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1. 13LSA-E01-S2
By Chris Carra
@ForzaSwansea
chris.carra@swwmedia.co.uk
01554 745321
@
A TRIMSARAN actor says
his career is going from
strength to strength as his
newest show hits the air.
Trystan Gravelle plays
Victor in the new ITV series
Mr Selfridge — a show already
being dubbed the new
Downton Abbey by critics.
The 10-episode series tells
the story of Harry Selfridge,
who came to London from
Chicago in 1908 with the grand
plan of creating the finest
department store in the
world.
Trystan, 31, acts alongside
Jeremy Piven and Katherine
Kelly in the period drama and
said he loved playing the role
of versatile waiter Victor, who
occasionally doubles-up as a
male escort.
“He is a cracking character
to play,” Trystan said.
“I think he’s interesting
because he has not come from
a privileged background but
here he is in this very posh
store, making something of
himself.
“We have had great
feedback — everybody seems
to have loved it.
“We’ve also had great
ratings so far with around 8.1
million viewers for the
opening episode.”
Trystan agreed that the
show would appeal to fans of
Downton Abbey and other
period dramas, but
emphasised Mr Selfridge was
set “right in the heart of a busy
city, instead of in the
countryside” like Downton.
This is by no means
Trystan’s first lead role, with a
fine array in TV, film and
theatre appearances already
under his belt.
Controversial
In 2011 he starred with Rhys
Ifans in Anonymous — the
controversial film which
questioned whether
Shakespeare actually penned
any of the work printed in his
name.
The former Ysgol y Strade
pupil also had a leading role in
the Mike Bartlett play, 13, at
the National Theatre in 2011.
And he has just finished
filming One Chance — the
biopic of Britain’s Got Talent
singer, Paul Potts, which will
be aired later this year.
The rags-to-riches film sees
Trystan play Matthew — a
character who bullied Potts at
his Port Talbot school —
alongside top names such as
James Corden, Julie Walters
and Mackenzie Crook.
“We’ve just finished filming
and it will be out later this
year,” Trystan said.
“Matthew was a lovely
character to play — I really
enjoyed it.
“It was a good film to work
on and everybody was great to
work with.”
Trystan — who has come a
long way since first treading
the boards with Llanelli Youth
Theatre — said he is pleased
with the way his career was
heading.
“It is going very well,” he
said.
“I’m taking a little break at
the moment and will then see
what the next step is.
“I am having a great time —
long may it continue.”
TRIMSARAN’S Trystan
Gravelle was impressed
with his first visit to
Llanelli’s new Y Ffwrnes
theatre.
Although the actor now
lives in South London, he
makes regular visits to his
home town to visit family.
On his most recent visit
he had the chance to wander
around Llanelli’s new £60
million East Gate leisure
quarter.
During his visit he met
with a distant relative and
Carmarthenshire Council
executive board member for
leisure services Meryl
Gravell.
Mrs Gravell said:
“Trystan greeted me with ‘I
haven’t seen you for a long
time’ and I just said ‘well, I
have been seeing an awful
lot of you on my TV’.
“He was with his dad
Barrie and I invited them
both to see Y Ffwrnes.
“It seemed really
appropriate because
Trystan is a product of the
National Youth Theatre of
Wales and more
importantly, Llanelli’s
Youth Theatre.
“We spent an hour on
walkabout there and he was
so impressed.
“He thought the more
intimate Stepney Studio
was better than anything he
has seen in his young and
burgeoning acting career.
“He was sure the
opportunities afforded to
aspiring young actors from
Carmarthenshire with such
superb facilities would be
hugely beneficial to them.”
And staff at Y Ffwrnes
could not believe their luck.
They collected Trystan’s
autograph, asked him to
pose for photographs and
have been tweeting about
his visit.
Exciting
times
in store
for
actor
I Trimsaran actor Trystan Gravelle stars as Victor in new ITV series Mr Selfridge.
Y Ffwrnes impresses
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