When Preston students 'mingled' with acting royalty

Forget working your way up ....
Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mariayah Kaderbhai, head of programmes at BAFTA, Florian Zelelr and Olivia Colman CBE took part in a Q and A with UCLan studentsSir Anthony Hopkins, Mariayah Kaderbhai, head of programmes at BAFTA, Florian Zelelr and Olivia Colman CBE took part in a Q and A with UCLan students
Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mariayah Kaderbhai, head of programmes at BAFTA, Florian Zelelr and Olivia Colman CBE took part in a Q and A with UCLan students

One group of Preston students went straight to the top when they gave some of the acting world’s leading Oscar winners a grilling.

The lucky group of would-be young writers from the University of Central Lancashire had a chance to quiz some of the biggest names in the industry.

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Students on the university’s BA (Hons) screenwriting and MA scriptwriting courses took part in an online question and answer session with award-winning performers Sir Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman CBE.

The hour-long live question and answer session was organised by BAFTA and involved the actors, plus film director Florian Zeller, discussing their new film, The Father, in which a man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages.

The event was arranged by course leader Bill McCoid, who is a member of BAFTA and has extensive connections in the industry, which have seen top performers working with the Preston-based university over the years.

Bill said: “Despite Covid restrictions

, we here at UCLan Screenwriting want to make sure that our students have access to the world’s top screen talent.”

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Scriptwriting student Jon-Lee Horan took the opportunity to ask the screen legends about the connection between drama and comedy.

He said: “I was quite nervous. It’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask to people of expertise and experience, plus their early days, how they learned about drama and comedy.”

Jon-Lee added: “It was surreal to hear my name being spoken in their company, I thought, ‘Now people are going to take me seriously’.”

The stars, especially Sir Anthony Hopkins, are revered as acting royalty.

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Besides being an actor Hopkins is also a composer, director and film producer.

He has won man accolades from an Academy Award, to three BAFTAs, Emmys and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts but is still probably best known for winning the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

Oscar and Golden Globe winner Olivia Colman is best known for her roles in Broadchurch, The Crown and The Favourite.

She has played both Queen Elizabeth 11 and The Queen Mother