Lights, camera, action!

This weekend Jemma Simpson bids to defend her UK 800m title, but away from the track spikesmag.com discovered the US-based athlete has a fondness for the small screen.

“I studied English Literature and media at university and film is something I’d like to have got more into.

I’ve always taken an interest in film and I would like to be involved in some way. My brain is more creative than mathematical or scientific and I think that is what attracted me to film.

I think I first became interested in film when I went on a family holiday to California when I was about 11. We went to Universal Studios and Hollywood and it really caught my attention.

Then at university during my studies we had to do some mini-film projects and that was a module I really enjoyed. We had to make some short films and I remember I made a five-minute film with some upbeat background music in which some squirrels were running around in tune with the music.

Although I like true story films, I also like to relax and chill out to comedies as well as epic films such as Lord of the Rings.

The film I watch over and over again is Gladiator. I love the Romans and I find their history very interesting.

One of my favourite actors is Denzil Washington. I also like Sandra Bullock as an actress.

The mum of one of best friend’s was a make-up artist and I managed to appear on the set of the film The Da Vinci Code.

I appeared in a lecture theatre and the whole filming process took about a day. It was quite good fun because Tom Hanks was joking with us. I only appear in the film in a flash and you have to pause the video to see me.

I also made a quite random appearance in Neighbours (the Australian soap opera) back in 2006.

I was out in Melbourne on a training run on the beach ahead of the Commonwealth Games with fellow English athlete Stuart Stokes. He noticed Ian Smith (the actor who played Neighbours star Harold Bishop) was there and he invited us on the set the next day, where we appeared as extras.

I really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and I don’t know what the chances are to one day make it in film production or as a film director, but I think it would be quite an achievement to go down that route and become involved.”