East Durham College was thrilled to welcome actor Richard Riddell, who recently appeared in smash-hit BBC drama Bodyguard, to the college on Friday 5th October for a special talk with students.
Richard, who is from Ryhope, played Tom Fenton, a detective who works alongside lead actor Richard Madden’s David Budd. In the past, Richard has also had roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a First Order Officer and in E4’s popular superpowered drama Misfits.
When hearing that Richard was returning to the North East, East Durham College thought it would be a great opportunity for our talented creative industries students to see how far they can go in acting by having Richard come in to talk with them.
Richard spent around half an hour with students from East Durham College for the Q and A, which took place in the college’s Lubetkin theatre. Students had many questions for the actor, ranging from his favourite (and least favourite!) roles to how he got his start in the acting business.
Richard had some advice for students who may want to get into acting. He said: “I would say, if acting is something you really want to do you absolutely have to go for it. As I said in the talk, it’s just remembering that there will be a lot of rejections and you shouldn’t be deterred by that. You should remember that you still have value and you’ve got to go for it.
“It sounds quite generic – but that’s one of the most important things to remember! You do have a lot to give, but also, you never know until you try it!”
Over the course of its run, Bodyguard had tongues wagging across the country as an average audience of 8 million people tackled with the twists and turns of the programme.
Bodyguard also starred another local star – and former East Durham College A-Level student. Gina McKee played Commander as Anne Sampson in the gripping drama.
In the near future Richard will also be appearing in Morse prequel Endeavour and in Sky Atlantic’s dystopian thriller Curfew, starring alongside Sean Bean and Miranda Richardson.
