Southend teen to star in TV spy show

8:00am Wednesday 19th December 2012 in Local News By David Trayner

Sam Strike as Dan Hogan. Photogrpah by Graeme Hunter, copyright Kudos Brown Eyed Boy Sam Strike as Dan Hogan. Photogrpah by Graeme Hunter, copyright Kudos Brown Eyed Boy

A TEENAGE actor has landed his big break in a BBC spy show.

Eighteen-year-old Sam Strike still lives at home with his family in Southend, but will make his debut on the small screen in the CBBC series MI High next month.

The former Thorpe Greenways student, who won an Echo modelling competition when he was 16, will play new character Dan in the sixth series of the show, which chronicles the adventures of a group of young spies.

Sam said: “The first day on set was nerve-wracking, because it’s a whole new experience and you’ve got a lot of people relying on you.

“But filming was amazing, everything I’d hoped it to be.

“There are literally thousands of young actors in competition with each other, so for the guys at MI High to give me that opportunity was massive for me and I count myself very lucky.”

Sam got his first taste of acting at secondary school, when he played a flower seller in Oliver and Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar.

He secured the role in MI High after submitting a tape of himself performing and then travelling to Edinburgh to audition.

Filming took place over the summer and the show will start with an action-packed double bill on January 7.

Sam said: “My character was very physical and I got to do the vast majority of my own stunts on camera.

“I enjoyed that. It was also surreal to see people I have watched on TV in the flesh on set.”

Celebrating his newfound fame, Sam hinted that other projects might be in the pipeline and he was looking forward to working in different locations.

But, despite the prospect of stellar career potentially taking him all over the world, he said he would still look forward to coming back to Southend.

He said: “Most of my family live here.

“As soon as I got back from filming, I got back into my skateboarding.

“For insurance reasons I wasn’t allowed to skateboard during filming, so it was lovely to get back down the seafront.

“I’d be great to do a bit of work here in the future.”

Comments (6)

3:42pm Wed 19 Dec 12

Rich^Carol says...

Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned .
Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned . Rich^Carol

4:14pm Wed 19 Dec 12

AndyBSG says...

Rich^Carol wrote:
Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned .
Didn't see anyone saying anything like that about the Beetles when they sported similar haircuts back in the 'old fashioned' days.
[quote][p][bold]Rich^Carol[/bold] wrote: Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned .[/p][/quote]Didn't see anyone saying anything like that about the Beetles when they sported similar haircuts back in the 'old fashioned' days. AndyBSG

5:16pm Wed 19 Dec 12

Eric Whim says...

AndyBSG wrote:
Rich^Carol wrote:
Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned .
Didn't see anyone saying anything like that about the Beetles when they sported similar haircuts back in the 'old fashioned' days.
The Echo didn't have a website for rich carol to air her views on in them days
[quote][p][bold]AndyBSG[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Rich^Carol[/bold] wrote: Maybe when he earns a few quid he can afford to get a haircut. I like to see men looking like men and woman looking like woman and nothing inbetween. Just call me old fashioned .[/p][/quote]Didn't see anyone saying anything like that about the Beetles when they sported similar haircuts back in the 'old fashioned' days.[/p][/quote]The Echo didn't have a website for rich carol to air her views on in them days Eric Whim

5:57pm Wed 19 Dec 12

Rich^Carol says...

I love it when I state my feelings and people cant wait to shoot at me. You all make me feel wanted ? As for the Beatles that was nearly 51 years ago and because this man has a bealte cut cut that died out 1966 is not what im stating. Unless his gran wanted him to look like Ringo. What Im saying for a young man it would be nice if he had a mans style haircut not a ladies style.
I love it when I state my feelings and people cant wait to shoot at me. You all make me feel wanted ? As for the Beatles that was nearly 51 years ago and because this man has a bealte cut cut that died out 1966 is not what im stating. Unless his gran wanted him to look like Ringo. What Im saying for a young man it would be nice if he had a mans style haircut not a ladies style. Rich^Carol

10:19pm Wed 19 Dec 12

Antonius says...

I agree. There's a lot of instances where you see a youngster on TV, and can't make out whether they are male or female.
I agree. There's a lot of instances where you see a youngster on TV, and can't make out whether they are male or female. Antonius

9:48am Thu 3 Jan 13

CarlySmith76 says...

Do you know what is really sad about all the above comments? ...

The fact that this boy, man, is from our home town - Southend. After, working extremely hard, trying to pursue a career that many are quick to always knock down, has actually succeeded.

WELL DONE SAM!

Its very sad that people are so quick to make comments on things that have absolutely NO real meaning.

I am so so proud of you, and I dont even know you, well done for getting of your bum and landing this job! Do us proud unlike Rich^Carol - who has clearly failed at her own life and is taking it out on youngsters of today.

Keep aiming for the stars!
****
Do you know what is really sad about all the above comments? ... The fact that this boy, man, is from our home town - Southend. After, working extremely hard, trying to pursue a career that many are quick to always knock down, has actually succeeded. WELL DONE SAM! Its very sad that people are so quick to make comments on things that have absolutely NO real meaning. I am so so proud of you, and I dont even know you, well done for getting of your bum and landing this job! Do us proud unlike Rich^Carol - who has clearly failed at her own life and is taking it out on youngsters of today. Keep aiming for the stars! **** CarlySmith76

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