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So it was all sort of in there bubbling away. “Because I had such a great time on it last time, it’s such a fabulous show and I made so many close friends and the work itself was really enjoyable, so I think it stuck with me a lot more than other things I’ve done. “It was a little discombobulating at first, it was quite strange,” Smith says of returning to the show. James D MorganJustin Smith in Billy Elliot The Musical Now, Smith returns as the family’s gruff patriarch Jackie. Back in 2007, Smith played Billy’s older brother Tony in that first run.
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The stage adaptation, written by the film’s screenwriter Lee Hall with music by Elton John, has become a phenomenon of its own since premiering in London’s West End in 2005.Īn Australian version came a few years later, snaring a string of Helpmann Awards including best musical. The story of an adolescent boy (Jamie Bell) whose embrace of ballet dancing puts him in conflict with his striking coal miner father, the film was a box office hit. And I think any sort of performer – I had a pretty good childhood, and my parents were very supportive – but making that choice to be a performer, that wasn’t necessarily something that filled them with a lot of hope for my future.” “I felt a lot of sympathy for the community, and that’s something that stuck with me. “It kind of appealed to my politics, to be honest,” actor Justin Smith says of his first time watching the original 2000 film.