Interview with Tommy Jessop

Tommy Jessop is an actor and campaigner. He is credited as the first actor with Down syndrome to star in a prime-time BBC drama, the first professional actor with Down syndrome to tour theatres as Hamlet, and the first to become a full voting member of BAFTA.

In 2021 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by the University of Winchester and became an Ambassador to Mencap and to the National Down Syndrome Policy Group.

Tommy’s first book, A Life Worth Living, has now been published.

I wanted to be a footballer when I was little, but then I played a snowman in a school play and I decided I wanted to become an actor because I enjoyed making people laugh. Now as a professional actor I still enjoy making an audience or viewers feel their emotions and laugh, cry, shout or swear at the story, all for the love of it.

Acting is my greatest passion. I can see how the character is feeling and all the emotions he might be going through. When I get a script I look forward to getting into the character and their story. Hopefully my acting might help change people’s lives for the better.

Dancing makes me feel even more alive and free as the music flows through me and inspires me to move. I’ve been lucky enough to dance at festivals, art galleries and even with other dancers who have Down syndrome. I also performed with dancers from the Royal Ballet at a performance of the Rite of Spring at Covent Garden produced by Culture Device.
Sir Mark Rylance inspires me. We both have a passion for Shakespeare and we both like to feel emotions while playing our characters and also make the audience feel their emotions as well. We also both like to use stillness and he has a knack of making people laugh even in a dark scene. [Following Tommy’s portrayal of Hamlet, Rylance invited him to take part in his ‘What You Will Pop Up Shakespeare’ and the Globe Theatre’s Sonnet Walks’]
My dad did help us with the storyline for a play and then a film I made with my brother Will Jessop, a professional filmmaker, called Freddie’s Story. Freddie’s Story was about diagnostic overshadowing and how to find out what is wrong with a patient who has a learning disability and explain what will happen next so that they can make their own choices about their healthcare. Life is about making choices or making the right choices.
When I was in Holby City the story was also about the patient wanting to make his own choice about his healthcare and the doctor explained things very clearly.

Being labelled can put you in a really bad place by saying you can’t do things, your life is not worth living, but I might be a man on a mission to change people’s views on diagnostic overshadowing by saying yes, you can do things, yes, you can be informed, yes, you can make your own choices.

My Panorama film ‘Will the NHS Care for Me?” also looked at the treatment of people with learning disabilities in hospital.
The main message about Line of Duty was all about making people more aware of ‘cuckooing’ and ‘mate crime’. My brother and I also created a play called Living Without Fear with Blue Apple Theatre which did the same. That was commissioned by the Police and we performed it in Parliament at the invitation of the former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

This is a really important subject to stop people from being scared, to help them speak up and have a voice. Some people don’t know how to get help so we need other people to notice things, find out what is going on and really listen to us.

Being in Line of Duty did give me a platform to speak up in the press and other media about this.

I don’t really feel disabled, but think being in that primetime show should have an impact for other actors because they should be able to do the same things that they want to do in life. If you see someone on screen you might begin to understand them better.
The bill is now an Act, the first Act of its kind in the world. It is to celebrate people with Down syndrome and to improve their lives as well through sharing how to give them better healthcare, better education and help with housing and independence, because we may get ill with the same things as other people but at different times, so screening at the right time is important, or we may live healthy lives.

People need to believe in us, help us dig out our skills and talents, help us eat well and take exercise and to live our lives to the full and be fulfilled. I know lots of people with Down syndrome who work including actors, dancers, models, photographers, people making socks or ice cream, in a library, or play sport for our country, but some people do not get those chances in life. They should. We can lead good healthy lives. Stop screening us out! Believe in us and help us live our lives as you help everyone else.
The Panorama programme ‘Will the NHS care for me?’ was important. It was also a powerful and hard-hitting message to the NHS. People with learning disabilities are much more likely to die of avoidable causes than anyone else.

It might help to have more learning disability nurses and a ‘Dr Charlie’ in every hospital. Dr Charlie Annesley is a consultant in North Middlesex University Hospital who sees every patient with a learning disability who is admitted for whatever reason. She takes really good care of patients and understands how to talk to them and then talks to their own doctors or nurses about how best to help them in hospital.
Readers can expect to really find out what my life is truly worth living for. I hope it will be intriguing, funny and fun to read about being an actor, dancer, campaigner, and writer. I have played over 30 roles on stage from Vladimir in Waiting for Godot to Hamlet, Prospero and Bottom. You will find out what it’s like behind the scenes on a television or film set, having a laugh with other more famous actors, singing, dancing in wicked venues around London, growing up, hobbies, teasing you about sport, award ceremonies, being in the media, photo shoots, travel and campaigning for the Down syndrome Bill to become an Act. There are a few puns and quite a few fun facts too.

‘A Life Worth Living’, Tommy’s memoir is available in hardback, ebook and audio download.

www.tommy-jessop.com