Actress Michelle Collins tells Commons that only actors with a ‘silver spoon’ in their mouths like Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne will fill our screens
Lack of opportunity for the poorest wannabe actors means Britain faces 'only one type in the TV world'
ONLY actors born with a “silver spoon” like Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne will fill our screens in future unless ministers act urgently, MPs will be warned today.
Actress Michelle Collins will tell a Commons inquiry it is becoming “increasingly hard” for actors from poorer backgrounds to get a foothold in the industry.
She said a lack of opportunity for the poorest wannabe actors means Britain faces having “only one type in the TV world - privileged, silver spoon types or Eton posh boys”.
Last year talk show star James Corden said he feared acting was becoming an “elitist sport” because working class actors don’t get the breaks they deserve.
MPs Gloria De Piero and Tracy Brabin, a former Coronation Street actress, have been asked by Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Tom Watson to lead an inquiry into barriers in the industry.
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Ms Collins said youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds struggled to pay drama school fees and feel their dreams are out of their league.
She said: “It seems to be getting increasingly hard for people who have no ins or friends or family in the TV world.
“If you are connected in some way you will get an internship, traineeship or something similar but if you are just a working class kid from an ordinary background really what chance have you got?
“How do you even know how or where to apply if no one helps you. We need to help young people from less well-off backgrounds and give them more opportunities otherwise we will only have one type in the TV world - privileged , silver spoon types or ex Eton posh boys or girls.”
Labour MP Gloria De Piero, a former TV journalist, said the inquiry was about knocking down barriers and getting more working class kids onstage and onscreen.
She said: “At the moment acting and too much of the TV, film and theatre worlds feel colonised by well off people with well-connected families.”