Coronation Street Actor Harry Lowbridge Bridgnorth students and Black Country boy, returns to his Bridgnorth School..
Harry Lowbridge is from Wolverhampton but studied at Bridgnorth and he returned there to speak to pupils and catch up with his old drama teacher who inspired him. Harry spent time with Wolverhampton Youth Theatre and Bilston Operatic too in the run up to him getting a part on Coronation Street.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We're here at Bridge North Endowed and sir, you are the assistant headteacher?
00:04That's correct, yeah.
00:05What's your name, sir?
00:06It's David Lewis.
00:07But you used to be the drama teacher?
00:08I did indeed, yeah.
00:09So, I was drama teacher here for five years and during that time we had Harry here as
00:18well who came through school, did very well, loved his drama, was involved in our school
00:25shows, Peter Pan, as Peter Pan.
00:29On Flying Around the Stage.
00:30That's proper good special effects for a school, isn't it, for flying ropes?
00:35Yeah, we had to have a surveyor on the roof and got the flying rig up in front of him.
00:40Lewis had a go himself and actually tried to do a backflip and then fell out of it.
00:46That's probably why flying ropes are banned from all schools, from that one.
00:49All my fault.
00:50Yeah, no, it was very good and Harry, yeah, that was your first big school show role?
00:56Yeah, I think so.
00:57And it was the first time I felt like, I guess, the pressure of having such a big thing to
01:02do and it was so fun.
01:03And you'd just started doing GCSE drama then as well, didn't you?
01:06I did, yeah.
01:07And then you did music GCSE as well?
01:08And you and Miss Bradford were my inspirations to keep going, I think.
01:13That's nice to hear, isn't it, sir?
01:14You did your own act as well, didn't you?
01:15Would you like to talk about that a little bit?
01:16Well, no, this isn't about you, Harry.
01:17Well, no, we've got time, so you did a bit about Jimmy Norman Whiston, didn't you?
01:23Yes, yeah, I did a few things before then retraining and being a teacher.
01:29So are you just acting at being an assistant head now?
01:32Do they know that you're not actually qualified?
01:34You can be anything if you're a good actor, can't you?
01:36It doesn't actually work here.
01:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:39So, I guess, Harry, you know, Coronation Street, I mean, you know, amazing.
01:45Are you peaking too soon?
01:46Is that the fear?
01:47No, I can't talk too much about it to be honest.
01:50I mean, if people want to know what's going on with your character, basically, tune in
01:54and watch.
01:55Do you know what I mean?
01:56But let's talk a little bit about how you got there.
01:58So where are you from originally?
01:59I'm from Wolverhampton.
02:00Wolverhampton.
02:01So you've got Black Country Shropshire connections there.
02:04That's it.
02:05I am.
02:06And was acting in the family?
02:07Your mum and dad?
02:08Are they into the drama?
02:09No.
02:10They're artistic.
02:11My dad's a graphic designer.
02:12My mum, like, paints and stuff.
02:13Yeah.
02:14But, no, it's just kind of something that I started doing when I was like 12.
02:17Yeah.
02:19So I think it was more of like a bit of fun.
02:21But then when I came here and started doing a review, I think that's when it was like,
02:25oh, I actually want to do this.
02:26Yeah.
02:27You know what?
02:28You see this, don't you?
02:29Sports people and so on.
02:30And they're linked back to teachers that really inspired them and spurred them on.
02:33So it was a bit of that moment going on here on Gathering.
02:36And you were just always so enthusiastic.
02:38A bit too enthusiastic.
02:40Sometimes too enthusiastic.
02:41Bags of energy.
02:42Always wanted to, yeah.
02:43You were the student who always wanted to stick their hand up and want to perform first.
02:46That was it.
02:47And you just carried that enthusiasm, carried that through.
02:50And, you know, that was obviously brilliant because that effort level has led you to this point now.
02:55There we go.
02:56We should mention as well, there's been a couple of theatre groups that have helped you along the way.
02:59What are a couple of the Black Country theatre groups you've been involved with?
03:02Yeah, so Century Youth Theatre.
03:03Yeah.
03:04That was something I started when I was like 12.
03:05That was the thing that kind of got me into it in the first place.
03:07And we were going, like, abroad to, like, Lithuania and stuff.
03:09Wow.
03:10It was just really fun.
03:11And then Bilston Operatic as well, which I did a few shows with before I left.
03:14Yeah.
03:15To go off into London.
03:16What were some of the Bilston Operatic shows you were in?
03:19I did Peter Pan.
03:20Yeah.
03:21Again.
03:22I played a lost boy there.
03:23I did Hairspray.
03:24I did Little Shop of Horrors.
03:26I did Lion Maze.
03:27Wow.
03:29That's good grounding, isn't it?
03:30When you're involved with something like that.
03:32I think people, they see these theatre groups and they think, oh, that would be a nice thing for my kid to do for the summer.
03:37But they don't always appreciate that this is the stepping stones for a career, isn't it?
03:41The people you meet there have become friends for life as well.
03:44So it's always worth doing something like that.
03:46Yeah.
03:47So your experience on Corrie, is it everything, is it living up to what you had hoped it would be?
03:52Oh, it's phenomenal.
03:53It's good fun.
03:54It's, every day still feels a bit surreal and like a dream.
03:58So if we have a magic wand and look forward into the future, you know, 10, 20 years,
04:03what would you like to be doing if everything went your way?
04:08I'd like to be doing my Oscar speech.
04:10Perfect.
04:11David Lewis.
04:13For all of his help, that's what I would like.
04:16So you'd be open to anything, TV, film, theatre, stage, anything?
04:20I love TV and film, a lot.
04:22But I also do love my theatre, so bring the theatre jobs on.
04:26You always just, yeah.
04:27My memory of you is you being involved in such a lot of theatre, I think.
04:30Theatre gives you that grounding as well.
04:32It's just thrilling, isn't it?
04:33Yeah.
04:35So a couple of last questions.
04:37Favourite actor, Harry?
04:38Daniel Day-Lewis.
04:39Yeah?
04:41Yeah, absolutely.
04:42Favourite film then?
04:45There'll Be Blood.
04:46Oh, I've not heard of that.
04:47That's a new one to me.
04:48Daniel Day-Lewis'.
04:50Ah, okay.
04:52Okay, I'll have to check that one out.
04:54Well, great to meet you and it's always nice to have a local lad doing well.
04:58And yeah, all the best in your future, sir.
05:01Well done.
05:02Thank you very much.
05:03And sir, if this Assistant Ed stuff doesn't work out, there's always time.
05:05There's always time.
05:06You can go back to acting, I think.
05:08Get a good word in from Harry.
05:09Yeah, there we go.
05:11What did you do for Thomas Telford?
05:13And then Peter Pan again?
05:15I thought you did.
05:16Did we have a full go of Peter Pan?
05:18After they did Peter Pan?
05:19Yeah, the whole, yeah.
05:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:21And then a lot of those different little things.
05:24I did, like, main styles with Fiverr, actually.
05:27Like, as well.
05:28So, yeah.
05:29Do you like musicals as well?
05:30No, I don't.
05:31I don't listen to musicals.
05:32I don't listen to musicals.
05:33I don't listen to musicals.
05:34I don't listen to musicals.
05:35I don't listen to musicals.
05:36Is there a musical theatre up here?
05:37Say?
05:38There was.
05:39There was, yeah.
05:40There was, yeah.
05:41Yeah.
05:42There was a movie.
05:43So, well, so, how it works differently to how you're in school now, we have clubs that
05:46happen during the day.
05:47Really?
05:48Yeah, so there's lots of clubs that happen, but not just one.
05:51We do pair clubs.
05:52Oh, yeah.
05:53I go from the smaller parts, and then kind of find a foot in the door, make new contacts
05:58with people, and then go home and, yeah.
06:01See what happens.
06:02Contacts are really important, aren't they?
06:03Oh, 100%.
06:04It's not who you know, but it's like, it helps in that situation, I think.
06:09Is anyone here, is anyone here wanting to go on and do, like, drama at university or
06:14whatever?
06:15Hmm?
06:16Are you looking at drama schools?
06:18Yeah, I am looking for drama schools, yeah.
06:22Do you want to do sixth form first?
06:24It's like a, you know, you have the teachers that, like, they won't just be teachers.
06:29Like, they'll, it's more of, like, a friendly environment.
06:32Not this, it's not what I mean.
06:34But, like, they, like, can be your friends and stuff as well, and, like, help you in
06:37the industry as well.
06:38So, I think that's a good, I went off the tangent then.
06:41You asked me something else.
06:42There you go.
06:43That's drama school.
06:44Any other questions?
06:47What got you on to drama?
06:49Erm, well, I did it since a really early age, but I only did it for fun.
06:55But then you forced me to audition for Peter Pan.
07:00Thanks.
07:01Well, you didn't force me.
07:03No, you encouraged me.
07:04Yeah.
07:05I wasn't going to do it.
07:07I remember I did a school show, and then you were like, just audition.
07:12Even if you audition and you don't do it, it's fine.
07:15I remember saying that.
07:16And then I did it.
07:17And then I got into Peter Pan.
07:18I was like, oh, I could do that one.
07:20And then, I think after that, I think it was, like, solidified in me that I wanted to do,
07:24like, acting.
07:25Then, interestingly enough, Guy, we were just talking about, when you were in Year 11,
07:29you did Grease, didn't you?
07:30Mm-hmm.
07:31But what happened on the auditions for Grease?
07:33Talk about what we were just talking about in the dialogue.
07:35What happened on the auditions?
07:36Yeah.
07:37So, when we gave out the parts, who did you get?
07:41Oh, characters like T-Bear, 17 or something.
07:46We did, like, 130 in the show up until those days.
07:51I was a no-name T-Bear.
07:52Yeah.
07:53So, the point is, really, like, well, Harry did really well.
07:58We had loads of people auditioning to get Peter Pan.
08:01It's not plain sailing, is it?
08:03Mm-hmm.
08:04I remember throwing my toys at the pram
08:06because I didn't get Carnegie for, like, a brief moment.
08:09And I was like, that's fine.
08:11So, yeah.
08:12Well, yeah.
08:13You don't have to always get...
08:15And to be fair, that is true.
08:16It is never plain sailing in the acting business.
08:19I think it's a very hard industry, and you need to have resilience with it.
08:23You need to get 1,000 no's before you get a yes with a lot of things that will scare you.
08:28But, you know, out of all the auditions...
08:31I probably did about 100 auditions before I got Coronation Street
08:35or before I got the ones before.
08:37And, like, even then, like, some of the jobs you'll get at first,
08:41there might be smaller roles,
08:43but it's all just experience of being on the set.
08:45And I think the first time you're on a set that's big
08:48is actually the most overwhelming thing ever,
08:50but it's, like, the most exciting thing.
08:52And I think that was the moment I was like, OK, I can do this.
08:56So, yeah.
08:58Any more questions?
09:00Do you prefer, like, improv, or do you prefer script work with drama?
09:05I love improvisation because I think it's more of a raw form of acting
09:10because with script work...
09:12I mean, script work's fun as well,
09:14but you have to do more to make it seem real than with improvisation
09:17because with improvisation, I feel like it's just coming straight to the tongue
09:21as if you were just having a normal conversation like we are now.
09:24Yeah.
09:25So it just feels more real.
09:26It's more fun sometimes when you introduce your role.
09:29Yeah.
09:32So I went to Bryce-Brewford,
09:34and then from there I got an agent,
09:36and then I did bits and bits of jobs here and there,
09:39doctors and stuff,
09:40and now I'm in culinary history.
09:42That's me.
09:43You should really rush that.
09:45But, yeah.
09:46Any questions?
09:47Over to you, guys.
09:50Can I ask quickly?
09:51So, I was reading your little writers there,
09:54so when you were here, you were also a theatre school, weren't you?
09:57Yeah.
09:58I don't know whether you've made that up or not.
10:00No, yeah, I was playing for Central Youth Theatre in Wolverhampton,
10:02which is still a thing right now.
10:04I was interested in that.
10:05I'm still there.
10:06I'm passionate about university.
10:07That's great.
10:10Any questions?
10:11Did you want to play as the villain?
10:13Well, not villain, but as a bad person.
10:15It's fun to play villains,
10:16it's just, to be honest,
10:17I mean, you get the more dramatic storylines.
10:20If you play the nice character,
10:22especially in Coronation Street,
10:24you're just going to be stealing someone's cup of tea.
10:27You're going to do a lot of smashing and punching and stuff like that.
10:30Yeah.
10:31So, you've got some aggressive storylines.
10:32I do have some more aggressive storylines coming up.
10:34OK.
10:35But I can't tell you all of it.
10:37Hang on, this is the DVD extras.
10:40What happened during the Peter Pan flying scene, sir?
10:43So, final song, final big finale part.
10:47Epic moment.
10:48All cast on stage,
10:50we had like 150 people involved on stage,
10:52massively involved across the whole school.
10:55And the final moment was,
10:57as the curtain closed,
10:59Harry rose, pulled up by the flying rig.
11:03With my arms out.
11:04To greet the audience as a final moment.
11:08On the middle night,
11:09so we had students,
11:11whilst everyone was around,
11:12had to hook his harness on,
11:14hooked on back to front.
11:15No way.
11:16So, as he rose up,
11:17he just turned in the air.
11:19The back of Harry.
11:21Facing the curtain.
11:22With my big nappy on as well.
11:25How do you handle a moment like that, Harry, on stage?
11:29I just did that and to be honest,
11:30I just did so much pain already.
11:33I think it was just like a shared moment
11:34that everyone just appreciated.
11:35Yeah.
11:36You know what,
11:37we all love those bits,
11:38those are the bits we see on You've Been Framed
11:40and we all have a giggle at,
11:41you know what I mean.
11:42And it was just pure pain.
11:43Pure pain.
11:44That thing was horrendous.
11:45Yeah.
11:46You put so much padded on me
11:47that I did look like I had a nappy on.
11:50Your costume was like a kind of…
11:51Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
11:53Yeah.