Daily Inspiration: Meet Henry Thompson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Henry Thompson

Hi Henry, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a classically trained actor from the UK – I trained at theatre school at the amazing East15 Theatre School in London. I always knew I wanted to be an actor. I used to do theatre camps and stage schools as a kid, but I ended up being really sporty and focused on that for much of my childhood; I was a nationally decorated 100m and 200m sprinter, and I then went on to row for Wales and the West of England.

My high school was one that encourages a “proper” education and path through life and, even though I did a couple of amateur theatre productions as a teenager, I was encouraged to go to university. I auditioned for a drama school at 18, and didn’t get in – I got some decent academic grades, so I ended up going traditional and going to Reading University to study a BA in History and International Relations. After leaving, I felt like I might want to be more academic, and tried working in the research section of TV. I did internships in a few different companies as a researcher before realising I really missed acting, so I got a job in a pub and saved up to audition to drama school – I auditioned to about 10 a year after I graduated, and I got into East15. I knew I was in the right place, it totally opened my eyes as to what a professional performer’s life was like and I knew that I was exactly in the right place. After graduating, I spent a couple of years doing some small productions of things like “Anthony and Cleopatra”, and was accepted into an amazing theatre company called Degenerate Fox, who produce some incredible short form theatre – and who have a sister company in Chicago and San Francisco!

COVID came soon after and put us all on hold – I performed a few cool online shows with Degenerate Fox, but the industry was at a standstill, and I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I had a real sense that there would be people who were left behind when the world opened back up, and those that had worked on themselves and came out stronger, and I was so determined to be the latter. I started writing, and self-produced a small radio comedy trilogy of Italian folk-stories adapted from Italo Calvino. In early 2020, I ended up getting cast as the lead in my first ever feature film “The Anarchist’s Dream”, and flew to Spain to shoot. Until then I had only done a couple of short films, and never really as the lead – this film blew open my doors of perception as to what the job of acting was, and what was possible, and just what portraying another person could give me. It was more private, more specific than just performing, and I was absolutely hooked. I knew when we wrapped that I was going to work in movies – and the incredible director, Yolanda Torres, encouraged me to go to LA and look at training again. I contacted the Lee Strasberg Institute, and ended up getting a scholarship and studying there for a year.

The year at Strasberg changed my whole life – I wasn’t a student with a dream any more, I had done all that at East15, but I was there to examine character, and theory, and styles, and I loved every single day that I could be there. I took courses in film history, and writing, and after I left, I got offered a space on the advanced writing lab. My film went through the process, and I ended up securing funding through the Institute, and getting it made in the autumn of 2023 – that film, “Tomorrow”, is now in festivals, and has picked up a few awards, including getting me my first ever Best Actor award and Best Original Screenplay Award.

Since my time at Strasberg, I’ve produced 4 films, and my friends and I now have our eyes on our first feature. The strike took away jobs for actors, and I started writing my own films to cast myself in so I could keep practising in a real set environment, and we’re starting to generate a name for ourselves. I’m being seen as an actor for some really high profile work, and I’ve had scenes with some really great actors. My writing is providing me with consistency, and I’ve made a network all over the world. I couldn’t be more grateful that I took the route I took, and that my journey is really just beginning!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t – I’ve had multiple setbacks along the way, but so does anyone in this industry. I’ve signed with some good agents, only for no work to end up coming through, and I got dropped by them a year later. When COVID hit, I was really only interested in theatre work, and they almost entirely shut down. But I really believe that in these moments, you find out who you want to be. I never stop emailing agents, and now I have a wonderful agent who I get on with so well. I performed online shows, and started writing to create work that everyone else was saying that wasn’t there. This is an industry with a setback at every corner, and we all experience them – we all deal with things in multiple ways too. But my mantra for this is the same as the old stock market adage; time in it beats timing it. Every time it gets difficult I just try and do something myself and generate my own work, and someone will notice the hard work at some point. If they don’t, then you’ve still done loads of work!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an actor, mainly. Everything I’ve ever wanted to do is acting. In a saturated industry that, in my career so far, has been riddled with COVID and strikes, it’s important to find a way – and that’s led me down the writing and producing route too. I adore acting, and I prioritise that over everything I do, but I’m loving diversifying, and gaining experience in other aspects of the world. My biggest film so far is the feature film “The Anarchist’s Dream”, where I played a Cornish musician fighting in the Spanish Civil War in honour of his father. The film picked up multiple Best Feature and Best Drama awards worldwide, and really gave me my in into movie acting. While on my first, provisional work visa in the US, I worked on an amazing play in Santa Monica called “Beach People: An Existential Farce in Two Acts” which introduced me into the Los Angeles theatre scene, and earned me my first ever Best Actor nomination – though going up against Bryan Cranston was only going to give one winner, eh?! More recently, the film that I wrote and produced, and starred in; “Tomorrow” is picking up lots of awards, including giving me my first Best Actor award and Best Original Screenplay award. I would say that these two awards, and by extension, “Tomorrow” is my absolute proudest moment.

I think what sets me apart from others is my relentless work ethic. I have a few jobs to keep me afloat, and every time that I’m not spending earning money is dedicated to generating the next step in my career. I am always scouring IMDB for movies that need actors, I read the industry news every morning, and I make sure that I always know who’s making what. I like to have a film at every stage of production at all times, and I spend all week in meetings with the teams. Every day I like to make sure that I am more steps further down the road than I was when I started the day. I am passionate about movies and the film industry, and I adore telling stories – I am so determined that this career is going to bring me joy!

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Yes – the important thing is to not let the world dictate your work. The industry may have stopped for a minute, but the people that are going to be successful haven’t. When anything this big grinds to a halt, there will be people who sit around and wait, and people who make work. When all is over, the former will wake up and have lost however much time the crisis took, whereas the others will be pushing against the gates, raring for them to open. After the first 3 months of playing board games with my friends in the garden and drinking at midday, I had a real sense that I needed to be someone who came out of the pandemic with stuff under my belt, so I started doubling down on my creative work. I now see COVID as the catalyst for everything that I’ve worked on and achieved since then, rather than a stalling of my plans.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.henrythompson.actor/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ht_actor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ht_actor

Image Credits
Image credits go to YellowBelly, and Dan Flinter…and also myself!