Strictly’s Rose joins Bafta list of talent
STRICTLY champion and actress Rose Ayling-Ellis has said she is a “big believer of getting yourself out of your comfort zone, because that’s where you grow”.
The EastEnders star, 27, is among the 33-strong cohort listed for Bafta Breakthrough initiative this year, previously known as Breakthrough Brits, which has been running in the UK since 2013 and helps support emerging stars in film, TV and video games.
More than 200 newcomers have participated in the Netflixsupported initiative, including It’s A Sin star Lydia West, Bukky Bakray, Letitia Wright, Florence Pugh and Tom Holland, and the global programme also encompasses the US and India.
Ayling-Ellis first found fame starring as Frankie Lewis in BBC soap EastEnders and went on to become the first deaf contestant to take part in and win Strictly Come Dancing last year.
She said: “I am a big believer of getting yourself out of your comfort zone, because that’s where you grow. And I feel quite ambitious, too.
“But the thing is, I never planned for the impact that I made, I never planned it. I just went on to a dancing show and just danced, and I just went on EastEnders and got offered the acting job to be a regular.
“But I wanted to get it right. I don’t want to make people feel sorry for me, I want to show everyone I am capable of doing all of these things because I got given the opportunity.”
The Bafta Breakthrough participants, 21 in the UK and 12 in the US, were selected by a global jury which included names like actress Marianne JeanBaptiste, Ade Rawcliffe, Ruth Madeley and other international creative industry experts.
Speaking about the impact EastEnders has had on her life, Ayling-Ellis said: “If it wasn’t for EastEnders, I would never have gotten Strictly, and EastEnders were the ones that were brave enough to hire a deaf, regular actor for the first time ever, and just creating a storyline that isn’t about deaf issues.”
Bafta’s chief executive Jane Millichip said: “We’re incredibly proud of the immense contribution Breakthrough participants bring to the screen industries and what they go on to achieve.”
Other talent from the UK listed for the Bafta Breakthrough are This Is Going To Hurt actress Ambika Mod, Sex Education director Runyararo Mapfumo, cinematographer Diana Olifirova and more.