Playwright Basil Dawkins has hailed the late actor Christopher McFarlane, with whom he worked on several projects, as a consummate professional whose versatility contributed significantly to projects of which he was part of.

“He was an actor that young actors could emulate both on screen and on stage. He could operate in a wide-ranging scope. In [the play] Forbidden, for example, he took on this ‘bad man’ role so well. He could also take on difficult roles. When we remember him, we will all remember how flexible and affable and fun-loving he was and made every rehearsal memorable,” the playwright of 40 years told the Jamaica Observer.

McFarlane passed away on September 10 after battling an undisclosed illness.

While still a student at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, McFarlane was nominated for an Actor Boy Award for his performance in Dennis Scott’s An Echo in The Bone.

He won the Actor Boy Award for Supporting Actor for his performance in Dawkins’ Who God Bless and followed that with another Actor Boy Award for Best Actor in A Lead Role for Outstanding Work in A Tempest.

McFarlane held major roles in productions such as A Raisin in The Sun, Against His Will, Country Duppy, What is fi Yuh and for a sterling role in the play, Judgement.

He was nominated for Best Actor in A Lead Role for Appropriate Behaviour. He also landed leading roles in several Jamaican films such as Ghett’A Life, Goathead, and Better Mus’ Come.

Dawkins served as mentor to McFarlane when he graduated from Edna.

“I met him when he had just come out of drama school. He kind of developed in my hands because I took him and we did quite a number of projects together. He was young, enthusiastic, talented, easy to work with. Directors never had problems with him at all. It was always good vibes around when he was around. Even under stressful conditions he never cracked,” he said.

Dawkins said he last spoke to McFarlane a few months ago. He had no idea the actor was sick.

“The last time we spoke was a couple months ago because he was a talent finder for ads and he always leaned on me to find talents for the ads. The last time we spoke he wanted some people of a particular age and look,” he explained.

“When I noticed that I wasn’t seeing anything on social media — because he used to joke a lot online — I enquired about it and was told that he was helping with a family business. As far as I knew, he was just busy with work. It wasn’t until he passed that I found out that he was sick,” Dawkins added.