EXCLUSIVE: ABC in the United States is airing a biblical epic tonight, with a starring role played by an 18-year-old actor from Croydon
A Croydon teenager tonight makes his screen debut in an American television show fronted by Hollywood superstar Kevin Costner, a two-hour drama which airs on ABC in the United States before being shown from tomorrow on Disney+/Hulu.
Screen debut: Croydon teenager Ethan Thorne, as Joseph in The First Christmas. Thorne filmed his scenes in the middle of his A-level exams last summer
Eighteen-year-old Ethan Thorne, from Shirley, is a former pupil at Trinity School. His father is Steve Thorne, the musician and composer.
Thorne appears in Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas, which blends documentary storytelling with dramatic reconstruction to explore the historical and biblical context of the Nativity. Thorne plays Joseph in an international cast.
Filming took place earlier this year, at the same time that Throne was sitting his A-level exams.
Thorne had never auditioned for a screen role before. The first he heard about The First Christmas was when a member of the crew contacted him out of the blue and invited him to submit a self-tape.
“I had to keep re-reading the script to check that it really was Joseph they wanted me to audition for,” Thorne told Inside Croydon.
“I’d always seen Joseph portrayed as middle-aged, and it never occurred to me that, of course, in biblical times he would have been young.”
What followed was a whirlwind for the Croydon teen. Within days, Thorne was called to an in-person meeting at production company Spotlight’s London office, and after a tense week of waiting he was told he had been cast in the role. Two weeks later he was on an aircraft flying to Morocco to begin filming.
“It all happened so fast,” says Thorne, who has recently started studying at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
“Being part of a film like this was a long-term goal I’d been working towards. I never imagined I’d land a role like this before even starting at Central.”
Filming took place over the course of a month. “It was an incredible first insight into the world of acting. The crew and cast were so welcoming, and they really looked after me. It was the most amazing experience.”
The shoot was nonetheless demanding. Temperatures regularly climbed towards 40°C, and the combination of heat and heavy costumes “often bordered on unbearable”, THorne says.
“But it was absolutely worth it.”
The script is by experienced American screenwriter David Cunningham. One moment in particular left a lasting impression on the young British actor: the scene in which Joseph and Mary walk into Jerusalem, passing a line of crucifixions. “Even knowing it wasn’t real, it was still ahaunting image. It really hit me,” Thorne said.
Thorne’s acting career began locally, with the Trinity am-dram group, The Mitre Players. For his debut, Thorne played the Ugly Duckling in Honk! — an experience he says that “sparked a love of performing which only grew stronger”.
He went on to take leading roles at school and with a youth group in Caterham, Glow Theatre. He’s acted in biblical pieces before, too, playing Judas in a version of Jesus Christ Superstar. For good measure, Thorne writes and directs his own work as well.
Last month, Inside Croydon reported on the release of “Sugar Snow”, the Thorne family’s Christmas single, released to raise money for CYTO, the Croydon Youth Theatre Organisation, and charity WellChild.
Since its release, “Sugar Snow” has gained national attention: Radio X’s John Kennedy selected it as his “X-Posure Big One” last weekend, giving it a boost in the run-up to Christmas.
“Sugar Snow” — written by Steve Thorne, with Ethan Thorne on vocals — is available on all major platforms, but you can help the charities by purchasing the track on Bandcamp.
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