Jason Flemyng was "blown away" by Lennie James’ emotional acting on ‘Save Me’ – so much so he rates him more highly than Robert DeNiro and Brad Pitt.
The ‘Snatch’ star was amazed by just how well Lennie got into character as Nelly Rowe in the Sky Atlantic drama, particularly when he would spot the ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ star in tears off-screen, which he hasn’t seen huge stars such as DeNiro, Pitt, Sean Connery and Johnny Depp do as well as Lennie.
Jason – who played cross-dresser Tam in the hard-hitting show – exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "When you do close ups, and they do close ups on Lennie and he’s talking about his kids, that’s when you cry, you save it, for that.
"What’s the point in doing it in a wide shot and what’s the point in doing it when the camera is on someone else? None, there’s absolutely no point at all.
"But Lennie would always do it when he was off screen. He’d be in tears off screen, and it would be like, ‘Bruv, I don’t need you to do that. Just say the lines, don’t put yourself through it.’
"He would every single time, and I’ve never, ever seen anyone do that before.
"Brad Pitt, Robert DeNiro, Sean Connery, Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp, no one does that. No one. Only Lennie, it was amazing."
Jason – who has twins Noah and Cassius with wife Elly – was also "amazed" at the commitment Lennie had for ‘Save Me’, which he wrote, and thinks his pal is "up there" when it comes to the biggest screen actors in the world.
The ‘Kick-Ass’ star added: "I’ve been very lucky as you can probably see from my long CV. I’m quite cheap and I do a lot of graft. I’m lucky to be allowed to do that.
"Before I had the twins I used to travel a lot and go to the States and be slightly out of focus behind really, really famous actors. That was my sort of gig.
"I’ve seen the greatest screen actors in the world, shared scenes with them all. I’ve got to say Lennie is up there.
"I was amazed, absolutely blown away by him and his commitment."
‘Save Me’ is released on DVD on May 7, 2018 and is available to pre-order now.
Jason Flemyng ‘blown away’ by Lennie James’ Save Me performance
