Comic Jack fails to see funny side of being called a ‘daddy’s boy’
HIS theatrical agent father secured him a private audition for the role of Harry Potter, and his godfather Nigel Havers landed him his first television acting job.
However, British actor and comedian Jack Whitehall says he is hurt by suggestions that his success is because of nepotism.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Jack, 29, said: ‘The fact that my dad used to look after Christopher Biggins doesn’t necessarily help you get stage time. That needles me.’
Whitehall, whose TV credits include Fresh Meat and Bad Education, says he is happy to take advice from his father Michael, now retired, and whose clients included Judi Dench and Havers.
Discussing his audition with the casting director for the film role of Harry Potter, he admits: ‘I had not read the book. There were a lot of questions about the book in the audition. I let myself down and didn’t get the part, obviously.
‘That bit you know.’