Tommy Jessop

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Tommy Jessop
William and Tommy Jessop.jpg
Tommy (right) with brother William (left)
Born (1985-01-19) 19 January 1985 (age 36)
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present
Websitetommy-jessop.com

Thomas Jessop (born 19 January 1985), is a British actor. He is the first actor with Down syndrome to star in a prime-time BBC drama, [1] the first professional actor with Down syndrome to tour theatres as Hamlet, the first to become a full voting member of BAFTA. On 21 July 2021 Tommy became Doctor of Arts (honoris causa) University of Winchester at a ceremony in Winchester Cathedral.

Career[]

Film[]

Jessop has a portfolio of short films to his name and cameo appearances in feature films including Day of the Flowers. His lead role in Fighter won him Best Actor at Oska Bright Film Festival and won BEST FILM at Film London, became Short of the Week at the BFI London Film Festival. In Down & Out he won several BEST LEAD ACTOR awards at festivals including Southampton Film Festival, Kino film Festival Manchester and Best Overall Film at Birmingham International film festival. More recently he played the lead in Innocence which has been celebrated at 23 film festivals internationally and won THE DON QUIXOTE AWARD at Kraków Film Festival, won BEST SHORT FILM London Lift Off, won BEST ENSEMBLE CAST at Lift Off Global Season Awards. Tommy also enjoyed a role as a fisherman in Little Shit and a football fan in Delilah.

Television[]

In 2007, Jessop starred opposite Nicholas Hoult in the feature-length BBC drama Coming Down the Mountain.[1] The writer Mark Haddon said Jessop was the inspiration behind the project.[2][3] Jessop's performance was widely praised,[4][5] and the film was nominated for a Television BAFTA for "Best Single Drama",[6] before winning the RADAR People of the Year Human Rights Media AWARD 2008.[7] Jessop made his television debut in Holby City,[8] and has also appeared as guest lead in two episodes of Casualty,[9] Monroe and Doctors. His dream is to appear on EastEnders.[10]

In June 2015, he appeared in two 'Blue Badge' specials of Off Their Rockers on ITV.

Jessop starred in BBC's Line of Duty, appearing as Terry Boyle in the fifth series in 2019.[11] He reprised his role as a returning character in three dramatic episodes in the sixth series of Line of Duty in 2021.[12][13]

He comments that disabled actors need opportunities to appear other than as victims or objects of pity.[14]

Theatre[]

Jessop is a founding member of award-winning integrated company Blue Apple Theatre, and has appeared in all their productions to date. In 2010, he played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream.[15] In 2011, he was the Mayor in Gogol's The Government Inspector. In May 2012, Jessop made history when he became the first professional actor with Down Syndrome to play the title role of Hamlet[16] in Blue Apple's touring production. This led to an invitation from Mark Rylance to take part in his What You Will Pop up Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre Sonnet Walks. In March and April 2013, Tommy played the role of Bobby, a victim of hate crime in Living Without Fear, Blue Apple Theatre's touring production about disability hate crime.[17] Tommy has also enjoyed roles as Prospero in The Tempest and Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Marley's Ghost in A Christmas Carol and The Creature in Frankenstein with Blue Apple and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot with Culture Device. Tommy also loves contemporary improvisational dance.

Documentary[]

Jessop frequently collaborates with his brother, the writer and filmmaker Will Jessop.[18] In 2007, the brothers made the broadcast documentary Tommy's Story for Community Channel (UK). William filmed Tommy behind the scenes of Coming Down the Mountain and Holby City, and was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the Grierson Awards 2008.[19] In February 2014, Jessop was one of the stars of Growing Up Down's, a documentary about Blue Apple Theatre's touring production of Hamlet that William produced and directed for BBC Three. The film was described as "BBC Three at its very best" [20] and in November 2014 won the Creative Diversity Network Award for Most Groundbreaking Programme.[21]

Radio[]

Jessop has starred in various radio productions for the BBC, including an episode of the series Stone with Hugo Speer in 2010, and the one-off play The Climb opposite Warwick Davis in 2011.[22] On 10 April 2013, Tommy appeared in an episode of The Archers, playing Callum Longfield.[23]

Awards[]

In July 2021, Jessop received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Winchester for his services to the entertainment industry.[24]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Coming Down the Mountain". broadcastnow.co.uk.
  2. ^ Rampton, James (30 August 2007). "Mark Haddon: First he tackled Asperger's, now the writer is putting Down's syndrome in the spotlight with a new drama". The Independent. London.
  3. ^ Osborn, Michael (31 August 2007). "Haddon Debut Captures Teen Crisis". BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  4. ^ Wollaston, Sam (3 September 2007). "Last night's TV: Coming Down the Mountain". The Guardian. London.
  5. ^ "Enduring such a mountain of anguish". HeraldScotland.
  6. ^ "BAFTAs - 2008 nominations". The Guardian. London. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  7. ^ "BBC programmes win RADAR awards". medianewsline.com. 2 December 2008.
  8. ^ "Down's syndrome actor's TV debut". BBC News. 22 August 2007.
  9. ^ "Actor Tommy to star in Casualty". Daily Echo.
  10. ^ "Newcomer Tommy eyes EastEnders role". metro.co.uk. 23 August 2007.
  11. ^ Griffiths, Eleanor Bley (21 March 2021). "Who is Terry Boyle? Line of Duty season 6 brings back a familiar character". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  12. ^ Singh, Anita (21 March 2021). "Line of Duty, season 6 ep 1, review: when it comes to cop shows, Jed Mercurio is the gaffer". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  13. ^ Nugent, Annabel (22 March 2021). "Line of Duty series six premiere ratings revealed". The Independent. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  14. ^ Morris, Andy (9 August 2021). "'People have outdated views about disabled performers': Line of Duty's Tommy Jessop on acting with Down's syndrome". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Blue Apple tackles the Bard". Hampshire Chronicle.
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ "Living Without Fear to tour - Entertainment Focus". www.entertainment-focus.com. 2 March 2013.
  18. ^ "Home | Will Jessop". Mysite.
  19. ^ "4docs". www.4docs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012.
  20. ^ "Growing Up Down's: Why you should watch". digitalspy.co.uk. 3 February 2014.
  21. ^ http://creativediversitynetwork.com/news/winners-of-the-2014-cdn-awards-announced/
  22. ^ "Another starring role for Tommy". Hampshire Chronicle.
  23. ^ Episode, cast list for the week (retrieved on 2013-04-11)
  24. ^ Yeates, Cydney (20 July 2021). "Line Of Duty's Tommy Jessop receives honorary university doctorate".

External links[]

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