Family means everything Grandmother jets in from London to support actor grandson in Jamaica

Carmen Andes is one proud grandmother, and with good reason.

The retired mail sorter at the Natural History Museum in London was back home on The Rock, chaperoning her teenage grandson Seyi Andes-Pelumi, who’s the lead star in his first feature film, Jabari’s People, which wrapped filming in the Blue Mountains recently.

“It’s truly a great achievement for him,” Andes told THE STAR.

Beaming from ear to ear at 17-year-old Seyi’s breakthrough, she recalled how her precocious grandchild would demand an audience from an early age.

“From the time Seyi was four onwards, our family would be watching television, but he wanted all the attention and would be doing things. We would have to sit there and listen to him,” she recounted.

Andes, who migrated at 11 from Kellits, Clarendon, to the United Kingdom, where she and her siblings joined their already transplanted parents, concedes that, were she a betting woman, her grandson’s current acting pursuits would not have been on her bingo card. In hindsight, she can now easily connect the dots.

“I know when he was around 12, whenever there was a christening or wedding, he was always the first one to get up and make a speech. We sensed he was in the motion to become famous at something,” the septuagenarian remembers.

Seyi was handpicked by Hollywood veteran actor Delroy Lindo to play the titular character in Jabari’s People, which will also mark Lindo’s directorial debut.

Lindo flew to London to meet the teen actor in person after being impressed by a submitted audition tape.

Seyi tells THE STAR he had long been a fan of Lindo’s body of work, particularly a trio of Spike Lee-directed films: Da 5 Bloods, Malcolm X and Crooklyn.

The teenager, who is the second of four children born to his reflexologist mother and property developer father, has had roles in BBC iPlayer’s Crongton and the Prime Video series, Jungle.

Being number one on the call sheet for a movie brought newfound thrills to the actor.

“It’s fun and challenging being the lead. The pace, the speed and intensity is not something I expected. I came to kind of enjoy it because it added to everyone’s creativity,” he said of his experience of the 22-day shoot here.

Seyi adopts a convincing New Yorker accent to play the troubled Jabari, who is sent from the Bronx to live with his estranged grandparents in Jamaica by his father, portrayed by Trinidadian actor Winston Duke.

Duke is well known for playing warrior M’Baku in the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther film franchise.

“I live in England but have Jamaican heritage. I had always wanted to explore my roots and culture. Jabari is also doing that, so whilst filming, it’s almost as if I am learning at the same time,” Seyi says of the added benefits the role provided him.

Shooting Jabari’s People on location is Seyi’s formal introduction to island life, and his grandmother has made repeat trips to visit cousins in Clarendon.

Admittedly, she’s not quite the movie fan, even as her grandson charts a path in the film industry.

“I am a soap opera person. I love watching EastEnders and Coronation Street on the telly, and I also like documentaries,” Andes said.

Notwithstanding, she’s joined the Lindo fanbase.

“He is such a kind, generous and nice person,” she lauds.

A widow since her husband’s death in 2019, together they raised four sons and a daughter.

“I wanted more. My mum used to tease me and say, ‘You are going to have loads,’” reflects the dual citizen who spent most of her working life as a supervisor at the Westminster Hospital.

Speaking of her ever-extending clan, Andes jokes she has lost count of the number of her grandchildren.

“I have about eight or nine now. I have two great-grandchildren. I love when our family has get-togethers. We all meet up and have a good old time for birthdays or whatever.”