‘Skin’ Trailer: Jamie Bell Plays A Hateful White Supremacist For Oscar-Winner Guy Nattiv

Ever since he was a child actor Jamie Bell has proven himself to be a dynamic performer. Since “Billy Elliot,” Bell has been bouncing from genre to genre, becoming an underrated talent in the process. But now, he has tackled what is perhaps his darkest role to date in something that sounds relevant and a little bit like “American History X.”

In the upcoming biopic “Skin,” Bell plays Bryon Widner, a young man raised by skinheads, brought up to have hateful beliefs and marking up his body with racist tattoos by the age of 14. However, his life and belief system is upended when he meets Julie (Danielle Macdonald), a single mother who has distanced herself from similar hate groups. After he falls for Julie, Bryon must then confront his skinhead parents and the dramatic fireworks go off. Here is the official synopsis

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After a difficult childhood drives him into the grasps of a white supremacist gang, Bryon (Jamie Bell, delivering a visceral, explosive performance) tries to escape to a new life, all the while questioning whether he’s capable of undoing— and repenting for — the evil he’s done. Filmmaker Guy Nattiv, whose short film of the same title won the Academy Award earlier this year, makes his English-language feature debut with this galvanizing story of transformation, inspired by actual events.

Bell delivered a scorching performance in “Donnybrook” released earlier this year and it looks like he’ll offer another powerhouse performance in “Skin.” Bell is also surrounded by a solid supporting cast that includes Bill Camp and Vera Farmiga who play his parents.

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“Skin” is based on a true story and it’s also based on the director, Guy Nattiv‘s controversial Oscar-winning short of the same name co-directed by Jaime Ray Newman. “Skin,” the short, was basically the thesis, test-run, and proof of concept for this feature-length effort and winning the Oscar in the run-up to the full-length movie’s release definitely gives it some clout. Nattiv‘sprevious feature is the 2014 Israeli film “Magic Men.” With “Skin,” Nattiv makes his feature-length English language debut and the movie is also co-produced by established writer/director Oren Moverman (“The Messenger, “Rampart“).

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All in all, “Skin” has exciting talent involved and is bound to be a heavy film watching experience given the subject matter. “Skin” is an A24 / DIRECTV release, exclusively on DIRECTV June 27 and then in theaters, July 26. Watch the first trailer below.

Here’s the trailer for the short film that “Skin” is based on. It won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards earlier this year.