Sir Michael Gambon has backed privately educated actors such as Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch, saying “the more Old Etonians the better”.
His comments came as fellow actor Julie Walters voiced concern over “working-class kids who can’t get into drama school”.
The success of privately educated actors such as Redmayne and Cumberbatch has sparked a debate over opportunities for working-class talent.
In January, shadow culture minister Chris Bryant highlighted the preponderance of former public school pupils in acting, saying: “We can’t just have a culture dominated by Eddie Redmayne and James Blunt and their ilk.”
Gambon told the Radio Times: “The more Old Etonians the better, I think!” he said. “The two or three who are playing at the moment are geniuses, aren’t they? The more geniuses you get, the better. It’s to do with being actors and wanting to do it; it’s nothing to do with where they come from.”
However, the veteran actor said he was worried that there are “many more actors now than ever before”.
After being told that there was a drama school in every British town, he said, “I thought, ‘God almighty!’ It can’t be really right, can it? Because you’re leading people up the wrong path, aren’t you? I worry about them, because it must be miserable for them. There must be so many actors who go to drama school and never get a job.”
Gambon recently decided to stop working on stage due to problems with memory loss. He told the Radio Times: “It’s a funny game. I don’t know how to cope with it.”
He said he now uses an earpiece with someone reading him his lines: “You can’t do that on stage [and] I find I’m trapped without it.”
Gambon is to appear in the BBC’s adaptation of The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling’s first novel for adults, which starts on Sunday.
However, he admitted that he was a “snob” about reality TV. Asked if he would ever appear in Strictly Come Dancing, he said: “No! I’m a terrible snob about it. I think, ‘Oh, that’s a bit common.”
Walters said she has helped young actors who have written to her in the past: “I have millions of letters from kids saying, ‘Can you help me?’ and I’ve sent bits of money, but I couldn’t possibly fund all of these working-class kids who can’t get
“It’s shocking how that flow of talent has just stopped. It will change the population of actors, which is terrible, really. It won’t be representative of society.”
She added: “You do see very good public schoolboys sometimes. They’re very good at playing psychopaths! And yes, a really good public-school actor would be able to play working class, but a working-class actor would do it better. There’s an authenticity that’s already in their bones.”
Last month, Cumberbatch’s former drama teacher at Harrow claimed that private education can hinder actors. “Going to a major independent school is of no importance or value or help at all,” he said. “I feel that they are being limited [from playing certain parts] by critics and audiences as a result of what their parents did for them at the age of 13. And that seems to me very unfair.”
Culture secretary Sajid Javid also spoke out against those criticising actors who are privately educated.
“What I think is the answer is not to knock people that have gone to a particular school or have a particular background because that’s a decision their parents made,” he said.
“I wish them well and I think it’s great that we’ve got people, whatever their background, that are flying the flag for Britain doing so much work for our creative industries.
“I think the best way to help people who may not have gone to a school that helped them with drama or acting is making sure that we pull them up.”
