" The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it... Its a great outlet. Im not really sure who I am - it seems I change every day." Leonardo DiCaprio
My main passions in life are music, dancing and acting…and performing !
And I began in earnest at the age of nine when I had the good fortune to be chosen from 2000 children to act alongside Roy Hudd in the West End production of Oliver. I was trained in various elements including dance, singing, acting and had an great time performing in such a high profile show.
Since then, I have recorded for radio and have appeared in various stage productions, TV adverts, magazines, reality shows and documentaries.
For one TV job with Darlow Smithson and The National Geographic I had to play various military roles and under police guard ex SAS soldiers trained me to fire assault rifles, AK47 sub machine guns, break down doors, climb buildings .. wow, that was some job.
What followed on from that unique training and experience is that I now do acting work for an airline security firm and this involves travelling to different locations around the world to assist in the training of air crew, pilots, Government officials and security forces in anti-hijacking and counter terrorism techniques. This job involves playing the improvised role of an armed terrorist on board an aircraft for 10 - 24 hours at a time.
Aircraft Hijack Exercise
The training I am involved with illustrates how a typical hijack progresses from the Intimidation Phase, through the Custodial Phase to Resolution, and the various syndromes associated with hostage taking incidents: Stockholm Syndrome, London Syndrome and John Wayne Syndrome.
My role is to illustrate how to introduce Stockholme Syndrome during a terrorist siege and how to work towards a good outcome. This work involves remaining in character for several hours and holding conversations with passengers, crew, security forces, pilots, negotiation teams,etc. I improvise all the way through the exercise and interact with the 100 + people on board the aircraft. I run through a full set of emotions, from being angry and hostile at the begining of the exercise all the way through to broken and dispirited at the end. As well as the above, I also have to introduce subtle changes in my body language and gradually change from hi to low status.
I have a regular spot on several TV programmes including Real Hustle,Casualty, Torchwood, Dr Who and Test The Nation.
Some recent work has involved tasting food made for me by celebrity chefs and then providing sound bites on camera about what I though of it ( ! ) and before that I acted the part of a gang member in front of an audience of 1000+ for the film premier of Guy Ritchies film, Rock ‘n’ Rolla.
Some of my work has involved speaking roles in corporate videos and providing vox pops and testimonials for products. I have spoken directly on camera for several high profile products including T Mobile Walk n Web for SKY TV and a JML advert shown in all Boots stores across the UK
To give you an idea of how diverse my work has been over the years ..... I have been a warm up guy for Ann Robinson on Test The Nation, I have danced on stage with Rose Royce and Gary Newman and I have danced in music videos for George Michael and The Pet Shop Boys ... and one of my best moments has involved performing a robotic dance routine for The Prodigy in front of 20,000 people !
