‘A Christmas Carol’ star Lenny Rush hopes his role as Tiny Tim in the BBC drama inspires more disabled actors.
The 10-year-old actor was born with a rare type of dwarfism but it hasn’t stopped him starring in the high-profile production of the Charles Dickens tale and Lenny now hopes that other disabled actors follow in his footsteps.
He said: "Why not cast a disabled actor in the role of a disabled person if they are good at what they do?
"It raises awareness and shows that everyone is different. I think it’s good for people with disabilities to have the same opportunities as other people, because why not?
"Disability or not, I think anybody can play role."
Lenny has big plans for his acting career and wants to play a "crime boss" in the future.
He said: "I hope that in five years I’ll have been able to work with some amazing directors and actors and that I’m still acting, as I love it so much. I’d love to play some sort of crime boss."
Lenny features in the drama alongside Guy Pearce and Stephen Graham, and also played Tiny Tim alongside Rhys Ifans as Scrooge at the Old Vic theatre adaption of the festive story. He admits that he wanted to be an actor after appearing on CBeebies factual show ‘Our Family’.
He explained: "I’ve sort of always been interested in acting, but Mum signed us in for Our Family and it’s got my whole family in it. I loved being in front of the camera so I went to an acting school and signed up with an agency called Quirky Kids."