Andrew Shim is a quietly persuasive ensemble actor whose friendships on screen feel lived-in. Shane Meadows makes good use of that naturalism, though Shim’s smaller roles elsewhere leave us less sure what another director might draw out of him.
Fi1m perspective
Andrew Shim looks at home in a group, which matters when a film needs us to believe these people have spent years together. As Milky in This Is England (2007), his understated presence helps make the skinhead gang’s friendships convincing. He seems comfortable sharing a scene, without insisting that we notice him separately from the company. We warmed to the gang more than we expected, because its humour and affection make Shaun’s attachment painfully easy to understand. Shim’s ensemble work is part of why we recommend the film so strongly.
The lead in A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) began his collaboration with director Shane Meadows. Meadows’s improvised, location-based approach suits an actor whose chief strength is seeming settled among the other performers. By Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), Shim was in a supporting role as Elvis, within a film carried by Paddy Considine’s watchful fury. We recommend that frightening, darkly funny revenge thriller with reservations about its thin writing and abrupt turns towards brutality. It is worth seeing, but it is not the place to start if Shim is the chief attraction.
This Is England gives his ensemble acting more weight, though Meadows sometimes arranges the film’s lessons too neatly. The natural performances help us accept the gang as people, but they cannot make every piece of writing equally persuasive. Shim continued as Milky through three television sequels between 2010 and 2015. This Is England '86 (2010) began that television run; This Is England '90 (2015) ended it.
The smaller parts in Screwed (2011) and Anti-Social (2015) leave less room to assess what another director might draw out of him. We would welcome a substantial role away from Meadows, but there is no reason he needs to become a more demonstrative actor. There is value in an actor who can make friendship credible without demanding that every scene become his. For Shim, start with This Is England, then go back to A Room for Romeo Brass to see him given the lead.
Biography
Andrew Shim is an actor. He was born on 18 August 1983 in Miami, Florida, and moved to England with his family at the age of six. He trained at Nottingham's Central Junior Television Workshop from the age of 14, alongside his sister, the actress Shauna Shim.
Shim first worked with director Shane Meadows as the title character in A Room for Romeo Brass (1999). He went on to appear in Meadows' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) as Donut, Dead Man's Shoes (2004) as Elvis, and This Is England (2006) as Milky, reprising the latter role in the television series This Is England '86 (2010), This Is England '88 (2011) and This Is England '90 (2015). Other credits include Screwed (2011) and Anti-Social (2015).
