A FORMER NHS worker has swapped health and safety for curtain calls and memorising lines after being cast in the highly anticipated movie Mr Hyde: The Untold Story.
James Rocks, from Hollywood, is starring as Street Police Officer in the film alongside Love Island contestant Jake Cornish.
The 39-year-old said: “Life on set is fantastic.
“Everybody has a role to play in the production and it does not matter what that role is.
“Every role is just as important as the next. A set works like a military operation.
“Sometimes it goes to plan, and sometimes it does not. Everybody works together as a team to achieve an end result.”
James started acting professionally when he was 38 after finishing his employment with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) for the NHS.
He said he rediscovered his passion for acting by chance after incurring severe work-related stress following an out of the blue phonecall.
The former Woodrush High School pupil said: ” I randomly received a call from a Support Artist Agency.
“I wasn’t even aware that I had registered with the agency some years ago.
“I must have done it during the Covid lockdown period not thinking it would lead to anything.
“I was asked to be an ‘Extra’ playing a Riot Police Officer for an Amazon Studios production called Citadel for two weeks.”
Since then he had had a role in Royal Television Society award winner Devil’s Cove, a number of short films and stage plays.
He added: “I now feel like I am following my heart and pursuing a career that is just for me.
“Performing is something that has always been apart of me locked up deep inside but always ‘niggling’ away.
“I have finally embraced it and set it free. I now feel completely happy at work.
“I never have a ‘day of dread’ when the next working day is quickly approaching.
“If anything, I now get excited for the next working day.”
