Ryan writes from a working class point of view
RYAN Sampson’s latest TV series forms part of his high-profile journey to showbiz fame and fortune.
But while you can take the lad out of Rotherham... you can’t take the Rotherham out of the lad.
He insists he is staying fully grounded as his latest creation, Mr Bigstuff, on Sky Max, draws a big audience and earns rave reviews.
The Plebs and Brassic comedic actor, who wrote Mr Bigstuff and plays a lead role, laughs off any notion that he lives the high life, away from the set.
Asked by the Advertiser whether he lived what the public might regard as a showbiz lifestyle, he said: “I don’t think so, I don’t think anybody really does.
“It is an illusion, isn’t it?
“It’s funny, the other day me and Danny Dyer (who co-stars in the Sky series) were doing these press day interviews, with one journalist after another, talking to Good Morning Canada and all this sort of thing.
“Then I realised I had to go home and fill a hole in the wall at my old flat to get my deposit back!
“Talk about going on a high and then a low!”
The actor regards himself as: “A very working-class boy and I feel like I want to write for that audience.
“Sometimes they are under-represented on TV.
“But there was a big spectrum of people who watched Brassic and Plebs and I am quite proud of that.”
The actor said that while Mr Bigstuff was set in Essex “It feels not dissimilar to where I come from.”Norton Anston-born Ryan returned to South Yorkshire from his home in Hackney this month to visit his sister, and while he has mixed memories of growing up, he retains a fondness for the area.As a youngster he says he had few friends at Anston Brook primary and then Wales High School, but he did get on well with Rebecca Lucy Taylor, now known as pop star and actor Self Esteem.Ryan is pleased with his pal’s success in the world of entertainment.
“We were friends back then, hanging around Anston Stones. When you don’t have a lot of friends there is not a lot to do.
“I first met Rebecca at Youth Theatre at Sheffield Crucible when I was about 14 and so I had at least one friend!
“She has always been determined and really talented. I really like her music and we still keep in touch.”
While the two have gone their separate ways in the entertainment industry, they also share a bond in expressing their thoughts on masculinity and gender.
Ryan’s latest TV plot centres around his complicated (and funny) relationship with his macho brother, played by Dyer, while Rebecca recently released a single called Big Man which “explores the nuances of modern masculinity and gender roles”.