Acting alumni Ollie admits filming scenes with Ralph Fiennes felt like he'd won a 'cereal box' competition

Ollie, 20, is currently starring as Lofty in The Choral – a historical drama movie set in Yorkshire during World War I and written by one of England’s greatest living screenwriters Alan Bennett. 

During a return to Campus where he spoke to current students before he starts filming his next major movie role on Monday, Ollie also shared how he found out that he had landed the part of Lofty while crouched in a flower bed.

He revealed, too, that he has watched the movie around 10 times now, including as a paying customer at local multiplex cinemas, and that, without York College, he would not even have pursued a career in the industry and recommends our Level 3 Performing & Production course to anybody seeking a pathway into the arts world.

Describing the “surreal” moment when he shared the screen with an actor who has been shortlisted for Academy Awards in recognition of his roles in Conclave, The English Patient and Schindler’s List and also played Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, Ollie said: “Lofty is a telegram boy and I relay some big news to Ralph’s character, which was my big, big scene in the film. 

“It was a bit daunting because all eyes were on me and I’m standing in front of the guy in Schindler’s List. It was a real ‘What is Happening’ moment!

“But I learnt a lot off him in terms of how he approaches stuff, because he’s very professional. At first, I was kind of thinking, ‘What cereal box did I win this from’ and, being on set, I felt like Charlie with the golden ticket that gets him into the chocolate factory.

“But the role models I had on set – young and old – like (York-born) Mark Addy and Alun Armstrong – really guided me all the way and, pretty quickly, you have to say to yourself, ‘No, I’m here for a reason and I’ve been picked to do it’.” 

In fact, Ollie was selected from a field of more than 400 hopefuls in what was his first audition for a professional film or TV job.

Eighteen at the time, he admits he only put together his initial submission – a video introducing himself – an hour before the deadline due to the pestering of his sister.

He then created his first-ever self tape – a pre-recorded video audition – before things took a “surreal” turn. 

“All of a sudden, I found myself in an audition room in London with (the director) Nicholas Hytner, which was just surreal,” he recalled. “Then, I was back for the chemistry reads with the other actors and, next, I got a call from London.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, I’m just going to be told sorry, you’ve not got it’. My teeth were also aching because I’d just had braces fitted, so I just thought it would add to the pain.

“On top of that, there was a load of construction work going on where I answered the phone, with a cement rolling vehicle and people drilling. I was trying to plug my ear and was being asked whether it was a good time to speak.

“I decided to run up the street but the cement roller was reversing with me, so I ended up just jumping in somebody’s garden and crouching in the flower bed. He then asked if I could hear him now and said, ‘We’d like to offer you the role’.

“After I hung up, I was left there in the flower bed, thinking, ‘What’s just happened!’ I didn’t trample any flowers though!” 

Ollie was subsequently on set for seven weeks from the end of May 2024 to the middle of July, working up to 15 hours a day. 

On what he enjoyed most about playing Lofty and how the role challenged him professionally, Ollie added: “His innocence was what charmed me the most. The world he was stepping into was too big for him and it’s so touching to have played somebody like that.

“He’s the telegram deliverer giving bad news to the families and I think that was the most challenging part, alongside singing and learning to ride a bike again. I hadn’t done that for years and they were 100-year-old bikes as well! 

“Mine broke four times during production - once when I was going down Ilkley Moor and the brakes just went. We also had music lessons to learn how to sing together. I’d never done choral singing before, let alone Elgar!”

That versatility and willingness to operate outside of his comfort zone was something Ollie credits to the way he was trained during his College course by our expert team of tutors, including Shannon Collins who he was reunited with this week.

“I remember one of the productions we did at College was Brief Candle and there was no speaking in it,” he said. “It was all physical theatre.

“I’d never done that – telling a story through movement that isn’t dance - so I was pushed out of my comfort zone and we were never allowed to become complacent. The teachers really pushed us and I needed that.

“It worked for me and you’re always learning in that kind of environment. Our class was so super-talented, too, and that gives you a drive to be better.”

Ollie confesses that alumni visits, like his, helped open his eyes as to what pathways could be available to him, as his course and teachers first convinced him that acting could provide him with a living, rather than just being something he enjoyed.   

He now recommends York College to any budding actors seeking their first steps towards a career in the arts. 

“It was so lovely to come back and see my old teachers,” he declared. “I’ve always wanted to come back but never felt I had a reason to, because I didn’t think I had much to share with the current students.

“I now realise I could have come back and spoke about what it’s like at the MetFilm School in Leeds where I’m in my final year now, because I would have benefitted from that when I was in their shoes. I remember how I felt when these real people would come back to College. 

“When you’re here you’re kind of naïve to the fact that there’s a life outside of the building but, in two years, you are done, and we were hearing from people with jobs in the industry that you’d potentially like to go into and, when you hear their stories, you do think, ‘Wow, that sounds like fun’. It was inspiring.

“I didn’t know I wanted to act professionally until I came to York College. I’d always done it at high school, but it was more for fun and a hobby.

“After we had done The Odyssey at College, that’s when I really thought about going off to Drama School. I wouldn’t have done that without going to York College.

“I came to College with no confidence, but I left thinking this is something I can do and be, so I have always told people if you want to find your balance of love for theatre and acting, then York College is the place to come. There was also a 13-year-old girl called Anna from York who has a singing part in The Choral and she asked me what York College was like because she wants to do Musical Theatre and, straight away, I said, ‘Yes, go there’.”

Ollie is fast approaching being unable to count the number of times he has watched The Choral on two hands – not because he loves watching himself, but because he believes it is a “special film” and he enjoys seeing how it all came together with scenes he played no part in.

“It’s so nice because you get to appreciate everybody else’s work that you didn’t see,” he explained. “The first time I saw the film was in London.

“I also saw it in Leeds for a casting crew screening and went to Cineworld in York with my mates and the Odeon at Harrogate with my family.

“I attended a question-and-answer session at Pictureville in Bradford and also introduced the film at The Ritz in Thirsk – a lovely old place that is run by volunteers.”

On how he’d like his career to progress, Ollie stressed how he is keen to continue stretching himself – just as he did at York College.

“The Choral was such a special film,” he enthuses. “I heard somewhere that Alan Bennett’s humour can make you laugh at a funeral and cry at a joke and the film has made me fall in love with that kiss-and-slap style.

“But I’d also like to explore something deeper and maybe play somebody evil one day, because I want to know how playing a character like that messes with your mindset.”

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