This Is England stars where are they now?
IT brought Nottingham actress Vicky Mcclure to our attention, sealed Shane Meadows’ reputation as a director of note and became a modern classic, but where are the cast of This is England now and what did they go on to achieve?
The gritty film which depicted life in England in the early 1980s spawned TV sequels as well as earning BAFTA nominations and wins plus a clutch of other film accolades.
Largely set in areas of Nottingham including St Ann’s, Lenton and The Meadows it certainly had local appeal too.
But, while fans of Vicky Mcclure will already be fully aware of her career and success in cop drama Line Of Duty, the rest of the cast have some equally interesting tales to tell.
Here’s where and what the cast are up to now.
Vicky Mcclure
Nottingham born actress Vicky played Lol in the 2006 film and in the TV series. She won a Bafta for her performance in This Is England ‘86.
She has graced our screens in roles in Alex Rider, Svengali and Broadchurch, and of course as DI Kate Fleming in Line Of Duty.
Fans are now eagerly awaiting her next appearance in Trigger Point, a new ITV drama which premieres in the New Year, in which Vicky will take on the role of a bomb disposal officer.
Certainly a cheerleader for her home town of Nottingham, the actress maintains roots here.
She is heavily involved with “Our Dementia Choir”, a project that began as part of a BBC documentary and has continued to bring together those suffering from the dementia.
She is also an Alzheimer’s Society ambassador.
Thomas Turgoose
At just 13, Thomas Turgoose stepped up and took the lead role of Shaun in This is England, playing a teen who joins a skinhead gang.
Since then you may have seen the Grimsby-born actor in roles in Game Of Thrones; Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Swimming with Men.
According to IMDB trivia, he charged writer and director Shane Meadows £5 for his audition for This is England.
It reads: “By his own account he was playing truant when he chanced on a crowd of youths who turned out to be auditioning for This is England. He had no particular desire to act, so when his turn came he charged writer/director Shane Meadows £5. He got both the money and the part.”
His most recent appearances include a role in Sky Cinema film
Creation Stories - the tale of Creation Records label head Alan Mcgee. Also this year he has also starred in sci-fi TV series Intergalactic.
Look out for him in a new BBC drama in production now - The Gallows Pole - alongside other familiar names from the This is England team.
Stephen Graham
He’s worked on everything from Coronation Street and Line Of Duty – alongside Vicky Mcclure – to appearances in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, however in This is England he took the role of psychotic “Combo”.
Graham has appeared in five Shane Meadows productions and worked with Vicky Mcclure seven times including his role in LOD as DS John Corbett.
He has a string of credits to his name appearing alongside Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Johnny
Depp and Robert De Niro. He’s had roles in The Irishman, Boardwalk Empire, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
This year fans could have seen him in TV series Time, The North Water and Code 404, amongst others, and he is currently filming a version of Matilda in which he will star as Mr Wormwood.
Jo Hartley
Jo Hartley played Cynthia (the mum) in This is England.
Since then she has stacked up a string of appearances including starring in Waterloo Road, Law & Order: UK, Vera, The Young Victoria and Eddie the Eagle. She’s appeared in BBC1 drama ‘Stolen’ and with Ricky Gervais in After Life as well as with Gervais in the 2016 film David Brent: Life of the Road.
Joe Gilgun
He played Woody in This Is England but more recently fans of Sky TV series Brassic will know him as Vinnie from the show for which he earned a Bafta nomination.
A former Coronation Street actor, he played Jamie Armstrong in the show from 1994 until 1997.
Rosamund Hanson
Another local name, Rosamund Hanson played Michelle - AKA Smell in This Is England.
The daughter of the late Nottingham designer Daniel Hanson, Rosamund continued to play her role of ‘Smell’ in the This is England TV mini series’ as well as appearing in Shameless as character ‘Bonnie Tyler.’
She went on to appear in, among other things, TV series Life’s Too Short with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Warwick Davis.
Shane Meadows
Of course we couldn’t talk about This is England without mentioning Shane Meadows.
The award winning film director was born relatively locally - in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire - and is now Beeston-based.
Before This is England (2006), came Twentyfourseven (1997), A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) and Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) among others. Since then he’s created the Slumville Sunrise music video for Clifton born Jake Bugg, and Liam Gallagher’s Come Back to Me music video.
His latest project is a new BBC drama, The Gallows Pole.
Production is now under way for what will be Shane Meadows’ first period TV drama – and the cast features This Is England’s Michael Socha and Thomas Turgoose.