London-honed film talent

Looking to make it big in the movie industry? If you have your sights set on being the next Mike Leigh, or perhaps you think ‘it’s the actor’s life for me’ like Jude or Dame Judi, then you’re in luck. London is the place to be for wannabe film stars of the future.

Think of a Brit, any Brit, who has made it big in the world of film and the chances are they trained in London.

Dame Judi Dench trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage, where Carrie Fisher, Kathleen Turner and Gael Garcia Bernal also attended.

Jude Law began his career at an early age at the National Youth Music Theatre, where elfish Orlando Bloom also made his debut.

Kathy Burke attended the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington and Wimbledon star Paul Bettany went to North London Drama Centre nearby.

Ewan McGregor made his move down south to attend Guildhall School of Music and Drama pre-Trainspotting, and if you’re after a BAFTA or an Oscar follow in Jim Broadbent’s footsteps to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

And who’d have thought when Anthony Hopkins checked into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) that he’d become famous for playing a psychotic cannibal? Other stars to have got their foot on the fame ladder there include Ralph Fiennes, Imogen Stubbs and Jane Horrocks.

But if you'd rather be behind the camera, Vera Drake director Mike Leigh trained at the London Film School in the 1960s and continues to be the college’s chairman. Or if Gladiator, Blade Runner or Black Hawk Down are more your style, director Ridley Scott attended the Royal College of Art in London too.

So what are you waiting for? With London as a base, next year’s Oscar might have your name on it.