Life With Alfie Whiteman
Life With Alfie Whiteman
Born and raised in North London, Alfie Whiteman is a 27-year-old photographer, film director, radio host (he hosts Sweet Tooth on NTS) and DJ. Oh, and a former professional footballer. If he sounds like a cool cat, it’s because he is a cool cat. Here, we talk toe wrestling, the perfect soundtrack when riding a Lime home at night, and who’d play Mads Mikkelsen if someone got the (terrible) idea to make an international version of Pusher II.
Text by Oliver Bodh Larsen, Photos by Ellis Scott
Alfie wears Another Sweater 5.0, Brown Melange (see more), Another Suit Pants 1.0, Brown (see more) & Another Belt 1.0, Brown (see more).
If you're the director of a cool indie film, and your film opens up with your main character walking down the street on a Monday morning––what song do you put on?
I mean, hopefully I one day will be the director of a cool indie film, and if that is ever the case, I'd love for my character to be on a bike. What comes to mind is one of my favourite films, Midnight Cowboy, where the opening scene is Jon Voight walking to Harry Nilsson’s Everybody's Talkin’. For me, maybe I'd do Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead. It's a song I always come back to and it just works very well.
What's the latest thing that got you really excited?
A couple of weeks ago I made a film about toe wrestling at the World Toe Wrestling Championships. That was all very exciting in terms of having the fortunate experience of having to go there and make a little film about it. I felt that immersing myself in creating that little thing was extremely exciting.
What was more exciting – making the film or the toe wrestling itself?
They went hand in hand, I'd say. They were as equally exciting. Toe wrestling is a weird, wonderful thing, and I love weird, wonderful things.
Alfie wears Another Suit Jacket 1.0, Brown (see more) & Another Shirt 3.0, Wimbledon White (see more).
What's your relationship with getting dressed in the morning?
It's funny cause I have a lot of the same things. I have a rail just for my jeans, ordered by wash – from dark to light haha. So when I get dressed in the morning, I usually do the same thing. I pick a pair of jeans, then a T-shirt and then a kind of denim or military jacket depending on the weather. And maybe a knit. Getting dressed is really quite easy since I just wear the same thing all the time with small variations depending on the weather.
Is there an item you've lost that––if you come to think of it when lying in bed––can make you cry?
Oh! Gee, there is. There really is. I recently lost my diary and it had a couple of years of my thoughts, feelings, turmoil and ideas in it. I left it in Spain and I'm yet to get it back. Yeah, brings a tear to my eye. Now I’ve started a new one and I guess all things must end and we gotta let go of the past.
What a bummer! Now to a lighter question. Who was your favourite footballer growing up?
When I was younger, Hugo Lloris was the number 1 in the club I was at (Tottenham Hotspur, red.) and I was fortunate enough to then share a dressing room with him and train beside him. It was this nice circle of dreaming of him and watching him and then, later, creating a relationship and friendship with him. Our styles as goalkeepers are also quite aligned.
Cool! Is he a funny guy as well?
Yeah, he can be a funny guy! He's a very nice guy. A great professional.
What's the perfect soundtrack for a bike ride through the city a night?
I cycle a lot, a Lime bike is my preferred mode of transportation around London, and I always listen to music. I'd say The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth by the band Headache. That and a late night cycling home, thinking about your life and your decisions and everything, you know, your dreams and aspirations––it really transports you into that dream world.
Alfie wears Another Shirt 4.0 (from previous collection) & Another Jeans 3.0, Used Blue Marble (see more).
Who's the best dressed character in the history of cinema?
A few come to mind, but I’d say Al Pacino in Serpico. He looked really good in that film. I love the M65 jacket, like Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. My own … style, if you like, is very influenced by military elements.
I've seen that you're a big fan of the Pusher films, especially Pusher II. So, if Pusher II––and this is a terrible idea––was to get an international version, who should play Mads Mikkelsen's role?
Me! Haha. No, I'm kidding. I reckon that maybe a Harris Dickinson with a shaved head and RESPECT tattooed in the back of it could be a good casting option. I also think that Lucas Hedges would be quite good as well. He'd have to get a good shave too, though. You know, it was Mads Mikkelsen’s first film at the time, and he was, I think, in his thirties at that time and a professional dancer before that. So, for me that’s very inspiring in terms of transitioning into the film world at a later stage. It’s never too late, it’s never too late.
Alfie wears Another Suit Jacket 1.0, Brown (see more) & Another Suit Pants 1.0, Brown (see more).
