Teen actors get big breaks (From Swindon Advertiser)

Teen actors get big breaks

Young Swindon actors Michael Sherlock and Lyndon Ogbourne could be heading for the big time, after appearing together in an HTV drama.

The pair appeared on Anchor Me, shown on HTV, alongside actors such as Iain Glen and Annette Crosbie, who plays the long-suffering Mrs Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave.

Both youngsters have been acting since they were six, starting with Swindon's Sixth Sense theatre company before going on to the Tamwood Drama theatre group.

Both have been taught by Julia Dickinson, who they both say has been an inspirational teacher.

Lyndon, of Kent Road, Swindon, appeared on the ITV programme Noah's Ark last year, but the part he plays in Anchor Me is the most high profile part he has had.

My whole family do a lot of acting, so they are really thrilled for me, he said.

Being in the programme was an amazing experience. It was really good fun, but it was also a really good learning curve for me. It was really interesting to see a lot of the older actors, who you have seen on TV a lot of times before, learning their lines just as they go on camera, the same as we were all doing.

The 17-year-old is studying drama, media and photography at Swindon College and is hoping to gain a scholarship to put himself through a drama school when he finishes college.

For 13-year-old Michael, the experience of working in front of the cameras was something he was already used to having appeared in last year's Honda advert, which featured Swindon.

Michael recently finished work as an extra on the film Chocolat, featuring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.

Both youngsters feature as the young versions of the films four main characters.

For my part I was hanged, said Michael. So I had to hold on to these ropes and when the box was pulled out from under me, I had to kick for a bit then hang really still.

I really enjoy acting, it's just really good fun and gets the adrenalin going.

Lyndon and Michael are the latest young actors to win success on the television. The Evening Advertiser has featured nine-year-old Katie Pitts-Drake, who has landed the leading role in the BBC's flagship drama Lorna Doone.