Will Poulter Gets Benefits With Friends Star

Chiswick actor hails drama teacher for Hollywood success

A Chiswick teenager has landed a starring role in a Hollywood feature film alongside Jennifer Aniston and he says that he has his drama teacher to thank for it all.

Will Poulter has been attending the School of Comedy at the Tabard Theatre since 2005 since being spotted by Laura Lawson who was his drama teacher at Harrodian School.

Will Poulter

This week saw the premiere of 'We Are The Millers' in which Will stars as the son in a fake family formed as a cover for a drug smuggling operation. His on-screen 'mum' is played by Jennifer Aniston who he gets to French kiss during filming.

Will with co-star Jennifer Aniston

Given this it is understandable that Will was a pains to show gratitude to Laura describing her as 'the best drama teacher it is possible to imagine' in an interview on ITV.

His break in films came after he was brought to an audition for independent Brit movie 'Son of Rambow' and he went on to appear as Eustace Scrubb in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Although he enjoyed his time in Hollywood he remains committed to the independent film scene in this country and would like to do more work in this sector.

Diagnosed as dyslexic and dyspraxic aged 8, drama soon became an outlet for Will and Laura was quick to recognise his comic talent. Along with Tara Carr she set up the School of Comedy in 2005 and the original troupe, including Will, went to the Edinburgh Festival in 2007. This resulted in two hit series on Channel 4.

Will is now Laura's son's Godfather and she told us, "Will is the whole reason the School of Comedy exists. His comic talent inspired me to create a platform for other children to develop their skills." Despite his film success he still regularly shows up at the School of Comedy to assist Laura developing the next generation of comic talent and he made a point of mentioning he was still a Chiswick boy in his TV interview.

August 17, 2013