Jamie Bell Interview

Leading a merry dance

When teenage actor Jamie Bell took up ballet lessons at the age of six he admits he came in for some serious stick from his mates.

They told him it was girlie and that he should be doing something more manly such as football or rugby.

But the boot is definitely on the other foot now as Bell, a 14-year-old from Teesside, is being hailed as one of the hottest new dance stars around thanks to his stunning movie debut in the new British film Billy Elliot.

The youngster, who lives in Billingham, was the toast of Cannes when the movie was premiered there earlier this year and some of the biggest names in the industry are lining up to heap praise on the budding star.

But despite not putting a foot wrong in the movie, Bell admits that constant mickey-taking forced him to hide his ballet skills for a long time.

"It got out at school that I was having lessons and I got hassle from some of the lads," he explains in his broad Teesside accent, "It wasn't like punching or fighting. It was 'Jamie, why are you doing this, it's not right, it's a girlie thing, you should be doing football'. So, I just didn't tell them where I was going after football practice and went on to my dance lessons," he confesses with a shrug.

The duplicity certainly paid off as Bell was able to draw on these experiences for Billy Elliot, a story which virtually mirrors his own life.

In the film, which opens this week, he plays a young boy growing up in a single parent family in a North-east pit town during the miner's strike. His domineering father is determined Billy should be a boxer but when the youngster stumbles across a local ballet class he discovers his true vocation. However, he has to pursue his passion for dance in secret rather than encourage the wrath of his dad and older brother.

First time movie director Stephen Daldry was determined that the role of Billy should go to a local child but the task of finding a young Teesside boy who was also a ballet expert proved to be virtually impossible.

More than 2,000 children auditioned for the role and it wasn't until young Bell, who is also from a single parent family, turned up that Daldry found his 'needle in a haystack'. But despite landing the once-in-a-lifetime part the youngster took the news that he'd been successful firmly in his stride.