Yesterday saw Labour’s shadow minister for the arts, Chris Bryant MP, amusingly and justly savaged by the pop star James Blunt for some ill-advised remarks about the predominance of public school boys in the arts: he cited both the Old Harrovian Blunt and the Old Etonian Eddie Redmayne as evidence of a lack of diversity.
Now, I am sure the multi-award-winning, multi-platinum-selling former Captain Blunt can look after himself, and during awards season, the Oscar-nominated Redmayne has other things on his plate, but it reminds this former actor of how narrow the arts really are.
It was after my first successful audition in 2007, for a part in a Jacobean tragedy at the Hackney Empire studio, that it was pointed out to me that putting Eton College on my CV was tantamount to career suicide. Then, during rehearsals for my second play, a piece of new writing at Pentameters Theatre in Hampstead, the Oxford graduate director took me aside to suggest that I take our shared university off my resume, instead demoting my master of science from the LSE to a bachelor’s degree to polish the picture I needed sell, ie, anti-establishment and ideologically Left.
This also has the added benefit that directors are not threatened that an actor might be brighter than them, an important feature in the strange power relationships of dramatic art.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in