ONLY POSH KIDS GET TO BE ACTORS TODAY
Working class hit by cut in bursaries
A CHUBBY father lost four stone – by exercising with his newborn son.
Sion Monty, 30, piled on weight after tot Tedi was born. So the gym owner, of Porthmadog, Gwynedd, began running – pushing Tedi in his pram.
Sion said: “You should have seen how much he laughed at his dad jogging up the hills. I love being a dad, and I’m happy with
my body.”
POSH youngsters are set to take over telly screens thanks to their family’s bulging bank accounts.
The new president of actors’ union Equity says working class wannabes are struggling to make it as bursaries at some drama schools have been cut. Maureen Beattie claims that as a result there are more stars with posh accents flooding our screens such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne than the likes of Danny Dyer. Insiders are worried shows such as Corrie and EastEnders will soon be stuffed full of actors from wealthy backgrounds, who have no idea what life is like for their characters. Maureen, who starred on shows such as Dr Who and Casualty, also lashed out at schools cutting their drama departments in a bid to save money. She said: “We have a big problem in our business of it reverting to what it was like before I went to drama school. “In the 60s I looked at the people graduating from the great drama schools, coming out of Rada, they all spoke with cut-glass accents, Mummy and Daddy had money to put them through it and you thought: ‘That’s great, how marvellous and how lucky you are.’ “We are increasingly finding it is more and more difficult for people from working class backgrounds to get into the business. “It is not just about people not coming directly into our business… there are doctors and CEOs who say WEALTHY: Cumberbatch PRIVILEGED: Redmayne things like: ‘I was a shy retiring child, did improvisation and that brought me out of my shell.’”
Sherlock star Benedict graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2000.
Pal Eddie went to Eton with the backing of banker dad Richard and business owning mum Patricia.