DEREK LUKE - ACTOR LUKE'S RESEARCH LEADS TO MANDELA PRISON CELL

ACTOR LUKE'S RESEARCH LEADS TO MANDELA PRISON CELL

Hollywood actor DEREK LUKE was left shocked during a research visit to a South African prison for new movie CATCH A FIRE, when he spent time in the cell where former South African leader NELSON MANDELA was incarcerated for 18 years. In the film, Luke plays real-life coal worker-turned-African National Congress militant PATRICK CHAMUSSO, who served 10 years at Robben Island prison. And during a visit to the lock-up, Luke found himself lying on what was Mandela's bed. He says, "Part of my research was going to Robben Island. "I'm walking around and they're showing me the different cells where Patrick could've stayed. They gave me this key and I think it was 006 or 007 and they told me to open up the cell. "I walk in the cell and they asked me to lie down in the cell. So finally I do it and I remember lying in the cell and I felt like I was starting to shake. They said, 'Are you comfortable?' I said, 'I'm not comfortable.' "They said, 'This is the cell of Nelson Mandela.' "He was in prison in this cell for 18 years. In a corner there was this pail and the pail is where he washed his clothes, where he ate and also where he went to the rest room because there was no toilet in the cell."