Stars of Tomorrow 2023: Samuel Bottomley (actor)

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When the TV Bafta nominations were announced in March, Samuel Bottomley woke to the news he had been nominated for his role in Channel 4 miniseries Somewhere Boy, playing a teenager forced to accommodate the arrival of his traumatised, orphaned cousin into his home. To be nominated for supporting actor alongside the likes of Adeel Akhtar and Jack Lowden was, says Bottomley, “a complete shock to the system”.

A few weeks later, UK indie drama How To Have Sex — in which he plays a “party animal and womaniser” responsible for the drama’s dark turn — was announced as part of the Cannes Film Festival line-up, where it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section. The role was initially a troubling prospect: “It was a big thing I had to get over, but I’m proud of myself for doing it.”

Growing up in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Bottomley was diagnosed with dyslexia and struggled at school. But on enrolling in a local drama club “to channel my energy into something positive”, he heard about an audition for Paddy Considine’s 2011 feature directing debut Tyrannosaur, which was filming locally. Aged eight, he snagged the part, then an agent, and steady work followed including TV’s Wolf Hall, Ackley Bridge and Ladhood, and films Private Peaceful and Get Duked!. For the “nerve-wracking” Sundown — directed by Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, and co-starring Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg — “I knew I had to bring my A-game”.

Bottomley’s parents discussed formal training after Tyrannosaur, but actor/filmmaker Considine cautioned, “What he’s got is natural, and you don’t want to take it out of him.” Bottomley, now aged 22, has taken his own path. “I respect the craft,” he explains. “There are things I can learn, always, but I think I’m going to have to learn them in a different way.”

Tyrannosaur provided vital early confidence to an eight-year-old (“People said I was good, and I didn’t expect it”), and also a solid framework. “My initial experience of acting was broken down by an actor,” he says. “Whatever Paddy planted in my head was golden nuggets.” Now keen to explore other creative pathways (“I’ve got my own little stories in my head, and I’d love to direct a film”), Bottomley cherishes having found his community. “When I get on set, I feel like I’m at home.”

Contact: Ellie Martin-Sperry, 42