‘Posh’ British actors spark elitism concern

The Backgrounds of Oscar hopefuls Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne have fuelled a running controversy ahead of today’s awards ceremony over whether acting is becoming an elitist profession in Britain.

Several industry legends have weighed in on the debate. Michael Gambon, famous for playing wizard Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series, sees no problem in the trend.

“The more Old Etonians the better, I think!” he said, referring to the prestigious alma mater of Prince Harry and Prince William that costs over £34,000 a year to attend, well over the British average yearly salary. “It’s to do with being actors and wanting to do it. It’s nothing to do with where they come from,” Gambon told Radio Times.

Redmayne, nominated for Best Actor for his performance as astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, was a classmate of Prince William at Eton. The Avengers villain Tom Hiddleston is a fellow alumnus, along with Homeland star Damien Lewis and Dominic West of The Wire.

The school has lavish drama facilities and puts on over 20 productions a year — some of which go on to be staged at the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival.

Cumberbatch, also up for Best Actor honours for his performance as mathematician Alan Turing, is an alumnus of Harrow.

In 2012 he complained about “posh-bashing”, calling it “so predictable, so domestic, so dumb” and added it made him want to move to the United States.

Theatre actress and James Bond star Judi Dench has said that she regularly receives letters from aspiring young actors begging for financial assistance. “Anyone who’s in the theatre gets letters countless times a week asking for help to get through drama school,” Dench told the Observer.

Dench lamented the demise of the repertory theatre, where an acting company performs different plays in rotation but featuring the same cast, saying it left young actors with expensive acting school as their only option to train.