DUBAI: A former Jumeirah College student has made it to Hollywood.
Briton Louie Chapman, 24, has bagged the role of an antagonist in popular American television series Life as a Mermaid.
Chapman will play the mythical character Selkie in the serial which is now in its fourth season.
“The first season of Life As A mermaid started off as a zero budget passion project with like-minded creatives. Since then they have picked up momentum with fellow collaborators with the current season being produced by Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother producer by Zig Gauthier. The show’s first video reached 17 million hits on YouTube and is a huge success,” Louie told XPRESS in an email interview.
Opportunities
Louie said it was the many opportunities he got while growing up in Dubai that made his journey to Hollywood possible. “I have been passionate about dramatics since I was a child. I was six months old when my parents moved to Dubai. When I was 10, I joined a theatre company in Dubai called Fame Academy. The company staged a number of dramas and I made my acting debut in a play called The King and I where I played the lead role.”
Stint with theatre
Later Louie joined another company, Vox Theatre in Dubai where he acted in a number of dramas, including Grease, which was staged in Madinat Theatre in 2006. He was also cast in Pantomine Emperors New Clothes, Bugsy Malone (Fat Sam)’, Light Camera Action and Footloose to name a few.
After completing his A levels, Louie took a one-year break and travelled to the US.
“I wanted to discover myself and find out what I really wanted to do with my life. I found my true calling two years later when I got accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Art in Los Angeles with a merit scholarship.”
“I studied there for three years. After my graduation, I was spotted by Brett Cates from Luber Roklin Entertainment, a talent agency in California. Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, Hayden Christensen (Star Wars), Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan), were all picked up from this agency. I got my big break when I bagged the main role in the television series Scout a Star Wars story which was shot in California’s Redwood Forest.”
“The rest is history as they say. I cannot thank my stars for the grounding I received in Dubai. There are plenty of opportunities for theatre actors in the city. You just have to be in the right place at the right time,” said Louie.
