Tom’s talents take him from treading the boards at Mossley to prime-time TV

Tom Varey as Ben Middleton

A LOCAL actor is starring in a lead role in BBC’s flagship period drama, “The Village”.

When Tom Varey (23) secured the role of Ben Middleton in the second series of the popular drama, which aired on Sunday night, it marked a remarkable rise to fame after eye-catching performances in local productions.

He joined Mossley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society’s (MAODS) Next Generation Youth Theatre Group in his early teens and was a regular at the weekly drama and musical theatre workshops that are held by the group at Woodend Mill studios in Mossley.

Tom soon made an impression in the showcase performances and was then cast in a number of the society’s shows during his last couple of years at Mossley, including “West Side Story”, “A Chorus Line” and “Beauty and The Beast”, for which he received rave reviews for his performance as Gaston.

However, Tom will probably be best remembered for his roles in two of Mossley’s plays — as Eddie, in Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers”, in 2008, and as Gary LeJeune in “Noises Off” in 2009.

Performance

His performance in “Beauty and the Beast” in April, 2010, was Tom’s last performance in his home town before leaving home for the bright lights of London where he completed a three-year course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and landed the big TV role during his studies.

Brian and Ann Ganderton speaking on behalf of the MAODS said: “When he took those first, tentative steps he would not have even dreamed that he would be filming a brilliant TV drama series with two of his idols, John Simm and Maxine Peake playing his parents, before he had even finished his studies.”

The second series of “The Village” looks at the changes to the lives of the working folk of the Derbyshire village, immediately after the First World War, as seen through Ben’s eyes.

Tom is the latest in a line of youngsters who have left MAODS to pursue a career in the acting profession — the first was Andrew Pollard who is currently in a lead role in “Around The World In 80 Days” at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Mike Ward is a regular company member with Bill Kenwright’s touring production of “Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and close friend of Tom, Jack Monaghan, plays the lead role of Albert in “War Horse”at the National Theatre, London.

“The Village” is screened on BBC1 on Sundays at 9pm.