IN 1999, A BUNCH OF HEDONISTIC RAVERS GOT MAKING A FILM BY DAY. AS HUMAN TRAFFIC HITS A TRUE CULT CLASSIC. NICE ONE, BRUVVA! TOGETHER, PARTYING BY NIGHT AND, SOMEHOW, 25, WE ASK THEM HOW THEY ENDED UP WITH

Words John Nugent

HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN DRUGS?

It’s not a question actors expect to hear in an audition. More often than not, you might hear something like, “Can you do an American accent?” or, “Are you willing to appear nude on camera?” But this most unlikely line of inquiry was exactly the ice-breaker Welsh filmmaker Justin Kerrigan used while auditioning for his 1999 rave comedy-drama Human Traffic.

“That was the first question!” recalls Danny Dyer, who would go on to win the role of Moff. At that point, Dyer had never appeared in a film, his future as Queen Vic landlord and Cockney national treasure not yet assured. For the then 21-year-old, it was a calculated risk. “I suppose it’s usually a no-no —when you walk into an audition, you don’t talk about how many drugs you’re taking.” He offers a cheeky grin. “Of course, I answered honestly.”

As it turned out, it was the right answer. This was a cinematic reverse-doping test that came with a point: Human Traffic was designed to be the first film about clubbing and raving from people who actually understood it —who had lived it, disco biscuits and all. “It was about finding young actors who were a part of the rave scene,” writer-director Kerrigan explains. “Before the actors did a reading, I wanted to find out in our opening pleasantries what their experience was in the scene. I could always tell.” He chuckles. “The one that was most obvious was Danny.”

“He just wanted authenticity,” says John Simm, who would play Jip, the film’s lead and audience surrogate, of Kerrigan. Like Dyer, Simm was also able to provide ample qualifications from the University Of Rave. “He didn’t want people pretending what it must be like on ecstasy, gurning. At the time, I was going out most weekends. That was our world. That was the audition.”

They both got the gig. The result was Human Traffic: still the most truthful depiction of the ’90s rave scene ever committed to screen. Made for next-to-nothing, it’s a raucous, energetic, sweat-drenched, 99-minute mash-up, depicting a single night in the life of five pals: party patriarch Jip, “Cockney space case” Moff, wannabe DJ Koop (Shaun Parkes), unlucky-in-love Lulu (Lorraine Pilkington), and fast-food wage slave Nina (Nicola Reynolds).

It became a cult classic that captured the chemical generation, just as it crested; acted as career launchpad for Simm, Dyer, Andrew Lincoln and many others; and made the phrase “Nice one, bruvva!” an eternal meme. Twenty-five years after release, it remains a lightning-in-a-bottle time capsule. Or, as Dyer succinctly puts it: “It was just about young people who go out, get fucked up, talk a lot of shit, dance around, cuddle each other, have a comedown and go back to work —roll the credits.” Grab your glow sticks: the weekend has landed.