The young Brazilian actor making his TV debut playing Jean Charles de Menezes has spoken of the “honour” he feels playing the part and also how he has spoken to his real life family for inspiration and guidance for the role.
In the new Disney+ drama Edison Alcaide plays Jean Charles the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician living in London with his cousins in the summer of 2005. On July 22, a botched police surveillance officers believe he could be a failed suicide bomber from the day before. At Stockwell station firearms officers storm onto the carriage shot him in the head seven times at point-blank range.
Edison, 36, said: “To have this as my debut felt so much. The first thing I felt when I joined this project was honour. I felt it was such an honour to play this man and also to help bring light to what really happened and who he truly was as a person. I just felt really honoured by the responsibility of playing this character. I felt, and still do feel, really connected to Jean Charles. We have so much in common, not just that he was a Brazilian man living in London. I built this sort of connection with him while filming this project. I just feel so much love for this man and so much love for his family as well.
“So then I felt even more heartbroken; because the more I learned about him, the more I found out about him, I just kept thinking of the injustice. He was truly such a nice guy in the sense of how he cared for his family and his friends and the way he approached life.”
Whilst in the UK Edison has met with Jean Charles’ cousins who still live in London.
“I met them personally and it was a very intense and emotional conversation we had, but they were really open. I consider them fighters and resilient, the cousins were really helpful and the information I gathered about who this man was, I could never have found this information anywhere else. Having the conversation with the family was crucial I believe.”
On the most difficult part of filming the project, Edison added: “Shooting his death scene was very difficult. First of all, there were so many legal things to be respected, and they were extremely careful, thanks to all the research, to show exactly what had happened. That scene, that whole scene, was filmed meticulously — from the writing to production. It was very difficult. It was very emotional. It was a very heavy day on set for everyone. But, you know, we were just trying to do it as respectfully as we could. It was hard not to think about his family, which made it even more emotional.
“He had no idea he was being perceived as a suspect. So it truly is heartbreaking. People have to realise the importance of this story. I hope I can help set the record straight.”
Edison is the first in his family to enter the acting profession, having been born to a Brazilian father and Spanish mother who raised him in Curitiba, South Brazil.
He honed his craft at both Kingston College and the Identity School of Acting, having arrived in London aged just 18 years old. Edison speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Spanish.
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