Mad About The Boy

Almost 18 Years Since He Danced His Way Into Fame as Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell Is Still Stealing the Screen – and Our Hearts

- Elle McClure

One of the most endearing things about Jamie Bell is that even if he is sick of talking about Billy Elliot, he doesn’t let on. “I mean, occasionally, only because I don’t know how many years it’s been, 17, maybe more. But I know that I owe so much of what I have now to that, so I have to be eternally grateful. It kind of gave me everything.”

Bell, who comes from a long line of dancers, was a 14-year-old tapping protégé when he jetéd out of obscurity – chosen from around 2,000 young boys much like him – into the role, which landed him a BAFTA best actor award. Post-filming, he moved away from his family home to live with director Stephen Daldry and, needless to say, going to the grocery store hasn’t been the same since.

Now in his thirties, with almost as many films under his belt, he lives a quiet life, married to House Of Cards actress Kate Mara. With no mention of drug fuelled arrests yielded by a Google search of his name, he’s very much an exception to the rule of child actors. It’s something he humbly credits to those around him (including his long-time manager and agent, respectively), who he says “are everything”. “I owe so much to them. Through my career and the choices I’ve made and the opportunities I’ve had, it’s those people who really guided me. Otherwise I’d be totally up a creek without a certain instrument.”