My first job was a production of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey that toured and then ran in the West End at Trafalgar Studios in 2019. I played Geoff, an art student down on his luck who moves in with Jo and becomes a sort of surrogate father to her unborn baby.

It was the first job I went up for after signing with my agent out of drama school. I hadn’t heard of the play before then, but a few friends had studied it at school and told me what a fascinating character study and seminal piece of British drama it was. 

I remember having to choose two scenes from the script and prepare a song that felt in keeping with the story. I sang Smile by Charlie Chaplin in a (hopefully) Salford accent. Two days later, I was back at drama school, in a read-through for my graduating short film and I missed a call from my agent. 

Rehearsals began three weeks after graduation. A lot of the actors I really admire started off in theatre, in weekly rep. And to my mind, this job could be my version of that: getting to be with a brilliant text and a complex character for months – adapting to new spaces and different audiences.

I learned that staying wedded to a particular way of working isn’t always the most helpful or interesting approach. As daunting as it can feel to stay constantly open to different ways of building character and story, it makes for a much more dynamic experience. 

We were with the show for six months so I found I had to try new things within my playing of it in order to keep it feeling alive. It means remaining playful and receptive to the other actors and seeing what comes up – allowing different impulses to thrive.

If I were to give any advice? Go after good writing because it goes a long way. Same applies to feeling connected to your characters. After that: free yourself up to be surprised by what works.

CV Stuart Thompson

Age: 25
Training: LAMDA
Theatre includes: A Taste of Honey (National Theatre/Trafalgar Studios), Did I Wake You? (Young Vic), Spring Awakening (Almeida) and The Narcissist (Chichester Festival Theatre) 
TV includes: Unprecedented: Viral (BBC), The Witcher (Netflix), Starstruck (BBC) and The Bower (BFI)
Other Credits: 2022 Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at The Critics Circle Theatre Awards
Agent: Dan Copeland at Independent Talent