ACTORS STARS OF TOMORROW
Jeremy Piven in ITV’s drama series Mr Selfridge, currently shooting around London. He has just signed with William Morris Endeavor in Los Ange- les and says, modestly: “I couldn’t be any happier really, with the way things are going.” Contact Grant Parsons, Curtis Brown +44 (0) 20 7393 4464
parsonsoffice@curtisbrown.co.uk
YUSRA WARSAMA She has casting directors’ hearts-a-flutter with her combination of Somali heritage and Manchester theatrical background. Yusra Warsama is “unique and exciting”, says one casting expert.
Born in the UAE to a Somali nomad mother and Yemeni father, Warsama came to a “terraced house in rainy Manchester” in 1986, aged 18 months. “Hearing and understanding the Somali lan-
guage and heritage growing up in Manchester meant I had to negotiate between two cultures — and that has made me who I am,” she says. A quiet child, she grew up writing (she is also a
playwright and a poet) and was heavily influenced by her time at the Contact Theatre in Manchester and its director John McGrath, who now heads the National Theatre of Wales. In 2010 Warsama made the decision to focus on acting; her first credit was a compelling turn in Justin Chadwick’s BBC drama Stolen opposite Damian Lewis. Now she has landed a key role in Focus Fea-
tures’ Jordan and UK-shot sci-fi thriller Last Days On Mars opposite Liev Schreiber, Romola Garai and 2011 Star of Tomorrow Tom Cullen. Warsama says: “I spent my first days in rehearsal wonder- ing, ‘Is this really happening, or am I having an out-of-body experience?’” Contact Lindy King, Julia Charteris, United Agents +44 (0) 20 3214 0800
jcharteris@unitedagents.co.uk
SAMANTHA BARKS The 21-year-old Isle of Man-born singer/actress Samantha Barks has enjoyed a stellar trajectory. At the age of 16, she moved to London by herself and ranked third in reality TV show I’d Do Anything, trying out for the role of Nancy in Andrew Lloyd- Webber’s stage production of Oliver!. Barks was later offered the role of Eponine in the long-run-
ning London stage pro- duction of Les Misérables, and was chosen to per- form it at the show’s 25th anniversary perform- ance at the vast O2 Arena. Barks won the part again in Tom Hoop- er’s anticipated film ver-
sion for Working Title Films, after a gruelling 15-week casting process and despite reported com- petition from Taylor Swift. She stars opposite Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. “I wanted the part more than anything in my life,” she admits. Barks says she has loved the move from stage to
screen, revelling in the “freedom [of] it being so intimate, playing that heartache as if you were sit- ting in front of me. Yet you walk onto a set and it’s a full street in Paris. It’s both smaller and bigger than I ever dreamed it.” Inspired by Jackman’s stage- screen career, Barks hopes to line up more film. “I haven’t stopped since the age of 16,” she says. “And it suits me that way. I love it.” Contact Kirk Whelan-Foran, United Agents +44 (0) 20 3214 0800
kwhelan-foran@unitedagents.co.uk
CREATIVE SKILLSET IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL UK STARS OF TOMORROW
We wish them every success in their future careers.
A Bigger Future 2: Skills. Jobs. Action.
www.ABiggerFuture2.co.uk
» SS6098_BF2_
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