Injury put former rugby star on a different track to the limelight

STEWART Wright’s friends were well used to him slapping around in the mud, making grunting noises and dragging very big men to the ground with ease.

Now, they had to get used to the sight of their chum wearing tights and make up.

Stewart, who stars in The Railway Children theatre play next week in Glasgow, was once a rugby player with a very promising future.

But serious injury put paid to his career, just as he made England Under 18 level.

Thankfully, acting has more than filled that void.

“The acting didn’t come out of the blue completely,” he recalls.

“I had done some acting at school and I really enjoyed it.”

Hammersmith-born Stewart applied for drama college and was accepted.

From that point he worked hard to establish himself, like every other actor out of college.

It was tough. In between acting jobs he worked on building sites. But then he landed work as a line-reader, basically a feed for other actors, and the job moved his career onto a new level.

“The director liked what I did and the result was I landed a part in People Like Us,” he recalls of the 1999 show.

The mockumentary was a huge success and Stewart’s talents for comedy were underlined. Screenwriter Richard Curtis declared Stewart to be his favourite young actor.

He since went on to star alongside Alison Steadman and Ashley Jensen in ITV drama, Love and Marriage, above.

“I dip in and out of the showbiz fast lane. And that’s OK,” he says, smiling.

What gives him the resolve when he finds himself in the show lane?

Did rugby help build the character to help him stick it out when the work simply doesn’t come along?

“I think it has been a big help,” he says. “It helps you in lots of careers.

“The experience of sport shows the commitment and effort, and passion I guess.

“And some people want to nourish these character assets.”

His first lead role in a TV series came about in 2002 when he starred alongside Sally Phillips in Rescue Me.

Stewart adds; “I really clicked with the director Debbie Isitt who directed Love and Marriage and I went on to do a film with her.”

He adds, grinning; “There are plenty of moments when you don’t click with a director and you’re right out the door.”

Right now, Stewart is delighting in playing the role of Perks in The Railway Children.

E Nesbit’s tale was made into a feature film in 1970 starring Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett.

It features the story of Roberta (Millie Turner) Peter (Vinay Lad) and Phyllis (Katherine Carlton), three children whose lives change dramatically when