cast and found out she was on board, it was beautiful.
Do you both have any shared music tastes?
We made each other some playlists that were predominantly hip-hop. She’s a big hip-hop fan and was sending me West Coast tracks and I was sending her UK grime tracks. We should put the playlists out there…
As a musician, did your experience with critics impact how you played Daniel?
It didn’t at all. I released my record in 2023 [Common Sense for the Animal] and I was very lucky that nobody showed me a terrible review, although I tend to keep away from them in general. In one scene, Daniel’s critiquing a band playing in a nightclub and I felt incredibly guilty because he says some unkind things about them. This poor band were miming to their own track and believed this might be a big opportunity for them. I felt so bad doing that, so I’d be a terrible journalist!
You have children but are a long way off Daniel’s position, where his son is leaving for uni. Does that prospect play on your mind?
Hugely! That made me realise you wear so many hats in a relationship. Right now, my wife and I are at the stage of early parenting where we occasionally pass each other on the stairs and ask each other, “Are you all right?”. There’s very little time for romance and this stage is a beautiful time, but the shape of the relationship changes.
Starring in One Day with Anne Hathaway was probably your biggest role — what did you make of the Netflix remake?
I really enjoyed the series, which is brilliant, though watching it was a weird and nostalgic experience for me. I worked with Ambika Mod [who plays Emma] on a Disney+ show called The Stolen Girl just before One Day was released and we spent time swapping stories – I was very grateful to have a personal connection to the series through her. Episodic television is at its best when adapting a book and the show dives into the book in the way a film always struggles to do. There were many parts which reminded me of our own film and there were so many new bits which we didn’t have the opportunity to explore.
And finally — if you weren’t an actor, would you like to be a full-time musician?
After university, I was in a seven-piece band that we put a lot of work into. My feeling is one of total relief the band isn’t my life – I was very proud of the music we made and I’m sad nobody will ever hear it, but I’m so grateful I’m not travelling the world with six other sweaty guys! No regrets.
Mix Tape continues on BBC2 on Tuesday and Wednesday and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
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