Stagecoach

I first knew Jamie Bell, as a pupil of the school where I worked for 13 years as a primary school teacher - Prior`s Mill Primary School in Billingham. He was never in my class but he was known, throughout the school, for his talent in dance, and the fact that, at the age of 10, he gained a place with The National Youth Music Theatre.  

Jamie became one of the original Stagecoach Yarm students. He was with us for a year. I rang his mum when I learned of the “Billy Elliot” auditions and he went along.

All the audition process and recalls went on for so long that about six months passed before she rang me one day, to say that he had won the part. Whilst I was very pleased for him at that time, none of us had any idea how big a film it would be.

It spawned a BAFTA for “Best Actor” for Jamie, the year after the film`s release, and later came the very successful West End stage musical of “Billy Elliot” with music written by Sir Elton John. 

Jamie has continued to work as an actor in high profile films such as “Nicholas Nickelby” and “King Kong”.

His latest film, to be released over here, is “The Chumscrubber” with Ralph Fiennes and Glen Close. It was filmed quite a long time ago, because Jamie kindly invited myself and his old primary school Headmaster to his 18^th Birthday party. He arrived at the party, having just flown in from the States, after completing the filming on “The Chumscrubber” . That was three years ago. 

Whilst Jamie was with us, along with other boys, he auditioned on our premises for a remake of “Goodbye Mr Chips”. The project was overtaken with tragedy when the producer was injured in a car accident and was on a life support machine. We never heard anything more about the project. Somehow I don`t think that if that film had been made that it would have had such a launching effect on Jamie`s career as “Billy Elliot” !!

 Additional Video Clips

A Fan Video

Billy Elliot Dance

I came across this interview with Jamie Bell`s mum in the Evening Gazette today on the Gazette`s web site.

Although the article does not mention Jamie`s connection with Stagecoach, I was also invited to the 18th birthday party that his headmaster Mr Youlden talks about. I was sitting at the party with Jamie`s junior school headmaster, George Barber.  That is where I had first been in contact with Jamie, when he was a pupil at Prior`s Mill School in Billingham, where I taught for 13 years, before setting up Stagecoach in Yarm.  Jamie became one of our original students from those early days in 1997.  Jamie left us in the summer of 1998 just as I heard of auditions for a new film that was to be made about a boy who loved to dance. Although he had left us, and I therefore strictly should not have done, I rang his mum and told her to take Jamie up to these auditions. The next I knew was about 5 months  and several high-profile casting trawls across the N.E. later, Jamie`s mum rang to say that after multiple call-backs Jamie had been offered the lead role. Although I was obviously very thrilled for Jamie and his mum, I had no inkling (did anyone?) that the film would be such an iconic one - leading to a BAFTA for best actor at the age of 14 years for Jamie and an assured acting career into adulthood - magical! 

I was very proud when Jamie began his birthday speech, before cutting the cake, by saying, “Before I start I would like to thank someone who is here, without whom I would not have had the success that I have had”. I was looking around expecting his mum or his dance school teacher to be pointed out - but he meant me - which blew me away! The evening continued to be special when the “Billy Elliot” film`s director Stephen Daldry, who has had a star-studded career in film AND theatre direction, came across with his baby to chat.

The first photo in the article of Jamie and his mum also brought back happy memories, because it was taken at the multiplex cinema at Teesside Park where the “Billy Elliot” film got its own first local film premiere and I got an invite.  My abiding memory of watching the film is the wonderful transforming quality of Jamie`s smile on the big screen. I couldn`t watch the film properly for thinking “I know that boy, isn`t he doing a good job”.  Happy Days! 

 http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2010/01/09/jamie-bell-s-mother-speaks-of-pride-84229-25557638/

 

 

Click on the link

 ‘Photo by Matt Nettheim/Focus Features’

See below for details of Jamie`s role in “The Eagle of the Ninth” out soon and based on a children`s book about  lost Roman legion. There are also some recent links to local newspaper articles about Jamie. The information has been sent to me by a fan of Jamie`s who lives in the USA and has come across our web site, whilst researching Jamie. Thanks Ted for taking the trouble to send us this news!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_of_the_Ninth 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034389/

Gazette links

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2010/01/09/jamie-bell-s-mother-speaks-of-pride-84229-25557638/

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2009/01/28/jamie-bell-lands-tintin-role-84229-22799356/

A very strange thing happened today.  as you know my daughter Katie is due to have her baby any day now and we believe that it will be a little girl. I had seen a lovely miniature doll on E Bay, big enough to put into a mini-pram that I planned to make for her for the baby`s arrival. I bid for the doll and won and paid for it and when it arrived, there were two dolls included with a hand-written note which said that because I did such good work with children the lady had sent the doll as a gift. Not only was I touched, as I always am by spontaneous kindness, but I was puzzled as to how she knew  what I did for a living. Of course I e mailed her to find out. She said that my name had sounded familiar to her so she had googled it. Fair enough, mystery solved but then I decided that I`d better google myself and see what was up there and I found a whole host of articles about our students that I did not know were there SO thank you Rosie from Edinburgh on 2 counts!!

It was fascinating. I found that there was another Trudy Hindmarsh, working in Southwark council, who is a fan of Mick Hucknall and I found my son`s comments that I had mentioned to the editor of the Northern Echo, made when my son was in Reception Class. Pete Barron had included them in his column as a “things kids say” item. Here is the clip:-

TRUDY Hindmarsh, of the Stagecoach school for performing arts, emailed with memories of son Jonathan when he was in reception class.

“Mam, did you know that Jesus died on Happy Friday?” he announced.

“But you don`t have to worry because he rose from the deck on Sunday.”

On another occasion, he came out to tell his mam that they’d had a great story in assembly about three leopards - and they had bells and were shouting “Unclean! Unclean!”

I`ll be adding any of these discovered articles and links to the web site when I get a chance to look through them properly and add the links to this post

Below you can follow the links I have discovered so far :-

The first article is the final outcome of a visit I made to Radio Tees, last year, to be interviewed by some school girls who believed in their friend`s talent enough to want to get her some advice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/content/articles/2008/03/13/school_reports_showbusiness_two_feature.shtml

The second is an article that I have never read about Jamie Bell that appeared in The Sunday Mirror

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20010225/ai_n14523171/

SO WATCH THIS SPACE

 

Jamie Bell appeared on BBC`s national morning News programme “Breakfast” this morning (Tues 6th Jan) at about 9.00am, talking about his new film with Daniel Craig called “Defiance”. 

 

Someone than rang to tell me that Zoe Birkett was on the NE ITV news, talking about her impending start for the rehearsals of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”.  She was on the morning and evening bulletins. I have searched for both of these interviews on the catch-up services of both channels but they do not cover these programmes - shame!!

You can read an intelligent article about JamieBell in “The Times Online” by following this link below:-

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5388401.ece

I`m often asked this question and at the moment, it is an easy question to answer.

 

Jamie` latest film “Defiance” made with actor Daniel Craig (of James Bond fame) is released into the cinemas in early January. They are screening trailers for it at the moment on TV. It is a true story about three Jewish brothers who escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavour to build a village, in order to protect themselves and others who are in danger. You can watch a 2 trailers for the film by clicking below:-

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2692481049/

and

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2008154393/

Also adults can catch Jamie in his last film “Hallam Foe” on TV across Christmas.

 

It gets a 4 star rating from the Northern Echo. It is on Channel 4 on Tuesday 30th December at 12.20am. Content sounds like “over 18″ category. In the film, Jamie`s character believes that his step-mother has murdered his mum and he becomes a peeping tom to prove it. Here is a trailer for the film. Click below.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3199336729/

Jamie lives more out of the country than in it at the moment and whilst I haven`t heard directly from Jamie since I went to his 18th birthday party,  I sometimes hear about him via his mum. It seems like light years since he was a student at Yarm Sunday Afternoon school!!

If you follow this link it will take you to a slideshow of photos from various of Jamie`s films, awards and public appearances

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm531141120/nm0068260

Follow the link to see the official movie trailer of Jamie’s latest film release “Jumper”.

He appeared last week on the Johnathon Ross show talking about this film.

part 1 -

part 2 -

He is currently filming  a film with the working title “Defiance” about 3 Jewish brothers fighting the Nazi’s with the Polish resistance.