Fraser James visits Henry Crompton Boys, West London

Fraser James visits Henry Crompton Boys, West London

In February, actor Fraser James visited Henry Crompton Boys, an associate Creative Partnerships school in West London. Fraser's visit complimented the school's programme of ongoing work based on raising self esteem and self awareness amongst Black British African-Caribbean students.

Fraser spoke eloquently about leaving school and entering the working world via a junior level role in an advertising standards agency. After persistently trying to gain promotion, he became aware he might never get on any further in this corporate organisation. He told the students how he decided to break the monotony of his working life by visiting a local adult education centre to enrol for further studies. With no idea of what he wanted to study, he spotted an acting course and thought that sounded promising. The course was full, but the course tutor told him about an upcoming audition for a play needing black cast members. Fraser went along and managed to land the lead role. That first time he performed on stage was the moment he caught the 'acting bug'.

When the play finished, Fraser slept outside the college overnight to ensure his place on the next acting course. He later undertook further drama studies at The Guildhall. Fraser is now a familiar face on British TV, playing parts like 'Lindell' in Baby Father, and 'Laurence James' in Judge John Deed. He recently completed a French film, 'Les Oiseau de Ciel', requiring him to learn the language for the part.  

The students listened to Fraser talk about his unusual entrance to the world of acting and asked many questions such as 'how it felt to be recognised?' and 'what working on TV was like compared to acting on the stage?' Several of the students are planning to follow career paths in either directing or drama related fields. Fraser made it clear that as a successful actor it was very important to leave your personal ego out of the work and to fully engage in the role to ensure convincing character portrayals. After the discussion one of the students interviewed Fraser for the school newspaper.

As well as being a busy father of four children, Fraser has also found time to start a not-for-profit organisation called 4 The Record Initiative (4TR) which aims to bring greater public attention to the immense talent and achievements of Black Britons. The main channel is through an annual national arts programme entitled Under-Exposed. Central to 4TR’s goals is a commitment to increasing awareness of the significant contributions Black British African-Caribbean people have made to society, and in doing so provide role models for Black British African-Caribbean communities, in particular young adults.

4TR projects include:

For more information on 4TR please email: trevor@4therecord.org.uk

To read the interview with Fraser James by Henry Crompton Students click on this link.