The boy who became a sensation as the 13- year-old star of Billy
Elliot is now 21 and making a film fortune. The vowels of his
north-east accent have become smoother, his steady blue eyes show
confidence and his slight frame has filled out, along with his wallet.
But he is coming to terms with the fact that there may be a high price
to pay for success which has nothing to do with money. What has
triggered this bout of self-analysis, which is perhaps unusual in one
so young, is the recent death of Heath Ledger at 28.
There are a number of parallels between the late Australian actor and
his more youthful British counterpart and not just in terms of their
career paths.
Jamie as the boy determined to become a ballet dancer
Like Ledger, Jamie lives alone in New York, far from home, with
temptation on his doorstep. “I can appreciate the spotlight and
pressure Heath was under,” he says. “There is a feeling that, however
supportive your family is, you are very much on your own in this
business. I never even met Heath but have heard all the stories.
He was highly talented and always did his best. That did not stop him
from falling by the wayside in a tragic manner. Was there anyone
here to help him in his hour of need?”
Jamie, who swept to fame as
an unknown kid from Teesside, is having to grow up fast in the
unforgiving world of big movies and high financial stakes. He has
starred in such big-budget hits as King Kong and Flags Of Our Fathers.
And he’s now in the just released Jumper, in which his character goes
up against Samuel L Jackson – and wins. But non-stop travel while
launching the movie left him exhausted and ill. He was even suffering
as he attempted to appear bright and chatty on Friday Night With
Jonathan Ross recently. The show had to go on – and there was no
sympathy.
“I was staying at the Dorchester in London,” he says. “It is a very
nice hotel and a lot of people would say I had it made. The rooms are
luxurious and everything is taken care of. I could not have had any
complaint, could I? The truth is, I was feeling terrible with some kind
of virus. I had difficulty in talking. I had to pull out of a lot of
radio interviews and take to my bed. I was then due back in America
because I was expected for meetings.
“The hotel was surrounded by photographers. I could feel their
resentment that I was not well enough to pose for too many pictures.
It made me feel bad because I felt bad for them. They had probably been
there all night. I felt as if I had let them down. So you start
thinking, ‘What will pick me up? What will make me feel better?’ I
think that is where the whole thing with prescription drugs kicks
in. You start to take them, like a cure-all, to make you feel less ill
or tired. Then you start relying on them as part of your daily life.”
With former love Evan Rachel Wood
Jamie takes a cold look at what happened to Ledger, who died from an
overdose of prescription drugs, and wonders if he, too, is being
expected to deliver far too much. “I cannot pretend to know what was
going on in his life,” he says.
“I can imagine how he felt. The film
business is wonderful and I love it. But the flip side is that the
expectations are very big. Don’t get ill and don’t get depressed about
things. The trouble with America is that they allow far stronger
drugs to be sold across the counter. They would never be allowed in
Britain – you would need to see a doctor and get a prescription.
“In the end, you probably don’t know what you are taking or how one
drug can affect you. One drug might be reacting against another. Who is
to tell?
“I don’t want this to come out in the wrong way but in a normal job you
feel ill and have some time off. That is fair enough. When you are in a
film, there are millions of pounds resting on you being fit and well.
There is a film crew of a hundred people who are relying on you to be
there. You cannot afford to be sick. There are deadlines to make,
flights to get on and a total dedication to work which is required.”
HE IS happy to report that he’s not taking a single drug. “But I am not
pointing the finger and saying: ‘I would never go there,’” he says.
“Who can tell? I hope I can always avoid taking so many prescription
drugs and keeping my mind clear. It is easy to be wise after the event.”
He is much changed from the boy who nervously came to London in 2000
from his home in Billingham, near Middlesbrough, for the launch of
Billy Elliot. He was with his mother Eileen, and was wondering if he
would ever work again in another movie. He wanted to be a full-time
actor.
He had to get back to school, though, to finish his education.
He has since travelled the world to work for such top directors as
Peter Jackson and Clint Eastwood. He has also picked up rave reviews
for his portrayal of Smike in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and for taking
on the title role last year in Hallam Foe.
The experiences have clearly made him sharper and more sophisticated.
He is being eyed in Hollywood as one of our brightest hopes for
long-term stardom. But he insists he is basically the same local lad
who made good.
“I am proud of my family, my background and my old
friends. I am not going to lie and say travel has not changed me.
It gives you new experiences and there are sights I did not expect to
see. I have never let that go to my head. If I even get close to that,
there are a lot of people who bring me right down to earth. That can be
anyone from an old school friend to my older sister, Cathryn.”
He also has the constant support of his mother Eileen who took him to
the dance classes which kick-started his unexpected film career.
“She would turn on a dime to see me,” he says. “I try to stay in touch
and get her to join me whenever she can.
“Is she worried about
me? I hope she isn’t. She knows I am doing exactly what I want to do
with my life and that I won’t be living in America for ever. She also
knows that I am not going to get big-headed about what happens.
“I am not going to start putting on airs and graces just because I have
been lucky enough to be in a few successful films. I don’t know what
the future holds. I don’t know when it might all end.”
There’s no sign of his career faltering. Jamie’s latest role in Jumper,
as a globetrotting rebel called Griffin – the role involved him filming
in nine countries – sees him delivering his first performance in a
Teesside accent since Billy Elliot.
He has won a collection of top reviews in America and Britain which
have established him as an energetic action man. He also plays a
younger brother of James Bond star Daniel Craig in his next film, a
Second World War story called Defiance.
But Jamie’s non-stop working schedule has ruined his love life. His
two-year relationship with 20-year-old American actress Evan Rachel
Wood ended last summer and, since then there has been no romance for
him.
“It has been impossible,” he says. “I am not happy about it but that is
one of the sacrifices you have to make. I would have been happy to
continue with Evan but I have to be realistic. I have been working and
travelling all over the place, and we both realised that we would never
see each other.
“That has not been easy. I hear a lot of that from other actors who are
moving around all the time. It is hard to start a relationship – and
even more difficult to keep it.”
Jamie has been renting a home in New York and is now thinking about
buying a place in Brooklyn.“I love it in this city,” he explains. “I
moved here because it is perfectly situated for both Hollywood and
London. It has also given me true independence.
“I am surrounded by tall buildings, which I like, there’s a bustling
atmosphere and it is easy to get around. I am just enjoying being a
21-year-old.
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