When Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later came out earlier this year, a star was well and truly born: Alfie Williams. Making his feature debut, this 14-year-old lad from Newcastle Upon Tyne was just the right blend of innocence and experience as Spike, the young boy raised off the coast of Britain, with the mainland now overrun by those “infected” with the Rage Virus – first chronicled in Boyle’s original 2002 movie 28 Days Later.
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It was a role that saw him nominated by the London Critics’ Circle for Young British/Irish Performer of the Year, and now Williams is back as Spike in the fast-follow sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta. “Just be ready,” he says, “because it’s gonna be brutal.”
Hello Alfie! We last left Spike on the mainland at the end of 28 Years Later. How would you describe his journey in The Bone Temple?
Williams: “He dealt with the infected in the first one, and you see him grow up into this strong figure. And in the second one, he hasn’t really dealt with humans, so he goes back to being the scared little kid again, you know? So he’s regressed back to how he was in the first film.”
What was it like working with Jack O’Connell, who plays gang leader Sir Jimmy?
“Jack’s amazing, you know? I mean, he’s great to work with and he gives a lot of advice on how to get ready for scenes… the first scene in the film, it’s a very tense scene, and he came over and he was like, ‘Just forget about all of them. Focus on your performance. Focus on what Spike’s feeling. And just give it everything.’ And, I mean, that’s stuck with us.”
Did you have to get physically fit for the films?
“Yeah, there’s a lot of running. I’m not the fittest guy, but obviously while you were on set, you were doing lots of running and exercising. Danny made us do a lot of squats to get ready for a scene so I could get out of breath! Not that I needed to because we were running for ages!”
How was it to be on the set with actors playing The Infected?
“You get used to it after a while, but [at first], I saw it and I was like, ‘That’s awesome!’ The prosthetics are great, and the actors are nice. They played good Infected! You’d see them getting coffee and stuff, and that would make for some weird photos!”
Do you have any idea why zombie shows and movies are so popular? And what’s your favourite?
“I think it’s just a ‘what if?’ What if that did happen, how would society react? And I think all of these films and TV shows do a good job of showing what would happen. I do enjoy The Walking Dead. I watch The Walking Dead a lot.”
How would you cope in a zombie apocalypse? Could you survive?
“Probably, if you stay up high on roofs and stuff… I mean, you could survive pretty long doing that. It’s just when supplies are low and you’ve got to get resources and stuff… as long as you don’t get cornered. You might survive. Depends on if you’re facing Infected or zombies.”
Since 28 Years Later came out, have people been coming up to you? Do you get recognised a lot?
“Not much on the streets. I don’t have any encounters like that. I mean, there was this one time where I went into a CEX to sell some video games, and then the guy at the counter recognised us, and I got a picture with him and stuff. That was the one time, but it felt great!”
What have your friends made of your success?
“They’re very, very happy for us. When the film first came out they were seeing us on buses and kept taking pictures. It was very funny.”
That must be weird for you to see your own face on a bus, right?
“A hundred percent. It’s weird. If you had told a five-year-old me that I would be on a bus and in a movie, then he wouldn’t believe it.”
Is it true that your 28 Years Later co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson gave you a guitar as a present?
“Yeah. He gave me a guitar on, I think, Holy Island where we filmed. And ever since then, I’ve been playing guitar religiously.”
Had you played guitar at all before you got that present?
“No, and I’ve got no idea… because while I was on set, I was thinking about getting one and then, I don’t know how he knew. Must be psychic or something.”
What songs are you learning?
“Recently, I’ve been writing my own stuff. But I play a lot of Nirvana… just old stuff.”
You also struck up a relationship with Stephen Graham, right? You co-starred in the short film Phallacy and he gave your career a push…
“Yeah, yeah, that’s what he did. He liked the performance that I did in the film, and he called his agent and gave a referral. So I’m very thankful to Stephen for that.”
Have you kept in touch with him at all since that happened?
“Yeah. I mean, when he heard about me in 28 Years Later, he gave us a call and he was very happy for us. We’ve spoken a couple of times.”
Who are the actors that you love to watch?
“I really love Bryan Cranston. He would probably be my favourite actor. And I like J.K. Simmons…”
You like all the old guys?
“Old is gold!”
You’re filming Banquet with Meghann Fahy. What can you say about that project?
“It mixes drama and horror. It’s a horror film. I play a troubled young guy and that’s probably as much as I can say about it, to be honest.”
Do you want to carry on doing film or TV or stage work?
“I’m ready for anything. Movies, TV shows, I’ll do it all if it’s right, if the character is right, and if it’s something I want to do.”
‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ is in UK cinemas from January 16