Athol Fugard

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Hammed anima Shaun (front) in the Barber Shop Chronicles - The Performance , knew he was "particularly proud"

When Growing Up Hammed anima Shaun that he wanted to be a performer. But he went from an actor, life would never be open to him, until an understanding teacher, started him on a theatre career. Now, in his 20s, anima Shaun is suddenly a must on directors'-See lists.

For some critics, the review of The Bridge -theatre A Midsummer Night 's Dream this summer, he was "The Best thing about The Show from a distance". Another called him "man of The Match ".

His current role is set in an intense three-hander at the National Theatre , in the apartheid South Africa of 1950.

" Master Harold. and The Boys , a 1982 play by Athol Fugard . It might seem far from the Shakespeare Comedy, but anima Shaun says, what the films have in common is a lot of dancing.

The Dance routines in Master Harold were "so hard" to perfect, says anima Shaun

"people don't expect a pretty big dude Like Me can move like I did, to play Bottom in the dream. But there was a lot of dancing and movement, because the possibility of Nick Hytner, The Show , it was pretty much a rave.

"I kept expecting Nick as a Director to say to me, I withdraw my power and bring it down a few levels, but he didn't - he wouldn't let me go. "

In Master Harold and the dances are different: he and co-star Lucian Msamati of the acquisition of ballroom skills was.

"We rehearsed Every Day for Six Weeks , and it was so hard. I have so much respect for ballroom dancers: there is a level of complexity that I don't expect to just. Playing Below, I had a life the time of my and sometimes I would ad-lib and a bit jittery but the ballroom is completely self-discipline. "

anima Shaun was born in a Nigerian Family in Whitechapel in London's East End . His father, a Bus Driver and his mother, a volunteer. "I always loved my mom laugh in The Living room. But I was the only clown in the whole Family - my brothers, corporate jobs have. "

Hammed anima Shaun as the Bottom

watching TV as A Kid , it never occurred to him that he could make it as an actor. It was a question of race? "In part, Yes, but also, as a child, I was tall and thin, and I thought, there is No One on the screen who looked Like Me or the, the language was, Like Me . "

he says he was incredibly lucky, if at the Sir John Cass School in Stepney his drama teacher Fran Cervi saw a spark. "They persuaded my mother To Let me get involved when I was 11 with the Half Moon Young People 's theatre in Limehouse. It was about building confidence and self-esteem.

"as well as Acting at the Half Moon eventually, I started to work there as an usher and in The Box -office. So that was my big introduction to Acting and the theatre, and I was blessed. I will always be grateful. "

He went to a drama school but 18 went to the University of Greenwich to take drama. He had an agent and he broke out in his second year to accept a role at The Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester, in the drama Mogadishu.

"in hindsight it was never realistic, but at the time I thought I could put the uni on hold and pick it up again next year. It's never happened.

Hammed anima Shaun and the other on The Master Harold team

"But as an actor, to start, you want to move, but you want the kind of stability. But in the end it was The Right thing for the game, although after it I was working in a bar for months. "

He now also has a healthy list of on-screen credits. In television, he had roles in Black Mirror and in the forthcoming breeder, among other things. On the big screen, he co-starred with Joe Thomas in the Comedy " The Festival .

loves But especially anima Shaun Theater. "What I really liked about The Bridge was to be seen, all have a Good Time . The Thing for me was to see people, some of them young children, who are not, perhaps, usually, to understand Shakespeare, what was going on and really getting into it. "

He feels theatre is an oversubscribed profession, and also that it be more difficult for someone from a working-class background, to a career.

Barber Shop Chronicles featured a cast of 12 black actors

"I've worked hard, but also I know, I was very happy with My Family was so big and with all The Passion , to help me out of my drama teacher and my agent.

"But people should not give up. If you find out your teenager, you need to have, what is your next Young People 's theatre. You are going to a well-known drama school is not for everyone and that can be financial, but it could also have other reasons.

"When I started, I think, that were to be used the things much easier, since there were Cuts it to multiple platforms. An actor is not easy, but there are things such as (the non-profit organization), to Open the door, which only supports Certain People in their training.

"The Thing that I've done, what I probably am most proud of-Barber -Shop-Chronicles on The National two years ago. So the 12 black men on the stage talking about their lives and to talk about what is important to you. This was such a great thing.

"I think there is a New Breed , fresh, vibrant and exciting players Coming Up now and it is more racially diverse. Maybe with a casting 10 years ago, things were more complicated, but it's not together were just enough people banded would, to make noise about what is in this industry.

"If we come together and say we can do these things, then the people upstairs to hear. It is not easy - it is the writing and directing. And if you do not hear, we will continue to do that because that is what we have done for a very long time. If the people do not cast us we have Our Own work to produce.

"If you really want to change something, you have to keep straight, push and drive. "

" Master Harold. and The Boys at the National Theatre until 17. December .

acting, theatre, black interest

Source of news: bbc.com