Telling
stories that matter
Earlier this month, we were thrilled to conduct an interview with ADS alumnus Nicholas Bourne on the success of his film, Handsome (2021). The film is an intimate documentary about Nicholas and his brother, Alex, who has Down’s Syndrome as they “travel to different corners of the world to meet siblings just like them”. The film’s synopsis beautifully describes this as a “journey like no other where they push each other to grow and face challenging decisions about their future. This is a story of selflessness, duty and unconditional love.”
The studio’s director Fay Beck, started working with Nicholas Bourne in 2017, as the young actor started training at the Studio to discover Meisner following previous training at a drama school. Nicholas, intrigued by the technique, applied himself fully and moved quickly though the course, reaching the stage Emotional Preparation within a year after entering the studio. During his time, he worked with Fay Beck as his coach, acquiring core Meisner skills and learning how approach acting from the perspective of method; aiming to become a character actor. In addition to learning new acting skills, Nicholas became inspired by Fay’s approach to developing actors, which focuses on training them to be artists; to be active participants in the creation of their own work. Feeling inspired to embark on his journey as a storyteller, Nick began laying the groundwork for his film, Handsome.
Watch the highlighted segments of the interview we conducted with Nick, for an open and honest exchange of feelings and thoughts between coach and former student. The mutual gratitude and respect is evident and we are very proud to share with our audience.
Handsome has been selected to screen at this year’s edition of the Glasgow Film festival. It can be streamed from February 28th until Wednesday 3rd March. Follow this link to find out more and to rent the film.
