Starring alongside Angelina Jolie in Maleficent? It was just magnificent!
Coatbridge schoolboy’s blockbuster part
LANDING a leading role in a Disney film is something every Hollywood actor dreams of.
Yet Scottish schoolboy Michael Higgins has already added it to his CV.
The talented 13-year-old beat thousands of young hopefuls to star alongside Angelina Jolie in fantasy blockbuster Maleficent.
Michael, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, has been acting since he was five. He appeared in London’s West End last year in the musical Matilda, as well as gritty Scottish gangland thriller The Wee Man. However, he is hoping the £100 million Sleeping Beauty remake, which Jolie helped produce, will lead to further big screen parts.
Millions around the world have already seen Maleficent, which premiered last week. But Michael
‘I had to pinch myself when I first saw her’
admitted that his overnight ‘celebrity’ status at school has had the biggest impact.
He said: ‘A month ago I was just another S2 but this week I’ve had sixth years asking me for selfies and to sign their shirts.
‘Pupils whisper, “He’s in a Disney film” – it’s surreal.’
Michael, who lives with parents Mark, 44, and Karina, 43, and older brother Aidin, 16, spent months filming at Pinewood Studios in London, beginning in late 2012.
He was even given his own trailer but admitted that it wasn’t as ‘fancy’ as Jolie’s.
He said: ‘I had my own shower, a big couch and a TV, it was amazing. But it was nothing like Angelina’s. Hers was huge and had real grass and trees outside the front door. She had all her family with her so she will have needed the space.’
He added: ‘I had to pinch myself when I first saw her. She drove past in a golf buggy and gave me a big smile and a wave.
‘She was in full costume with all the facial prosthetics and looked absolutely incredible.
‘It’s amazing knowing that she was one of the people who picked me. She watched the taped auditions and had a say in who made the cut.’
Michael had three auditions to secure the part of Young Stephan – the child version of Maleficent’s nemesis – but said his eight years at Glasgow Academy Musical Theatre Arts (GAMTA) had prepared him.
He added: ‘Stepping on set was like stepping into a fairytale. It was huge and there were so many crew members – like nothing I’ve ever seen before – but everyone was really supportive.’
The young star was allowed to keep his Scottish accent but had to tailor it so that South African actor Sharlto Copley, who played adult Stephan, found it easier to copy.
He said: ‘I have quite a strong West Coast accent but the voice coach thought it would be easier for Sharlto to pick up an Edinburgh accent. I had to use that accent all the time, even when I phoned home.
‘I love doing different accents. At school I mimic all my teachers to make my friends laugh.’
Though filming finished more than a year ago, Michael did not see the final cut until the end of last month, when his parents organised a private screening at their local cinema for family and friends.
He said: ‘It was strange watching it surrounded by all these people I knew. I loved their expressions and I think my mum – and even my dad – might have shed a wee tear.’
Michael is now back at St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge where he is keen to get good grades as acting is a ‘difficult business’.
He spends 16 hours a week at GAMTA, studying acting, singing and dancing, and also sings in a mini Rat Pack trio at charity events.
Michael’s proud mother, a college lecturer, said: ‘We knew from when Michael was about three – and he was dancing around the house dressed as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz – that he had something special.
‘We try to keep him grounded as we know it is a very difficult business but when he got the role in Maleficent, we were bursting with pride.’