Of all the lasting images from the film Quadrophenia,
the most striking is when Jimmy jacks in his job to a startled
advertising boss. 'You can stick your post and your franking machine
and all that other rubbish I have to go abahhtt with and shove
'em right up your arse!' Seventeen years later the actor that
played Jimmy has the exact same petulant expression and the same
fog-horn voice, it's just the lines are different. 'Scooters,
scooters? No one told me nothing about bleedin' scooters!'
Channel 4's Moviewatch thought it a nice idea to
have Phil Daniels scoot down memory lane with an interview on
Vespas. Phil is less than keen, his arms are tightly folded and
he sits rooted to the spot, he might explode any minute. 'Scooters,
I hate them bleedin' things.' No-one from the Moviewatch crew
has dared even mention the parkas yet.
Quadrophenia, the only movie ever to seriously get
to grips with British youth culture, is getting a re-release.
It's impossible to imagine anyone else but Phil playing Jimmy.
He was born for the role, just as De Niro was for Travis Bickle
or Richard E Grant for Withnail. His public profile is still inextricably
linked to that film. But now in his late thirties, a respected
and experienced actor, Phil is a little tired of being a teen
icon. He is happy and helpful to talk about the film, which is
he proud to have been involved in. He just doesn't want to wear
a bleedin' parka or a ride a scooter ever again. You cannot keep
on clinging to the old dreams any more.
'I was at that age - 19 - when you think you're invincible.
Just like Jimmy. But I'm nothing like him really, I mean he was
mad wasn't he?' he tells me after calming down. 'Obviously when
you play a part you bring something of your mannerisms and personality
to it. A lot of the lines in the film are my own, because I was
lucky enough to be given the space to improvise. Having studied
improvisation it all came from a very natural source for me. We
rehearsed Quadrophenia three weeks before shooting. I mean you
don't rehearse films any more.'
One of the reasons the film works is because of the casting, and the freedom the actors were given to bring in their own lines. That's why the mod banter rings true, and doesn't make you squirm with embarrassment like yoof speak on Hollyoaks.