Perdita
26-01-2011, 14:29
In 2008 ex-EastEnders star James Alexandrou was exposed in the tabloids as a smoker of cannabis. Three years on, Alexandrou is taking on a BBC Three documentary exploring how and why people use the illegal drug. We caught up with the former soap actor to chat about his discoveries and ask the - ahem - all-important question: will Martin Fowler ever come back to Albert Square?
How did you get involved in presenting this documentary?
"Well the guys came to me and asked whether I would like to be involved. I knew from the get-go why they had asked me. I said, 'look I know why you have done this. I was pictured smoking some weed a few years back'. Obviously that was why they did it, but it was established from the outset that they were going to make a good programme and it wasn't 'James Alexandrou Talks About Himself Smoking Weed'."
Were you concerned about dredging up the past on the show?
"I wasn't nervous about it - there was nothing to be ashamed about. I just wasn't going to make a programme about me taking drugs. That's not what the show's about. Obviously it gets mentioned as a way of putting the documentary in perspective. I also don't like it when people distance themselves in a documentary too much. I didn't want to be a hypocrite and I haven't been shy of admitting that I have smoked the drug. The end result, in my opinion, is a very good programme."
What were your opinions on weed before you started work on the show?
"It is the most widely used illegal drug and it is also the most misunderstood. I think I learned a lot by doing this programme, because before I did it, I pretty much thought weed was harmless. I thought as long as you weren't an idiot, as long as you didn't have an addictive personality, you could if you wanted to smoke it and put it down. My view on that has changed ever so slightly since making the programme."
Is it right you looked into how the drug is policed?
"Yeah, we work with the UK border control. I went to all the airports to see the work that they are doing there and what they are up against. You don't realise that unless you see it. But even after all of that, you may sit there and say, 'ah well, what harm is it going to do?' But the real eye-opener was when we met a guy, who we can't name, who was practically being used for slave labour. He was smuggled into this country and being forced to grow cannabis. His life was under threat and still is. That should certainly make people think twice."
You also meet a family who openly spoke the drug together. Was that strange?
"That's right, we met a very normal, middle-class family from London and they all smoked, openly and with each other. And the teenage son was probably the most normal person we met on the whole show. He smoked weed probably a couple of times a week and he was very intelligent, flying through his A-Levels and going to university. He was an astute and with it young man. You might have thought that the family would be a bunch of wasters, but they weren't - they are operating and have things under control. They were a good case in point with cannabis: If you are educated and use it responsibly, that's a good way to start out if you do want to smoke that drug. 13-year-old kids smoking whatever they can get their hands on at street corners is not a good start at all."
Do you believe therefore that we should be looking into legalising the drug?
"I think what came out of this for me is that the cannabis problem isn't going away. People are going to carry on using it for many years to come. I don't really know the answer, but I don't think the way we are controlling it now is the best one. We went to California for the show, where they use it for medicinal purposes. It's a lot more acceptable out there, but there are lots of buffers in place. You have to go to the doctor, then you have to go to a facility that provides the cannabis and talk through why you want it. I think that at least is a step in the right direction, because those buffers provide an education. In this country, if you smoke weed you have to go to some shady guy round the corner from a bunch of flats, it is illegal and you are a criminal. You don't know what you are smoking, whether you are smoking too much, and there is no advice whatsoever, which I don't think is quite right. Just saying something is illegal, criminal and bad... well that just doesn't work. People are and will keep smoking."
Do you think that the amount of people taking the drug is still underestimated?
"I think when you do a programme like this everyone you meet suddenly has some sort of story about weed, but I don't think that's actually the case. However, I do think there is a probably a surprising amount of people that you know and that I know who are taking it. I think that most people aren't the raving drug addict idiots that the law makes us out to be. We're not a country of babies that need our arses wiping. We're a nation of reasonable common-sense, level-headed people. I think that if you promote that as a way of dealing with drugs and cannabis, that can only be a good thing."
I'll apologise in advance for next question...
"It's not about EastEnders is it? Oh wow! [laughs]"
Natalie Cassidy is going back again soon. Would you not consider joining her?
"Not really nah... [laughs]. I don't know. I've got a strange relationship with being on the telly. I grew up on EastEnders and I left... and I've been happy ever since. There's no reason to go back. Right now, I'm just happy doing what I'm doing."
Have they ever approached you about Martin returning to the Square?
"No. After they've read this, they definitely won't! [laughs] I mean, look, I haven't got any bad feelings for EastEnders - that sounds like we don't like each other. I talk to the guys all the time and I love that show. It started me off. But I'm doing good right now and I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I don't need to go back and it's not going to fulfill me anymore."
It often isn't the best move to return...
"Yeah, it just depends what you want. If that makes you happy, being in EastEnders, then you should be there. But I don't think that would make me very happy right now."
How did you get involved in presenting this documentary?
"Well the guys came to me and asked whether I would like to be involved. I knew from the get-go why they had asked me. I said, 'look I know why you have done this. I was pictured smoking some weed a few years back'. Obviously that was why they did it, but it was established from the outset that they were going to make a good programme and it wasn't 'James Alexandrou Talks About Himself Smoking Weed'."
Were you concerned about dredging up the past on the show?
"I wasn't nervous about it - there was nothing to be ashamed about. I just wasn't going to make a programme about me taking drugs. That's not what the show's about. Obviously it gets mentioned as a way of putting the documentary in perspective. I also don't like it when people distance themselves in a documentary too much. I didn't want to be a hypocrite and I haven't been shy of admitting that I have smoked the drug. The end result, in my opinion, is a very good programme."
What were your opinions on weed before you started work on the show?
"It is the most widely used illegal drug and it is also the most misunderstood. I think I learned a lot by doing this programme, because before I did it, I pretty much thought weed was harmless. I thought as long as you weren't an idiot, as long as you didn't have an addictive personality, you could if you wanted to smoke it and put it down. My view on that has changed ever so slightly since making the programme."
Is it right you looked into how the drug is policed?
"Yeah, we work with the UK border control. I went to all the airports to see the work that they are doing there and what they are up against. You don't realise that unless you see it. But even after all of that, you may sit there and say, 'ah well, what harm is it going to do?' But the real eye-opener was when we met a guy, who we can't name, who was practically being used for slave labour. He was smuggled into this country and being forced to grow cannabis. His life was under threat and still is. That should certainly make people think twice."
You also meet a family who openly spoke the drug together. Was that strange?
"That's right, we met a very normal, middle-class family from London and they all smoked, openly and with each other. And the teenage son was probably the most normal person we met on the whole show. He smoked weed probably a couple of times a week and he was very intelligent, flying through his A-Levels and going to university. He was an astute and with it young man. You might have thought that the family would be a bunch of wasters, but they weren't - they are operating and have things under control. They were a good case in point with cannabis: If you are educated and use it responsibly, that's a good way to start out if you do want to smoke that drug. 13-year-old kids smoking whatever they can get their hands on at street corners is not a good start at all."
Do you believe therefore that we should be looking into legalising the drug?
"I think what came out of this for me is that the cannabis problem isn't going away. People are going to carry on using it for many years to come. I don't really know the answer, but I don't think the way we are controlling it now is the best one. We went to California for the show, where they use it for medicinal purposes. It's a lot more acceptable out there, but there are lots of buffers in place. You have to go to the doctor, then you have to go to a facility that provides the cannabis and talk through why you want it. I think that at least is a step in the right direction, because those buffers provide an education. In this country, if you smoke weed you have to go to some shady guy round the corner from a bunch of flats, it is illegal and you are a criminal. You don't know what you are smoking, whether you are smoking too much, and there is no advice whatsoever, which I don't think is quite right. Just saying something is illegal, criminal and bad... well that just doesn't work. People are and will keep smoking."
Do you think that the amount of people taking the drug is still underestimated?
"I think when you do a programme like this everyone you meet suddenly has some sort of story about weed, but I don't think that's actually the case. However, I do think there is a probably a surprising amount of people that you know and that I know who are taking it. I think that most people aren't the raving drug addict idiots that the law makes us out to be. We're not a country of babies that need our arses wiping. We're a nation of reasonable common-sense, level-headed people. I think that if you promote that as a way of dealing with drugs and cannabis, that can only be a good thing."
I'll apologise in advance for next question...
"It's not about EastEnders is it? Oh wow! [laughs]"
Natalie Cassidy is going back again soon. Would you not consider joining her?
"Not really nah... [laughs]. I don't know. I've got a strange relationship with being on the telly. I grew up on EastEnders and I left... and I've been happy ever since. There's no reason to go back. Right now, I'm just happy doing what I'm doing."
Have they ever approached you about Martin returning to the Square?
"No. After they've read this, they definitely won't! [laughs] I mean, look, I haven't got any bad feelings for EastEnders - that sounds like we don't like each other. I talk to the guys all the time and I love that show. It started me off. But I'm doing good right now and I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I don't need to go back and it's not going to fulfill me anymore."
It often isn't the best move to return...
"Yeah, it just depends what you want. If that makes you happy, being in EastEnders, then you should be there. But I don't think that would make me very happy right now."