Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Rich kids and acting

Somewhat interesting article about the serious faced young actor Will Poulter in The Guardian, notable because it talks about a disproportionate number of British actors coming from rich kids' schools:
...he was a pupil at the Harrodian School in west London (current fees: upwards of £6,000 per term), whose alumni also include Robert Pattinson, Jack Whitehall, Tom Sturridge and George Mackay....

I wonder how it felt to hear Daniel Mays observe, in 2016, that the industry was “awash” with privately educated actors, or to read the Sutton report’s findings that the same group takes a disproportionately high share of awards (42% of British Bafta winners and 67% of British Oscar winners). Is it like being under attack? “No, no. Not at all. I’ve undoubtedly benefited from my middle-class environment. I hold my hands up to that. And I know that unless we try to make pathways into the industry more open and accessible, then we can’t expect it to reflect society.”
I wonder how that compares with the backgrounds of Australian (and American) actors.  Not something I have thought about all that much...

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