THE tale of a baby born in a caravan during a snow storm who went on to become the world’s richest gypsy has already captured the imagination of millions — so it is no wonder Hollywood producers have gone knocking at Alfie Best’s door.
A documentary about his life is currently No1 in Amazon Prime’s European charts - beating Taylor Swift’s Eras World Tour and Tom Cruise’s Lights, Camera, Actio’s Lights, Camera, Action.
And now there is talk of making a movie about the world’s first Billionaire Gypsy, with Alfie keen to see Brad Pitt in the leading role.
Alfie says: “I’m blown away. I sell caravans for a living. That’s not sexy.
“Who’d ever think that a humble mobile home park operator would have a documentary beating Tom Cruise and second to Taylor Swift?”
Alfie, No745 in The Sunday Times Rich List, owns 119 holiday and residential parks from Aberdeen to Lands End, a country club in Essex and a string of rental villas in Barbados.
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He lives in a £6million mansion, has a £4.5million Airbus helicopter styled by Aston Martin and a supercar collection worth £12million, including a £2.7million Bugatti Chiron.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the 53-year-old said: “When people hear the word ‘billionaire’ they think of grandeur beyond belief and when they hear the word ‘gypsy’ they think liar and thief.
“The two things don’t go together, do they? But the title is good — and true.”
Remarkably, Alfie admits he was not keen to make the documentary, which won plaudits when it was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival last May.
Critics among the 150 guests invited to a screening on Alfie’s £9million yacht, Wyldecrest, moored in the French resort’s swanky marina, raved about the documentary.
Alfie says: “It’s like looking through a rose-tinted glass at somebody else. I’m suffering with a bit of impostor syndrome. I didn’t expect it to do as well as it has done.
“I didn’t really see this as an opportunity but that is the truth. There was no budget for advertising but the documentary just keeps trending and trending. It seems to have hit a spot with the public.”
And he certainly didn’t expect Hollywood to come calling.
He says: “The documentary was made by Joel Van der Molen, and he called me to say, ‘We’ve been approached by one of the mainstream studios and they want to make a feature film’.
“It’s absolutely crazy but overwhelming, flattering and a bit surreal. If they do make the movie, or they don’t make it in the end, even to consider it is beyond belief.”
When I ask Alfie who he would like to play him in a Hollywood movie, he replies: “Come on, we have got to go down the road of Brad Pitt, he has already played a Traveller.”
Brad, 60, played Mickey O’Neil — the gypsy fighter with the unintelligible Irish accent — in Guy Ritchie’s 2000 movie Snatch.
Alfie jokes: “Brad Pitt knows the culture. I’m going to invite him over, park him in a caravan outside the front door of my house.
“I’m going to sleep in my silk sheets, he is going to get an old blanket with holes in. There is no heating. He’ll be a true gypsy.”
Producer Joel first approached Alfie three years ago with the idea of making a documentary about his life and his opinions on the state of the world.
Alfie, boss of mobile home park operator Wyldecrest Parks, says: “I really, genuinely didn’t want to, not because I am shy of a camera.
“The truth is I’d already had a success doing a programme called Undercover Big Boss, which was received really well.
“I’m not an actor, I’m not a celebrity, so I don’t particularly want to give up my day job and try to become one, because I think I would fail.
“I thought lightning doesn’t strike twice and when somebody says they want to make a documentary about the economy, your life and where you come from and how that interacts with the rest of the world, that makes you think, ‘Hold on, we’re punching above our weight here’.
“But Joel badgered me for about three months. I then decided, ‘OK, this is a man who is committed.
“He actually said he was going to put his own money behind the documentary.”
The programme interviews Dancing on Ice and Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney, a friend of Alfie and his family since they met in Majorca ten years ago.
Alfie says: “She has been genuinely a rock. Whenever I’ve had problems in my life, Claire has been there, picked up the phone.
“We have a lot in common. She is one of the few actors who is a grafter. She will hate me for saying this, but she uses the phrase ‘I’ve been grafting today’ and you don’t think of somebody in the acting profession using that terminology.”
The programme highlights the problems of people young and old on the housing ladder and Alfie believes park living is a solution, providing cheap homes.
He says: “I told the inspirational story that I wanted to tell and the audience response is absolutely phenomenal.”
Documentary-maker Joel van Der Molen, who is in the US talking to film studios, says: “Alfie’s story is unique and something I definitely wanted to tell.
“Someone in the caravan on the side of the road becoming the most successful gypsy ever. It’s a significant British success story in modern times. I was surprised it hadn’t been done already.
“When Alfie speaks he is so inspirational and I wanted to bring that to the world. We are getting so many wonderful messages and reviews.
“We have definitely struck a chord with the hearts and minds of millions of people in the UK that is for sure.”
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Alfie, who was born in a caravan parked on the side of the road near Coventry, is descended from Romany gypsies - farm workers who took to the road and fled from Wales during the Roman invasion of Britain.
He says: “I hid the fact that I was a gypsy for a long time. Until 18 years ago I would never tell anybody I was a gypsy. Now I am proud. It has made me who I am - the Billionaire Gypsy.”
