When Kieran Sarkozi opened The Barber Lounge on Church Road nine years ago, a film and TV director he'd met when he was just 19 unexpectedly showed up. The pair began chatting and decided to produce a local series from his barber shop, in which Kieran would interview public figures and locals with interesting stories.
Once the first series was complete they jetted off to the United States where Kieran interviewed Hollywood stars and visited them in their luxury homes in Malibu and Calabasas. It was a surreal experience for Kieran who wanted to be an actor since he was a child but never had the right opportunities.
The part-time actor landed his first role as a rival Russian Mafia boss, playing alongside the original Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno. He has gone on to appear in Dr Who, Paintball Massacre alongside other productions. For the last few years acting has taken a back seat, but the local barber has not given up on his dreams.
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Growing up wasn’t always easy for Kieran who constantly moved house as a child, living on different council estates in the city which he described as lacking ambition or role models. Constantly moving schools didn’t help and although he always enjoyed drama, he didn’t get on with many subjects and never felt that acting could be a career for someone from his background.
Kieran said: “I grew up all over Bristol, we were moving every year or so. Back when I was younger there wasn’t much known about learning difficulties like ADHD so you were just called a naughty kid and put in the lower class lessons.
“The only lessons that I really excelled in were history, art and drama. I just loved drama.
“There’s not a lot of opportunities in drama for the lower class and I was definitely in that class growing up. People get put in an area on a council estate and they just get left and there’s no ambition, there’s no one to say, ‘you can do this, you can be this'.
“There’s no opportunities like drama school or someone there opening those doors so you don’t see it. You think, ‘I might be able to become a painter and decorator or carpenter but [acting] is for the rich people or the people who don’t have to work'."
Not believing that acting was a realistic career path, Kieran went ahead with his apprenticeship and within five years of completing his training he opened his barber shop on Church Road. During his apprenticeship he got chatting to a client who happened to be a film and TV director, they became friends on Facebook - but Kieran had forgotten all about it until he opened his barber shop five years later and the director paid him a visit on the day of his grand opening.
They ended up working together on a local series where Kieran interviewed the former boxer and bantamweight title holder, Lee Haskins, former footballers Scott Murray and Ian Holloway alongside a range of Bristolians with interesting stories. After signing with an agent he landed his first role in the film Instant Death.
There, he got to work alongside Lou Ferrigno. Although he had to master a Russian accent for his first acting role, the barber said it was his cameo role in Dr Who that ended up being more of a challenge.
Having never seen one episode of the British TV series in his life, it was a steep learning curve for Kieran who didn’t know who the Daleks were and why everyone was “freaking out” over the Tardis. But the most embarrassing moment during his cameo for the 2020 Dr Who Christmas special was while sitting down for dinner with the other actors.
He sat down next to an actor who “everyone was fussing around” and when he overheard someone call his name he turned to him and said, ‘Michael Barrymore' - which didn’t impress John Barrowman, whose Dr Who character Captain Jack was so popular he was given his own show (Torchwood). “It’s funny now but at the time he wasn’t happy about it,” said Kieran.
For Kieran, going to the United States, meeting Hollywood actors, cutting their hair and getting invited into their luxury homes was an experience that will stay with him forever. He has since gone back to visit several times and keeps in touch with the people he met out there.
Reflecting on that first trip to the United States, Kieran said: “We managed to get in touch with some actors and people in the film industry and we got some interviews with some pretty famous people. I got friendly with a guy who owned a barber shop between Long Beach and Compton, he gave me the keys to his shop and said I could film there.
“We went to [Rodger Halston’s] house who lived in a gated community up in Malibu and it was up in the mountains overlooking the beach. It was unbelievable and his house was a pyramid.
“James Lew who is best friends with Jackie Chan and in over 150 films including Big Trouble in Little China, Rush Hour and Inception invited us to his house which is in Calabasas. It's where the Kardashians, Chris Brown and all the really famous people live.
“We went to his house and he had his Emmy award and all over the walls there were pictures of him and Jackie Chan when they were little. He was warming me up bagels and making me coffee, it was just crazy, coming from where I’ve come from to be sitting in Calabasas.”
Kieran has plans to do more acting in the future but over the last few years he has spent time on his business. Three years ago the Barber Lounge on Church Road expanded and he now has a studio called the Dot Father where he does hair tattooing (SMP) - tiny dots inside the hair follicles that cover scars, burns and bald patches.
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