“Growing up in the North East of England often encourages a certain kind of ‘lad’, and my dad very quickly knew I wasn’t going to fit the criteria. He often tells a story of when he used to take me to a football club when I was 10 years old. The opposite team scored a goal when the goalkeeper was nowhere to be seen. I was that goalkeeper, and I was about 50 yards away, quite literally dancing away by myself in the pouring rain, oblivious to whatever it was I was expected to do. When I’m not publicly embarrassing myself, I love to sit with a novel in my hands or a glass of red wine, listening to music to encourage innocent ignorance to life outside the front door.”
What did you choose to perform for the Spotlight Prize and why did you pick it?
I chose a piece from Mayfly, written by Joe White. There was something about the vulnerability of a young man opening up to people, in an environment where the pressure is on to create a protected image of himself, but that being forgotten when he realised it was a conversation he had been dying to have for a while that got to me. Kindness led the way for that character all throughout the play, and even when he finally opened up about himself, there were moments offered where he was putting the listeners first to avoid being a ‘burden’. I found it genuinely warming.
What’s your dream role?
I’ve always loved the character of ‘Rick Dalton’ in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Being able to explore the ridiculous yet hysterical anxieties of an actor must have been so much fun to portray.
What kind of performer do you aspire to be?
Regardless of whatever work I’m lucky enough to get, I would purely just like to be someone who tells a story authentically and feels somewhat normal to anyone who has the time to watch whatever it is I get to do.
What have you recently watched, read or listened to that inspired you?
I often listen to Spit of You by Sam Fender, a song about guys and their relationships with their dads. I’m very close to my dad – I should probably invoice him for all of the therapy he’s given me over the years! But that particular song always grounds me and triggers a feeling in me that brings me back to who I know I am, which then encourages me to push myself further in the crazy world of acting.