JULIE WALTERS: Opportunities For Working-Class Actors Are Disappearing!
British actress Julie Walters has told of her concerns that opportunities to get into the entertainment industry will only be available for young people with privileged backgrounds.
The 64-year-old star has spoken out about the state of the British scene, and in an interview with The Mirror, she said she was worried that opportunities to break through to the entertainment industry for aspiring working class actors are now pretty much all but gone.
The ‘Harry Potter‘ star believes that the fees for drama schools are now so high that places are unattainable for children from lower-income families.
Walters said:
“Now the theatre is dying out, where do kids start out? They have to pay a lot to go to drama school, then hope they get straight into television or film. But working-class kids can’t afford that.”
Harking back to her Everyman Theatre (Liverpool) roots, she added:
“I was lucky – I had a grant. You can’t get a grant to go to drama school now. Soon the only actors are going to be privileged kids whose parents can afford to send them to drama school. That’s not right. It feels like we are going backwards.”
Walters, who is also famous for her TV work with Victoria Wood throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, achieved international recognition in 1983 with ‘Educating Rita‘ – a British movie that was nominated for three Oscars.
Look out for more of the latest entertainment news on TOMORROW’S NEWS.
