Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Epic Pictures’ action film Lost Horizon is now streaming on Amazon Video, Fandango at Home, Apple TV, and more. Actor Tom Fairfoot sits down with VENTS to talk about stepping into the role of Michael Foster, the film’s emotional weight, and the real experiences that shaped his performance.
The film’s synopsis: “A former soldier, now working for hire, fights to rescue the innocent in a land torn by war. Facing ruthless enemies and betrayal, he struggles for survival, justice, and redemption.” Directed by Patrick Garcia, Lost Horizon also stars Aimee Botes, Kayla Osburn, Scott Talbot, and more.
What Drew Him In
VENTS: What first grabbed you about the role of Michael Foster, and why did you want to play him?
Tom Fairfoot: Well, firstly I just want to say this is not a Hollywood blockbuster, nor does it try to be. It’s a South African independent film with great producers pulling together as many favours as possible to get the high production value of an action film, a wide range of great performers, some fun cameos, and a very talented director who is well-versed in this genre and who I’ve worked with before as a leading actor. So he knew what he was getting. Sorry, mate.
But with all that, and the many obstacles of any filmmaking process, it is a great product at the end of the day. When I was offered it, I thought, “Great… some cash. I can pay some bills.” But of course, I was also very excited and honoured to play this role and take on the responsibility.
Michael is not a muscle-beach tough guy; he’s an intelligent, somewhat detached loner who is clearly military trained but working an ordinary engineering job, and he’s placed in extraordinary circumstances. He’s a deep thinker, highly emotive, and becomes violently engaged when the heartbreaking parts of the story begin, which I knew I could do.
So it’s not just playing the scenes. There is an inner fury that drives him because of what happens, and my aim was to make interesting, not obvious, choices from scene to scene. That’s what interested me.
VENTS: The film deals with trauma, loyalty, and moral debt. Which part of Foster’s inner struggle hit closest to home for you as an actor?
Tom Fairfoot: Again, the trauma bit, or the trigger, without giving it away. You try to source your own experiences in a powerful scene and adapt them to the specifics. That drive then colours the following scenes: his detachment, his furious determination, and his methodical revenge, rooted in his military training.
Wounds, Action, and Emotion
VENTS: Patrick Garcia described the story as one about “wounds that open doors.” How did that idea shape your performance?
Tom Fairfoot: Same answer as above. An ordinary guy experiences trauma and accelerates into action and drive. Do I get fewer marks now on this paper… LOL.
VENTS: This movie mixes personal drama with intense action. Which scenes tested you the most physically or emotionally?
Tom Fairfoot: The emotional triggering scenes turn into instant rage, and it’s that underlying rage that fuels him. I’ve done a few movies, plays, and even musicals that required tapping into falling in love, deep loss, and of course controlled rage in fights.
As an actor, you find real elements, and through preparation you understand what is necessary that day. You create a mindset that gets you ready. It’s not always easy to snap out of, but you have to, because there may be several takes or you may be moving straight into the next scene, which could be set days or weeks earlier or later in the story.
It’s really just experience and training in handling that slightly mad element of acting. Or just being a little bit nuts anyway.
Physical Prep and Real Life Danger
VENTS: Michael must rescue people in dangerous, unstable environments. How did you prepare for the military and tactical aspects of the role?
Tom Fairfoot: The physical side is of course fun. I’ve done a great deal of this genre in film and TV and trained in various unarmed fighting skills and weapons. I don’t mean fighting is fun, but I did martial arts and a few competitions in my twenties in South London, so you know the level of fight or anger needed to engage.
And like most of us living in SA, I’ve had a few real-life “action training sessions,” shall we say. A few scuffles in the UK ending in a knife thrust to my belly. In SA, more typically, a gun to my head in an attempted hijacking, a knife to my face, and a car chase by real-life bad guys as I was leaving a remote set, ironically another action film. I remembered a tip from a police friend, turned around, drove at them, and survived all those wonderful scenarios.
But honestly, here it is “just acting,” using what you know from experience or training. After another action movie I did, and even after a musical, there was always some drunk prat who wanted to fight me saying, “You think you’re so tough.”
Like Michael, and most of us really, we would fight to protect those we love, but any other situation is just engaging an idiot’s ego. “So kids, fighting is bad unless you have to.”
That’s something I like about a lot of the military and police friends I have. They have the ability but don’t need to glorify their egos with mindless violence.
I bring all that up because the fight scenes and physical moments in this movie are truly motivated and part of the story, not there just for action’s sake. They inform the character and the narrative. Patrick Garcia and I discussed how he wanted Michael to fight so it was believable and motivated, and hopefully more interesting to watch.
And sometimes all that life experience and training isn’t what you use, it’s simply the most interesting choice in the scene to tell the story and reveal the character.
However, I did get very nervous hanging out of the helicopter, staring down at treetops 100 feet below, as the Marlboro Man pilot laughed heartily at my real fear during a sideways turn.
Building a Believable World
VENTS: The film explores corruption and conflict in a land recovering from war. How did you approach portraying this world?
Tom Fairfoot: I don’t really approach “a world.” Of course we know what the story’s world is, but you don’t play that. The director shows it through narrative and visuals.
As an actor, it’s the people in that world, the character you’ve created and how they interact, that inform the scene.
The world shifts depending on who is acting opposite you. Whether it’s a great actor or someone less experienced, it should be the same: acting is reacting and listening.
Take the love scenarios, for example. You have to instantly create attraction and the feeling of falling in love.
You find what you genuinely like about the person opposite you and build from that to make it believable within the time constraints of a scene.
With my two main buddies in the action sequences, we had to feel like a close-knit unit with years of combat and friendship behind us, and yet I’m still their commander in battle. We met the day before and had to fabricate all that, using our on-set bond, laughing together, and letting that warmth come through.
By the time the movie progressed, we had a nice camaraderie that played out really well. I don’t care who is more or less experienced, I genuinely enjoy engaging with whoever is there, because that’s the world we’re creating together within the script and the director’s vision.
VENTS: You share the screen with a wide international cast. What stood out to you about working with this team?
Tom Fairfoot: I’ve talked about the acting, but I really admired the crew. What a great team! I’ve worked on films with hundreds of crew members. Here, the crew was small and worked incredibly hard, often doing multiple jobs. There was a great atmosphere of everyone trying to do their best. It was refreshing to be part of.
Two Stories, One Arc
VENTS: Lost Horizon shifts from rescue missions to unraveling a conspiracy. How did you keep Foster’s arc grounded through all those turns?
Tom Fairfoot: That’s a good one. Originally it was two stories, which Patrick Garcia, screenwriter and director, skilfully crafted together at short notice. So for me, one story starts and then another kicks in.
Playing leading roles, whether on the West End or in movies, is about keeping an audience’s attention. The skill is similar across mediums.
I played a lead in Blood Brothers for about three years and had to keep that fresh every night. You find new dynamics, subtle changes, light-hearted twists in dramatic moments, or unexpected choices in romantic scenes while staying on the main narrative track.
Film is the same. You understand the long-form arc and then find ways to keep each moment engaging. Ultimately the director shapes the final vision, but as a performer you create options, little shifts in tension, for him to use.
It’s like doing a very long play or stand-up comedy in pieces over two months of shooting.
Final Thoughts
VENTS: What do you hope audiences feel or question when the credits roll?
Tom Fairfoot: Look, I think people might joke that they should’ve cast Keanu or Tom Cruise for this role, but they were busy, and I was much, much cheaper.
I just hope it entertains with the cool action and engages with the story.
VENTS: If Michael Foster had one lesson to pass on about survival or redemption, what do you think it would be?
Tom Fairfoot: I think Michael is instinctive and tackles one obstacle at a time. He doesn’t think through philosophical elements, and neither does the actor in the moment, unless it’s Hamlet.
We can talk academically about what informs the role, and that plays into many layers, but on the day, I was playing a man reacting to extraordinary events.
And then the story ends. That’s all we’re doing, telling a story.
