From portraying Rishi Sunak in comedy The Windsors to a murderer in Happy Valley, Amit Shah‘s many and varied acting roles have made him a familiar face to TV viewers.
The Staffordshire University alumni will soon appear in a Netflix film alongside Emily Blunt, Chris Evans and Andy Garcia directed by Harry Potter director David Yates and will be in a new play with Greg Wise that’s being tipped for a West End run.
The big star names keep coming as Amit talks about his forthcoming projects. There’s an episode of Vera and a drama about the Post Office scandal in the pipeline, where Amit will play a postmaster wrongly accused of crime.
Yet he is humble, modest and thoroughly grounded. It was only during an undergraduate degree at Staffordshire University that Amit started to believe that he could succeed in an acting career.
He explains: “To the surprise of most of my school mates, I was cast as the lead in the annual school play at the age of 16 in 1997. It was a shock because I had not really shown a huge amount of interest or skill in this area up until this point.
“However my Drama teacher, Mr Hill, saw some indication I guess. The success of the play was enough to spur me on to choose Drama and Theatre Arts as an A level and then the natural progression seemed to be to study Drama at a university where I could throw myself into the uni experience but also immerse myself into the world of acting.
“However, even at this point I didn’t truly believe that I could sustain a career as a jobbing actor. The course at Staffs was very well presented in the UCAS book and seemed to match the areas of this subject that interested and inspired me.
“When I arrived during Freshers’ week, I discovered the Drama Society and it seemed to make sense to join and fill my spare time outside of studies with the practical experience of performing.
“When I wasn’t studying for my degree I was putting on a play with the Drama Society and when I wasn’t doing either of those things. I was watching films on my TV/VHS combo unit in my tiny bedroom. I guess I was combining the hard work ethic that my parents had instilled in me with my love for acting which had come quite some way since the school play.
“In my final year at Staffs one of the tutors who had trained at LAMDA himself took me aside and suggested that it might be worth me applying to the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for a place on the postgraduate course.
“This suggestion infused me with a confidence and purpose and that maybe a career as an actor was not as far- fetched as I thought.
“The Staffs Uni experience was a crucial platform for me to build my foundations as an actor and from which I could really launch myself towards my dream of performing.”
It was during his time at LAMDA that Amit auditioned for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West End musical, Bombay Dreams. His sister had convinced him to give it a go.
“I’ll never forget the day I received a call from the producer to offer me a role - usually these offers come through an agent but I didn’t even have one of those yet.”
LAMDA gave him permission to graduate four weeks early to start rehearsals for what was his first professional job – a 12-month contract in a West End musical.
Four years of professional theatre jobs in the West End and for the National Theatre followed, which he says served as almost a second course of training.
“I had the privilege of working with creatives and actors who were simply the best at what they do and the live experience was totally unforgiving and at the same time totally exhilarating.
“However, I always remembered myself as a young boy being fascinated by film and I knew I wanted to perform on screen. So that’s where I focused my attention.”
From 2013 Amit turned his attention to film and TV, a medium he says gives him huge creative satisfaction.
He credits his role in Happy Valley as one of the highlights of his career to date.
“Happy Valley has really changed the outlook of my career and I will be ever grateful to Sally Wainwright for that opportunity.”
It was during the broadcast weeks of Happy Valley that Amit received a letter offering him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts from Staffordshire University.
He adds: “I could not believe what I was reading. This wavering of believe has been a constant for me which has helped me manage expectations but has also allowed me to be surprised when good things have happened and even though I’ve lacked belief I’ve still been able to somehow maintain my drive and ambition.
“This offer from Staffs is an honour I could have never imagined and it reminds me of the journey I’ve been on and also makes me realise the opportunity I have to represent and support the University as I continue on this journey.
“This is a very proud moment for me. Staffordshire University is very close to my heart. The whole of Staffordshire University have been so supportive over the years – it’s where it all started for me in a way.”