One might wonder why this year’s winner of the Alan Bates Bursary, Ivanno Jeremiah, decided to become an actor; his life up until now appears to have been dramatic enough. At the age of 21, his story is far from reaching its conclusion but he’s on track to becoming the inspiration for a Ron Howard biopic.

Ivanno Jeremiah and Zoe Wanamaker Born in Uganda during the troubled years that followed the overthrow of Idi Amin’s regime, Ivanno’s mother moved to the UK as a political refugee with her 6 children, when Ivanno was just 3 weeks old. He grew up in South London and has seen many of his friends go down a less than savoury road, “Quite a few of the people I grew up with are now stuck in a rut or affiliated with gangs,” he says, “I guess I would have been susceptible to a lot of other influences had I not found acting. I was too busy sweating my arse off rehearsing Shakespeare.”

Ivanno says he has always been driven. At the age of 16 he decided to leave the Comprehensive he was at and audition for the Brit School. He was successful at his audition but hadn’t told his mother he’d left the old school until the day he was due to start at the Brit. “She looked at me with this sort of mixture of shock, confusion and pride. It’s a look I still see sometimes to this day,” he says.

Upon leaving the Brit School Ivanno auditioned for drama schools and was pleasantly surprised when he received offers to RADA, Central and The Bristol Old Vic. “To be honest with you I didn’t know that much about drama school or what happened there. For one of my auditions I read Oberon. I’m not sure the auditioners had seen an Oberon with corn-rows, in a track suit and wearing bling before.” Despite the somewhat unlikely costume, he must have given a good performance because he was accepted. In the end he chose to study at RADA where he says he learnt to think of himself as an artist and develop his craft as an actor.

Ivanno plans to follow in his mother’s footsteps and focus his attention on community based projects. “Next week I’m going to prison” he says. What? “To work with prisoners on a drama project,” he clarifies. “It’s a programme that RADA offers. I’ll be working in a prison and going to four schools to share my love of drama with them.” Ivanno hopes he can make a difference within these communities “I strongly believe that drama has endless benefits for building self-confidence. Going on stage in front of people forces you to deal with your insecurities and master them.”

For the moment Ivanno’s biopic will have to conclude on a sunny day a few weeks ago when he was presented with his latest achievement, the prestigious Alan Bates Bursary. Awarded by the Actors Centre and supported by the Gordon foundation, the Bursary will provide Ivanno with a year’s free membership to the Actors Centre and classes to the value of £1000. He will also get a year’s Spotlight subscription and receive subsidies to cover other career expenses such as headshots, show reels, voice demos or a personal website. Ivanno was selected by judges Richard E Grant and Lesley Sharp, from over 200 entrants and was presented with the award by Zoe Wanamaker in a ceremony at the Actors Centre this month. "I was delighted to present Ivanno with the Alan Bates Bursary,” said Wanamaker. “He was chosen purely on the basis of his acting ability, but it's great when you come across someone who has all that talent and it's connected with a massive passion about changing his own and other people's lives."

Ivanno’s story has a long way to go and like all good biopics, there are no doubt challenging scenes ahead but for this leading man heroism, triumph and acclaim are likely to follow...

Other News

Recharge

The Actors Centre has brought four outstanding practitioners together in the perfect package for experienced actors who are looking for new inspiration. Recharge your skills and find out how the Actors Centre can help you develop your career further.
Read More

Wednesday 12th October
Halloween at the actors centre
On the 19th of October the Actors Centre Members Committee will be celebrating Halloween early by putting on a free screening of F. W Murnau's horror classic Nosferatu.
Read More

Acting and Auditioning on Camera: Taster Weekend
On the 16th October the Actors Centre will present a taste of its current range of TV and Casting workshops for professional actors, giving an overview of how TV castings work and the demands of the film set and current practices in British TV today.
Read More

Wednesday 24 August
Call out for Actors
A free script development workshop for three AC members, with Matthew Lloyd, Janie Dee and Claire Price, perfoming work by Booker Prize winning novelist Ben Okri created in Response to The Museum of Broken Relationships.
Read More

Thursday 9th June
RECHARGE
Recharge your skills and find out how the Actors Centre can help you develop your career further. We've brought four outstanding practitioners together in the perfect package for experienced actors who are looking for new inspiration. Read More

Thursday 9th June
INTRO TO ACTING TASTER WEEKEND
We've got two great workshops for non members taking their first step in acting, or looking to shake off the rust after a gap. Introduction to Improvision will lower your inhibitions and teach you to interact with other actors, and Shakespeare for Newcomers will give you a foundation in performing these plays in a supportive and enjoyable atmosphere. Read more.

tuesday 7th June
ACTORs CENTRE IRELAND
The Actors Centre is making it's maiden voyage to Ireland this July, taking a great selection of our workshops and short courses with us...read more

Monday 6th June
Paines Plough Open Auditions:
Many actors find themselves in the position of needing to be in something to be seen, and needing to be seen to be in something. In response to this often frustrating dilemma, Paines Plough has committed to meeting over 700 actors previously unknown to the company each year. read more...

Thursday 26th May
Advanced Summer School Confirmed: The Headstrong Approach
This advanced, five-day summer school brings to the Actors Centre an innovative approach to screen acting which draws on Stanislavski, Meisner, Adler and Strasberg, and incorporates the extensive experience of workshop leader Michael Ferguson. read more...

Wednesday 27th April 2011
TAMZIN OUTHWAITE BECOMES A NEW ACTORS CENTRE PATRON
Tamzin Outhwaite, star of Eastenders and Sweet Charity has become a new actors centre patron. read more...

Friday 25th March 2011
National Student Drama festival
You can find the Actors Centre at the National Student Drama Festival (NSDF11) taking place next month in Scarborough. read more...

Friday 28th February 2011
'A Screen Acting Workshop' Launches at the Actors Centre
Actors Centre tutor, Mel Churcher, launched her new book 'A Screen Acting Workshop' at the Actors Centre last week. read more...

14th February 2011
Taking Your Musical Career to the Stage
Re-Present in association with the Actors Centre present ‘Taking you to the Stage’, an intensive workshop for musical performers that analyses your audition skills and CV presentation and culminates in an opportunity to showcase your skills in a performance for an invited industry audience. read more...

Monday 7th February 2011
Actors Centre members nominated for off west end awards
This month the Actors Centre features two members who have both been nominated for Off West End Theatre Awards. Julia Effertz and Vinta Morgan are nominated for Best Female Performance and Best Male Performance respectively. You can vote for them until the 14th of February here.
read more...

Friday 4th February 2011
Actors Centre film to screen at belfast film festival
A short film from the Actors Centre’s Talent Boost 2010 project has been shortlisted to appear at the Belfast Film Festival. ‘The Deal’ written by Katie Douglas and directed by Delyth Thomas will be screened at the prestigious event in April. read more...

28th January 2011
Applications now open for the Alan Bates Bursary 2011
Applications are now open for the Actors Centre’s Alan Bates Bursary for 2011. The prize is awarded to a promising young actor at the outset of their career who is graduating this year from an NCDT accredited acting course. read more...

27th January 2011
Featured Tutor Nina Finburgh
Nina Finburgh teaches sightreading classes at the Actors Centre every Wednesday. Nina has coached many of our foremost musical theatre artists and has worked with Classical and Contemporary Companies, and coached Principals in Ballets and Musicals. read more...

10th December 2010
Recharge at the Actors Centre - open workshops in january
Recharge your skills and find out how the Actors Centre can help you develop your career further. The Actors Centre has brought four outstanding practitioners together in the perfect package for experienced actors who are looking for new inspiration and want to start 2011 with a big creative buzz. read more...

1st December 2010
The Actors Centre Open weekend
The Actors Centre is throwing its doors open on February 12th amd 13th 2011 so you can see what we look like and get a taste of the fantastic work we do. This is an ideal opportunity to find out what we offer actors and how we develop their skills, support their careers and hook them up with jobs, casting contacts and creative opportunities... read more

26th November 2010
Save your Kisses for Me
Actors Centre members will stage a performed reading of David Kerby-Kendall's cult play 'Save Your Kisses For Me' at the Tristan Bates Theatre next week... read more

24th November 2010
Our Present to You
'tis the season to be jolly and we'd like to spread some seasonal cheer with a present to you! We're reducing all December classes by 10% as well as some lovely little extras... read more

24th November 2010
Celebrate the end of the year with us!
Join us to celebrate the end of the year with a party, panto and a pop-quiz. The night will start with a 'one-night only' performance of the Actors Centre version of 'Dick Whittington'. This new version of the old classic is not to be missed... read more

10th November 2010
Broadway hit Makes its UK Premiere at the Tristan Bates Theatre
The critically acclaimed play Krapp, 39, is to make its UK premiere at the Tristan Bates Theatre this November. Written and performed by Michael Laurence and directed by George Demas, Krapp, 39 is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s iconic play Krapp’s Last Tape... read more

Monday, 4th October 2010
David Proud and Jason Maza Visit the Actors centre
Actors, David Proud and Jason Maza, visited the Actors Centre last week to share some tips on acting with the BBC Talent Boost participants. You can view videos from the Q and A... read more

10th September 2010
David Proud announces the participants for BBC Talent Boost 2010
The participants for BBC Talent Boost 2010 have been announced. David Proud, star of EastEnders and Talent Boost ambassador, announced the successful participants at a ceremony last week. The 22 participants were selected from over 400 applicants and are all from backgrounds currently underrepresented on UK film and TV screens... read more

25th August 2010
Participants for Talent Boost 2010 Selected

Talent Boost, the radical training initiative run by the Actors Centre to expand the pool of acting talent from culturally diverse backgrounds, is now in its third year and has embarked on an exciting and innovative programme that will train and profile two integrated groups made up of disabled actors working alongside Black and ethnically diverse actors... read more

Friday 24th June 2010
Spotlight on Ivanno Jeremiah - Winner of the 2010 Alan Bates Bursary
One might wonder why this year’s winner of the Alan Bates Bursary, Ivanno Jeremiah, decided to become an actor; his life up until now appears to have been dramatic enough. At the age of 21, his story is far from reaching its conclusion but he’s on track to becoming the inspiration for a Ron Howard biopic... read more

Friday 24th June 2010
Applications Now Open for Talent Boost 2010
The Actors Centre, in association with Graeae Theatre Company, is delighted to announce Talent Boost 2010. The initiative, supported by the BBC, aims to expand casting options, providing creative opportunities for participants from communities across the UK that are currently underrepresented in the broadcasting industry... read more

Friday 9th April 2010
Castathon - Its Back!
Our brilliant fundraising initiative returns. You get to meet some of the country's top Casting Directors from film, TV and theatre and we get to raise money for our Development Fund.... read more

Friday 19th March 2010
Pitch and Play April Dates Announced
Following our hugely successful inaugural event, the Actors Centre is delighted to announce our second Pitch and Play, this time for actors and screen industry contacts. The event will be held at the Actors Centre on the 12th April... read more

Friday 12th March 2010
BBC TALENT BOOST 2010
The Actors Centre's dynamic and innovative programme dedicated to discovering and training fresh acting talent from minority and underrepresented backgrounds is back!... read more