‘SUSPECT’S NEW SPARK

Colin Salmon acknowledges that his life has changed in his native England since “Prime Suspect II” premiered in December.

“Shopping takes a lot longer now,” he said with a smile. “And I am quite talkative. I have had a few discussions with people.”

The British press are declaring the handsome, 6-foot-4, 30-year-old actor the “British Denzel Washington,” thanks to his riveting performance as Det. Sgt. Bob Oswalde. An opportunistic, London police detective, Oswalde has an affair with Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) and ends up taking a controversial murder case, set in London’s black community, into his own hands with tragic results.

“Prime Suspect II” marks the first screen appearance of Salmon, who was born of an English mother and West African father. Just a few years ago, Salmon, a jazz musician, was making a living “busking” as a street performer outside one of London’s theaters.

“I didn’t have a band, it was my birthday and I said the hell with it,” Salmon said during a recent visit to Los Angeles. “I had never done it before. I was terrified. I had a hat and pulled it down. I put a mute in my trumpet. I had nothing to lose really. It was really tough times.”

Two actors from the play heard Salmon’s playing and befriended him. Soon, Salmon busked every night before shows at the theater. “I met a lot of interesting people, like James Baldwin before he died,” Salmon said. “His show ‘The Amen Corner’ was on. As a busker, when the show goes up, I would finish and would go to the bar while the show was on. James Baldwin was there.”

Baldwin was so impressed with Salmon’s musicianship that he got the producers of the show to pay him to play. “When it transferred to the West End, I went with it. They paid me a wage. The good thing was I would finish and watch the show. I watched a lot of theater.”

Salmon had been appearing as a musician and actor in the hit musical play “Buddy” for more than a year when he auditioned for “Prime Suspect II.”

“They had been looking for this character for quite a while,” he said, adding that there are quite a few black actors in England, but “they end up getting seen a lot and get recognized a lot.”

The character of Oswalde excited him. “He is not one of the guys,” he said. “I am a bit of a maverick character myself. I work and go home to my family. I don’t necessarily hang out with people, so there is a certain side of me that understands Bob.”

Salmon said that black policemen in England travel a “hard road.” Their community, he said, often look upon them as traitors. These days, though, the numbers of blacks on the police force are increasing. “In terms of Afro-British, mainly they are from the West Indies and they are distrustful of the British,” he said. “In the early days, my dad told me not to join the police force. I think it has taken a generation to get off that idea (of being distrustful of the police). We are coming around now.”

To prepare for his role, Salmon spent time with black Det. Chief Inspector Mike Fuller. “He is a very special policeman,” he said. “He listens very closely, which is a policeman’s job. And in terms of arresting black suspects, he has often found a sense of relief that they felt they were at least going to get a fair hearing. (Black policemen) are going to understand where they are coming from. Obviously, if you are West Jamaican and you have not been over very long, you would have a broad dialect and cultural differences could cause misunderstandings.”

Unfortunately, the British class system, Salmon said, is still thriving. “I don’t understand the class system, I don’t respect it. In England, if you don’t speak a certain way, they don’t hear you. That’s dumb.”

Growing up black in England he ran into difficulties with the police. “We came up against problems--not so much myself, but other friends. We weren’t believed. The police would give you a hassle. I know how to play the game and it is games. You have to learn. I knew how to address them and how not to antagonize them. But if you don’t know the game. ...”

Just before “Prime Suspect II” aired, Salmon ran into trouble with the police in London. “I parked in the yellow line,” he said, laughing. “I shouldn’t have done it.” When he came out from the store, a white London policeman began harassing him. The policeman changed his tune when Salmon’s wife, who is white, ran out to the car.

“He said, ‘That’s OK.’ I wish she hadn’t come out. I have friends, now, powerful friends (in the police force) through this show. I wanted this guy sorted out if he had carried on.”