Lancaster University

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Film actor graduates from Lancaster University

07/19/2012 00:00:00
​A young film actor with a thriving career has graduated from Lancaster University.

Sam Holland is only 21 but already has a CV which includes appearances on TV show like Casualty, Doctors, Shameless, Waterloo Road and The Body Farm as well as the BBC Radio 4 play The Best Queue.

He attended the Oscars in Hollywood last year following the nomination of the British film Wish 143 in which he played a teenage boy with only months to live who is granted a final wish from a charity.

He has managed to combine an acting career with university, where he has gained a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing.

“Lancaster University has been a brilliant experience and I’ve come out a better person – it’s focused my ambition and I’m more mature. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been able to do acting and uni and they seemed to fit perfectly. After coming back from the Oscars, I had to hand in some coursework and when I’m waiting around on set, I do a lot of writing.”

John Schad, Professor of Modern Literature, said: “Sam has been an excellent student, a delight to teach, and has completed thoroughly deserved his very good  degree.   We wish him all the very best as he continues his acting career.”

Sam wanted to be an actor since childhood and joined a stage school in his hometown of Bradford. This led to an audition for Coronation Street, where his first role was to play a thug.

His acting career is now well established and he is not overwhelmed by mixing with more experienced actors like Keith Allen, Jim Carter, Sally Carman, and Jodie Whittaker.

 “I know actors can have a bit of a reputation but everyone I’ve worked with has been really good to me and I have felt really encouraged. I now think of myself as an actor, not a student, and this is what I want to do full-time.”

He now plans to move to Manchester in a flat share with some friends from Lancaster University, while he pursues his career.

“My mates are used to my unsocial hours as an actor though they have nine-to-five jobs and we get on fine. With Media City in Manchester, I don’t feel I have to move to London for an acting career because it’s going well here.”