Microwave’s third film directed by Kolton Lee releases in cinemas today. Freestyle is a heart-warming teen romance set in the exhilarating world of freestyle basketball. The film follows Ondene, a beautiful and talented student who has spent her life obeying her mother Hyacinth and is set to read Law at Oxford. However, in the lead up to her final exams, Odene’s attention is swayed – she discovers the new and interesting world of freestyle basketball and meets Leon who offers to coach her to enter a national competition – an extra curricular activity that is sure to meet her mother’s disapproval.

A number of the cast were non-actors who were found in a nationwide audition process called ‘Search For A Star’. Run by Freestyle’s distributor, Revolver Entertainment, in partnership with social networking site Bebo and the NBA, casting sessions were held in London, Manchester and Birmingham. The aim: to gather a multi-cultural cast of young men and women with impressive freestyle basketball skills and a raw talent to play principle and supporting roles in the film.

The audition winners joined a more established cast of actors including Colin Salmon, Danny John-Jules and up-and-coming star Arinze Kene. Microwave talks to Arinze to find out more about his experience on Freestyle.

What previous experience did you have in both acting and freestyling before you were cast as the lead in Freestyle?

Before I was cast in Freestyle, I had already done a few stage plays including playing Simba in The Lion King so I was already very comfortable with acting. The freestyle experience I had prior to the movie was mainly from when I was younger. I actually won the Nike/MTV Freestyle Challenge.

What kind of training/rehearsals did you have to go through to prepare for the shoot?

We trained for a few hours a week on our freestyle routines, it was quite intensive. We had to make sure the basketball scenes looked real as well. It was great because I was able to brush up on my skills before the shoot. We also had a few rehearsals with dialogue and so on to prepare with the rest of the cast who were largely non-actors.

How did you find the whole experience of being involved in a feature film? What did you learn?

It was terrific! I loved it the whole way through. The crew were great to work with and so were the cast. As filming progressed I got more relaxed into my role and had an even better time. It’s given me good experience of being in front of a camera.

Much of the cast of Freestyle had never acted before – did you all support each other through the production?

There was this unspoken rule that if you knew someone was having difficulties somewhere, you could step in a give them a little help. I helped where I could with lines and so on. It was great working with such talented non-actors. Many of them have raw talent to act and have proved great on screen.

What kind of tips were you able to pick up from more experienced professionals such as actor Colin Salmon and the crew?

We had an awesome conversation with Colin when he spoke about why he said yes to doing the movie and how much he helps out where he can. He gave us acting tips as well. He was so calm in front of the camera and its because he’s been there a thousand times before, but that’s the main thing I took away from Colin, just to be calm each time.

How quickly were you able to create the on-screen chemistry with the other lead in the film Lucy Konadu? Was it easy?

It was easy because Lucy was such a star to work with. I knew her before, through basketball, which helped. From watching the movie, we’ve proved to be a wonderful couple on screen!!

What appeals to you about the story of Freestyle? Do you think its positive message will appeal to the kids who will watch the film?

Every young person who has watched it has absolutely loved it. I think it appeals to our youth especially. The messages in the movie are positive. My character, Leon’s central story is that he’s aiming to go to university to become a sports journalist. Lucy’s character, Ondene, works too hard and when she finds basketball it helps her to release stress. We both live this schizophrenic life between academia and Freestyle. It also sends out a message about individuality and being artful.

You are also a writer as well as an actor and we understand you will be appearing as principle character Connor in BBC 1’s Eastenders – what else are you up to next?

Well, I have now shot Eastenders, and with the release of Freestyle, I hope they bring me more work. In the meantime, I’ve been focusing on my playwriting and gaining experience in the directing field. One of my major goals is to create a successful theatre and production company. One that celebrates inner-city characters and urban youth, as myself.

Read more about Freestyle in the Get Inspired section.

Visit the official Freestyle website to listen to exclusive tracks and follow the film on Twitter and Bebo.