Inspirational Christmas Carol star Lenny Rush, 10, hopes Tiny Tim role helps more disabled actors get cast
HE has won over the TV audience with his performance as Tiny Tim in the BBC adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
But young actor Lenny Rush’s powerful real-life story is just as spirited as the Charles Dickens character he plays on screen.
The ten-year-old was born with the same type of dwarfism as Star Wars actor Warwick Davis.
His rare condition — spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia congenita — causes skeletal abnormalities and those affected can have problems with sight and hearing too.
But Lenny has used his disability to his advantage — and has been cast as Tiny Tim in two high-profile productions of A Christmas Carol this year.
He said: “Why not cast a disabled actor in the role of a disabled person if they are good at what they do?
“It raises awareness and shows that everyone is different. I think it’s good for people with disabilities to have the same opportunities as other people, because why not?
“Disability or not, I think anybody can play a role.”
Lenny’s current outing as poorly and poor Tim Cratchit is in the gritty new version of the Dickens classic by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, which has its third and final episode screened tonight.
And it seems the youngster has big plans for his acting career, hinting that one day he might like a role in Peaky Blinders.
He said: “I hope that in five years I’ll have been able to work with some amazing directors and actors and that I’m still acting, as I love it so much. I’d love to play some sort of crime boss.”
Viewers have praised Lenny for shining in the star-studded Christmas Carol cast that features Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge, Stephen Graham as Jacob Marley and Andy Serkis as the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Viewer Matt Scar tweeted: “What a lovely kid, I wish him all the best in his career and look forward to seeing him in future movies. He’s absolutely brilliant. His parents should be so proud, they’ve raised a great kid.”
Michael Goulston tweeted: “His parents must be so proud. Happy Christmas young man.”
And Cerys wrote: “So inspirational, as someone who loves acting and has a disability this gives me so much hope. Chase your dreams Lenny, you’ll go so far.”
As well as shining on TV, for the previous two Christmas seasons Lenny played Tim in the Old Vic theatre show of the novel in London, alongside Rhys Ifans as Scrooge.
But he hasn’t had the roles handed to him on a plate — they mark two years of personal and professional graft.
Just a year before his first Old Vic appearance, he had major surgery to straighten his legs, which was followed by intensive physiotherapy so he could play sport with pals.
The op left Lenny, from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, in a hip-to-ankle cast.
Yet just five months later he had already rejoined his friends in sports classes at school.
He decided he wanted to be an actor after he appeared on CBeebies scripted factual show Our Family with his younger brother Bobby and mum Lisa in 2017.
He said: “I’ve sort of always been interested in acting, but Mum signed us in for Our Family and it’s got my whole family in it. I loved being in front of the camera so I went to an acting school and signed up with an agency called Quirky Kids.”
The agency is run by actress Pauline Quirke — Sharon in long-running sitcom Birds Of A Feather — who also accepted Lenny as a student at her performing arts school in Wickford, Essex, where he trains each weekend.
With Pauline’s backing, Lenny soon won a role in CBeebies show Apple Tree House, set on a fictional London housing estate.
He went on to be cast in A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic in 2017 after playwright Jack Thorne insisted that a talented disabled actor play the iconic role.
Jack said: “One of my bugbears with Christmas Carol is when Tiny Tim is not played by a disabled person, because he’s supposed to be a disabled character. When there’s a shortage of parts for people with disabilities, it’s really important we have disabled people play disabled parts.”
In preparation for the role, Lenny tackled a tough ten-hour rehearsal schedule and shone in two performances a week.
His headteacher at Burnham-on-Crouch Primary School, Kelly Stock, watched as Lenny impressed his fellow Old Vic cast members.
She said: “Rhys Ifans wanted to introduce Lenny to his friends and family. Lenny was a real professional and smiled and chatted, despite being very tired.
“He showed amazing confidence performing to an audience of more than 1,000 and was superb in his lines and acting.”
Lenny has made his mark in another way at the Old Vic, fundraising to ensure the theatre was made more accessible for disabled visitors and actors when it was renovated in autumn this year.
As the Vic’s “access ambassador” he made sure it now has an accessible box office, stalls and foyer, and two entrances for wheel-chairs.
At the October reopening ceremony Lenny quipped: “I just wanted to say a few words. I kept it short and sweet — just like me.
“I helped raise the money for the Old Vic to make it accessible and welcoming for everyone.”
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The present-day attitude to disability is in sharp contrast to that of Dickens’s era, and Lenny’s headteacher Kelly said: “During the performance Tiny Tim is described as a cripple. Mrs Rush and I spoke of how uncomfortable it made us both feel to hear that.
“We understand that it is to reflect the times of the story and how glad we are that the world is kinder now and far more inclusive.
“Disability is no longer seen as an illness.”
- A Christmas Carol concludes tonight at 9pm on BBC1.
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