The last time Tom Lewis appeared at Leeds Playhouse he was showing people to their seats. When he returns to the theatre this week he’ll be centrestage.

The production of The House Party – a re-imagining of the August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation - marks the first time Leeds-born Tom has acted at the Playhouse.

“I started volunteering at the Playhouse when I was 14. There was an amazing drama teacher Mr Rogers who could tell I was really into acting. He said ‘volunteer for a few years, a couple of nights a week. They can’t pay because of your age but when you get to 16 they will pay you.’

“Being an usher was like being at drama school. I saw the same shows over and over again. I was learning, getting a real sense of it all and as a teenager that was fantastic.

“You’re watching people on stage and seeing how different things work on different nights with different audiences. It was really fascinating to think ‘I could be up there one day’. And I got to speak to actors such as Maxine Peake who said audition for RADA.”

Tom, who grew up on a council estate in Leeds, says his family backed his acting ambitions as much as they could. “They said if you want to do it, then do it but we can’t help you financially,” says Tom.

He went on a full scholarship to RADA. “Drama schools have been criticised but if you pass your audition and can’t afford to pay, they will find a way to help you,” he says.

Tom got his first job in his final year at drama school when the producers of the BBC Yorkshire-series Gentleman Jack began auditioning. He knew writer Sally Wainwright’s work well, not least because his mum was a big fan of another of her TV series Last Tango in Halifax.

Tom was cast in Gentleman Jack as farmer’s son Thomas Sowden, who protects his mother and siblings from a violent father and is determined to make the family farm a success.

Filming was “a bit scarey” as he had no experience of acting in front of a camera but felt a real connection to the character. Yes, he was “thrown in at the deep end” but had great confidence in Sally Wainwright who was directing.

“I had a classical theatre training and the feeling was that if you can do stage work you’ll probably be able to do telly. As the writer, Sally knew exactly what she wanted and if the director, who was also Sally, knows their vision then you just follow their guidance.”

Tom has recently been seen in a regular role in another TV series Patience on Channel 4 which was set and partly filmed in York although, confusingly you might think, part of the series was shot in Belgium.

A leading role in an 30 million dollar American movie Redeeming Love took him to South Africa after being cast following a worldwide search for actor to play the leading man role in this romantic drama set in the American West during the 1850s Gold Rush.

“That all happened quite quickly “ he recalls. “I went to meet the casting director in London and made a tape. That evening I got a call saying the producers have seen your tape and the director is flying out from LA to see you. I got offered the job and was off to South Africa that week.”

He was keen “to soak up the experience” on his first movie. He was the only British actor involved in the production, spending four months in South Africa shooting the 2022 film. “I had a lovely, lovely time. It was a great experience but to have my first lead role so quickly was a bit of a surprise,” he says.

It’s not Gentleman Jack or Redeeming Love but a music video that gets Tom recognised most. He starred – with York actor David Bradley and a dog - in the music video for Lewis Capaldi’s Wish You the Best, an emotive story of a dog and two postmen. It has had more than 309 million streams.

“I get more people recognise me from that music video than from 10 years of work,” says Tom.

Life at the moment is one long party as he rehearses The House Party ahead of a UK tour. Tom was involved in workshops at the National Theatre of Laura Lomas’s play, a reimagining of Strindberg’s Miss Julie set during an 18th birthday party.

Tom sees The House Party as reflecting how teenagers think and behave – and takes him back to his teenage years. “They are 18 and their hormones are raging through them. Everything is so dramatic at that age,” he says.

“Going back to when I was 18 is more fun than I thought it was going to be. There are weird similarities to when I was growing up. You kind of go ‘I can’t believe the kind of stuff I got up to’. The thing is that at 18 you walk around like you own the world.”

The prospect of the play and the tour is exciting but for Tom even more exciting is his return to the Playhouse and “to finally get on that stage”.

The House Party can be seen at Leeds Playhouse from 21 February to 1 March.
Box office 0113 213 7700 | leedsplayhouse.org.uk