“Arrowhead” singer Courtney Noel landed a small role in the Netflix original film See You Yesterday and is taking aim at Hollywood and the Pop charts. The movie includes Guyanese culture and was filmed in the US.
See You Yesterday was produced by Spike Lee and written and directed by Stefon Bristol who is of Guyanese heritage. Guyanese veteran actor Ron Semple plays a pivotal role in the movie. Courtney’s role was as ‘Kingsley’, a dominoes player.
Speaking of the film, he said, “It was absolutely amazing! Stefon gave me permission to improvise and add our unique Guyanese flavour to the pot. Stefon wasn’t born in Guyana so some of the nuances of someone who had lived [here] ‘a real GT man’ were a bit unfamiliar to him. Having lived in Guyana for 17 years and as a frequent visitor I was more familiar with the slang like budday.”
The director wanted the film to be authentic, yet he wanted the accents to be understandable so that there was no need for subtitles. Courtney was happy to have a role, as he said he is always willing to represent Guyana however he can.
In a previous interview, the singer had said he was leaving the soca world and venturing to more pop, reggae and love songs. In addition to the Netflix movie and these genres, Courtney is looking to take up more roles in film.
He is working on a new song “Good To Be Alive”, which details a near-death experience and being grateful for life. He said it is about his experience of almost drowning on July 4, 2000.
He has now looking to doing collaborations with a Jamaican company in New York called Braata Productions, as well as developing original content for the big screen. The singer and now actor is also making plans to revive a long dormant screenplay of his titled Similar Differences, a story set in New York and various parts of Guyana. He wrote it in 2007.
Courtney is currently in Guyana tying up loose ends for his video to the song “All My Love”. The video was set to be released in time for Mashramani earlier this year but due to unforeseen circumstances, was delayed. It is now expected to be released during his time here.
Next year will mark 20 years since the release of the hit song “Arrowhead”. There is said to be a possible video in the making that will be released in time for that anniversary.
