AFTER months of closed cinemas and delayed film releases, a no-nonsense action movie may be just what the doctor ordered for fans starved of new content.
And Paydirt could fit the bill perfectly. Set in the scorching California desert, the heist film stars Bros singer Luke Goss as career criminal Damien Brooks, also known as The Brit.
He is fresh from a five-year stretch behind bars and, rather than dedicating himself to the quiet life of a law-abiding citizen, immediately sets off to find the buried stash of cash that landed him in prison.
The Brit is tough and charming, a lovable rogue straight out of central casting, and Goss wears his inspiration on his sleeve. “I brought a sense of everything I’ve ever learned in acting to him,” he says.
“I’d see [Steve] McQueen and he’d take so much acting out of the acting. Every last drop if you can.”
One stand-out trait of The Brit is his refusal to dress appropriately for the climate. Despite dodging bullets in the blazing California desert, he insists on wearing an overcoat that would seem more at home in a London winter than a Coachella summer.
Goss explains the reasoning behind the decision, saying The Brit would have more pressing things to think about than the heat. “And that was the end of that for me,” he adds.
Goss became involved with the film after speaking with the director and his close friend Christian Sesma, who pitched Paydirt as similar to the Ocean’s heist movies, only on a much more modest budget.
The criminals were in a lower league, giving it a grittier feel, something Goss was on board with. “It’s this off-strip story that I just thought sounded really charming and fun,” he says.
“I like movies like Swingers with Vince Vaughan and all these guys. It [Paydirt] had a charm to it, it had a modesty about it. And it kept making me giggle. And I said OK, let’s go and make a movie’. And then Val said he’d do it.”
Val is none other than Hollywood star Val Kilmer, the 1980s heart-throb known to millions of fans for roles in blockbusters such as Top Gun, Tombstone and Batman Forever. In Paydirt he plays retired sheriff William Tuck, who, despite appearances, is not quite ready to hang up his badge and gun.
Goss and Kilmer struck up an immediate friendship. Their first meeting came on set, with Goss spotting Kilmer (60) coming towards him on a golf cart. The two men shared a lengthy embrace before getting to work.
Goss is filled with admiration for Kilmer, who has endured health problems and revealed a throat cancer diagnosis in 2017.
He praises his co-star as a “warrior,” describing his pleasure at watching Kilmer “evolve as a man, as an actor, as a human”.
There were no airs and graces from the Hollywood heavyweight, Goss adds, recalling how he was able to flip from the brooding, taciturn sheriff one minute into the “happy and huggy” Kilmer as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.
“Val is a joy, a joy to work with,” Goss adds. Towards the end of Paydirt, the two actors share a poignant showdown scene, with The Brit and the sheriff forced to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.
Goss, whose acting roles include Blade II, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and a TV adaptation of Frankenstein, describes the scene as one of the best of his career.
“We’d been on a journey and acting in a way that we were both so in the zone but our humanity is really present in that scene," he recalls.
“So, that hour was one of the most special scenes, just in general, just because of who I was and who he is, as people, not as actors. I’d say I’d put that certainly in the top two or three scenes in my career in the sense of being happy with it and the joy of filming it. It was a very human experience.”
Goss is speaking from his home in Los Angeles, where he is busy doing what he loves most – painting.
It might come as a surprise to many but Goss, who retains an army of dedicated fans from his time in pop band Bros alongside twin brother Matt, says it is art, and not singing or acting, which brings him most joy.
He uses the image of a bucking bronco to illustrate his point. “Music, film and art are tethered firmly, and they’ll come with me to the grave,” he says.
“They’re not going anywhere. I’ll leave a bit of it behind, obviously, because it’s all going to stick around. But another question is; what’s the one I couldn’t live without? And, strangely enough, it would be painting. I couldn’t live without it.
“If I had to ditch some of the supplies, the weight on the horse, it would be music and film, unfortunately. I couldn’t live without painting.”
The 51-year-old also believes the pandemic has brought about a greater appreciation of the artist in society. “What we’ve all realised is that the artists that we love should not be mocked or ridiculed,” he says.
Of his own outlook, as he enters the next chapter of his life, Goss says: “I don’t want to shock or jar anyone at this time in my life, I want to do what I can as a hippy that paints.”
Paydirt is out now, available on DVD and digital platforms.
