In conversation with the Hollywood actor James Jurdi

He talks about his first lead role in Pocket Listing, and possibly shooting in Dubai.

James Jurdi. Courtesy Empire International Gulf

Cinema audiences have been seeing plenty of James Jurdi’s Hollywood good looks of late.

In October, he starred alongside Danny Trejo and Vinnie Jones in the creepy Halloween horror Reaper. And today he's back on the big screen, starring alongside Rob Lowe and Burt Reynolds in the pacey crime thriller Pocket Listing.

More remarkable than their rapid-fire release, however, is that the two movies mark Jurdi's first major acting roles – and he also wrote Pocket Listing and co-wrote and co-produced Reaper.

Something else worth noting is that while regional cinema audiences are often resigned to playing catch-up, with new movie releases landing here weeks, months and sometimes even years after their release in the West, we’re getting these movies first, before the United States releases.

To mark the occasion, Jurdi was in town this week and hosted the premiere of Pocket Listing at Reel Cinemas at The Dubai Mall last night.

“It just happened out of the blue that these movies are coming out here at this time,” he says as we chatted on the sprawling balcony of his suite at The Address Downtown Dubai. “To have your films reach a global audience is what everyone dreams of when they make a film.

“I’m really glad they came so close together. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to come out here and enjoy this part of the world.”

A film that could only have been made in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, Pocket Listing takes its name from a financial practice in which properties are signed over to be marketed for sale by a single broker, but never publicly advertised.

With previous credits on short movies and TV soaps such as The Bold and The Beautiful and Melrose Place, the 28-year-old Jurdi makes his leading-role feature debut as a blacklisted agent. Seduced by a too-good-to-be-true deal to sell the home of a millionaire, played by a cocky Lowe, he gets pulled into a shady world of trade overseen by Reynolds's merciless mogul.

“I’ve seen a lot of films about Wall Street and bankers, crooked wheeling and dealing in that world, and I thought the real-­estate market was a fascinating backdrop for that semi, ­potentially corrupt activity,” says ­Jurdi.

Set in Jurdi's hometown of Los Angeles, his script – which he describes as a "darkly comic noirish thriller" – takes a darkly comedic leaf from the cult classic The Big Lebowski.

“I didn’t want to get too heavy or too realistic,” he says. “I’m sure a broker would see this film and say it’s completely ­unlike anything that would ever ­happen in that world – but in a way that’s kind of good, because we wanted it to be very ­dramatised.”

The film's noir-inspired ­humour is a world away from Reaper, a straight-up ­horror-thriller genre flick. ­Jurdi co-wrote and co-produced that one, and took a smaller acting role alongside Trejo and ­the footballer-turned-actor Jones, hard-men "legends" who were "top of the list" when it came to casting.

But despite the big differences between the projects, Jurdi refuses to pick a favourite – the US$1 million (Dh3.6 million)-­budgeted Reaper helped to open doors that led to the more character-driven, $5 million follow-up. "If it wasn't for Reaper, there would be no Pocket Listing," he says.

With more doors likely to be left open following a planned US release for Pocket Listing next year, local cinemagoers will be pleased to hear that whatever direction Jurdi chooses to go in next, the UAE might be called upon to play a starring role.

“Being in this part of the world I’m enchanted by the scenery,” he says, staring out from his balcony. “We have some scripts that could very easily be translated here.

“While I’m here I’m definitely hoping to explore that option.”

• Pocket Listing opens in ­cinemas today