Who is he?
A 21-year-old Walthamstow-raised actor about to make his breakthrough.
What’s he got coming up?
This week’s ‘Beach Rats’, a Brooklyn coming-of-age drama, in which he plays a young man wrestling with his sexuality. Despite never having been to New York, he managed to persuade director Eliza Hittman of his range. ‘It felt very unlikely that they would cast someone from London,’ he recalls. ‘I just found out as much as I could about the people making it and just managed to wangle my way in.’
How did he nail the Brooklyn accent?
With a lot of practice – and a bit of experience. ‘I’ve done it a few times,’ Dickinson notes. ‘Sometimes people are a little unimaginative: if you go in with your British accent, they can’t imagine you with a different one.’
Does he feel strongly about gay rights?
Dickinson was raised with a progressive outlook: ‘It’s always been something that felt normal, to support the ongoing progress of society,’ he explains of his upbringing. ‘Being part of this film has opened up the doorway to being a voice for that.’
What’s next for him?
He’s currently in Rome shooting ‘Trust’, Danny Boyle’s TV mini series about the infamous Getty child kidnapping in the ’70s. ‘I’m playing J Paul Getty III and it’s the story of the Getty family in 1973,’ he says. ‘Danny’s such a lovely guy.’ His next big-screen release, ‘Postcards from London’, brings him back to home turf. After that comes YA sci-fi ‘The Darkest Minds’. ‘I’m living the dream,’ he enthuses, ‘but I’m not in it for the bucks and never will be. You can remind me of that when you see me in a big expensive car!’
Beach Rats opens on Fri Nov 24.
