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Andy Jones Interview

Interview - Andy Jones

When Andy Jones was offered the part of Phonse in Rare Birds he was certain they had the wrong guy.

"I never, ever saw myself as that character," the native Maritime actor explains. "I really loved the book - a lot. I laughed out loud when I read it. But I always pictured Phonse as a rugged fellow, lucky for me (director) Sturla Gunnarsson saw him as someone like me."

Needing to bridge the gap between himself and his character, Jones decided to do a little human research.

"I couldn't really relate to Phonse, but I've met and known a lot of guys like him - guys that can do anything, with next to nothing. I really admire them, because I'm the furthest thing from handy myself. Phonse is the independent Newfoundlander, the type of chap that can figure out a way to do the task at hand," tells Jones.

"So just before filming I traveled to the south shore, Petty Harbour, and I looked up this guy people had told me was just like Phonse. He's the guy who decided his boat wasn't long enough, so instead of buying a new boat or getting someone to do the work for him, he lengthened it himself. Sawed it right in two and figured it out."

Once Jones had his role model, he - like his non-Atlantic co-stars - worked on an accent.

"To me the answer to feeling right about the character was in the accent. It took me a while, and I tried out a few different ones, but in the end I felt the 'West Country English' sort of Protestant thing was the way to go," he explains contrasting it with the 'Irish Catholic' alternative.

"It was probably a bit easier for me," he concedes, "knowing the area and its people." But that didn't help matters when it came time for Jones to don a wetsuit and spend a night of shooting in the ocean.

"Everyone remembers that night for their own reasons, but for me the night we blew up the sub was unquestionably the most arduous," recounts Jones. "I'm not a very good swimmer. I like to be in the water, but not under it… I'd lost my glasses, I had no confidence, and I had to get below the surface with these two empty, buoyant scuba tanks on my back. Every time I tried to go under I'd bounce back up, so they gave me these heavy weights to put in each hand. It worked, but when I let go I just about exploded out of the sea!"

Not only was Jones a welcome source of amusement on set, as cast and crew will attest, but he even offered a bit of comic relief to the locals.

"I remember having the line "Fuck me!" when I emerged from the ocean, but I didn't really know what I was supposed to mean by it. So just before we started shooting I wandered over to the fish and chip store in my wetsuit and phoned Ed - who was on his cel in a pub at the time - and asked him 'What do you mean, fuck me?'"

"It must have been quite a sight."