AN ASPRING actor from Bolton is set to star in a documentary highlighting the difficulties of making it in the arts industry.

Tom Stocks runs a campaign called Actor Awareness which is the subject of the upcoming feature-length documentary, The Acting Class.

Former Turton High School pupil Tom, originally from Harwood, moved to London after being offered a place at the East 15 drama school. However, Tom, aged 25, was forced to turn it down as he was unable to fund himself.

He then set up Actor Awareness, aimed at highlighting the difficulties facing would-be working-class actors, where his story caught the eye of the film’s producers, Deirdre O’Neill and Mike Mayne.

Ms O’Neill said: “We were put in touch with Tom via Twitter and were really interested in telling his story. We wanted to focus on the issues surrounding class in acting. We spoke to a lot of high-profile working-class people from within the industry and they all said that they would not have been able to break into it now because the barriers are too high.”

Actor Awareness host regular meetings where working-class actors can network and share stories and ideas.

Tom said: “There has been a lot of talk about diversity in the arts for years, but I think this documentary is important because when you see people telling their stories it really hits home.

“It’s important to keep that conversation going and trying to get as many people as possible talking about the subject.”

The documentary also features Salford's Christopher Eccleston, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Bolton-born Maxine Peake, all of whom grew up in traditionally working-class areas.

In 2016, researchers found that just 16 per cent of actors hailed from working-class backgrounds, and that the British acting population was 'heavily skewed towards the privileged'.

Ms O’Neill said: “The arts in general is the way in which we in society talk to each other. If the majority of people involved in the arts are coming from a very narrow group in society then we are not getting an accurate picture. That is why it is so important.”

Screenings of the film will be held in Manchester and Salford next month, and the filmmakers say they are also hoping to arrange a showing in Bolton.

More information on screenings can be found at www.theactingclass.info.