By Beth Rose
BBC Access All
Actor Tommy Jessop was in one of the biggest TV shows of 2021 – Line of Duty. He was certain it would lead to bigger and better roles, but when the show wrapped, the phone stopped ringing. Not one to take things lying down, he decided to write a screenplay and pitch it to Hollywood.
“The clue is in the title,” Tommy tells BBC Access All when asked to explain what his new documentary – Tommy Jessop Goes To Hollywood – is about. Then he acquiesces: “The main aim is to try to make a superhero film in Hollywood.”
Tommy has an impressive CV. He’s appeared in Casualty, Holby City and he was the first actor with Down syndrome to be in a prime time show in Coming Down The Mountain.
But since Line of Duty, where he played Terry Boyle, work has been harder to come by and he isn’t being offered the roles he would like – the hero or leading man.
“I sometimes feel like the world is not made for me,” he says. “So I want to change it.”
Other actors with Down syndrome have started to nudge culture change in the right direction. James Martin starred in An Irish Goodbye which won an Oscar for best live action short film while US actor Zack Gottsagen was the movie lead in The Peanut Butter Falcon.
So it is understandable Tommy wants more.
LISTEN: You can hear more from Tommy and Will Jessop on the BBC Access All podcast, as well as Ivor Novello Rising Star, Victoria Canal.
Born in 1985, Tommy came into the world when people with Down syndrome were not always expected to have aspirations. His parents were told he would never read or write. “If only the doctor could see you now,” his mother and manager Jane says is in the documentary – which is also something of a family affair.
Behind the camera filming the journey was his big brother, Will Jessop, an Emmy award-nominated documentary filmmaker behind shows including 25 Siblings & Me – and he is also part of the story.
Together the two brothers set out to challenge the industry by playing it at its own game and writing a screenplay – Roger The Superhero.
“I must have watched countless superhero films and I would like to be able to save the day,” Tommy says. “I think it’s also about time that there should be a superhero with Down syndrome.”
The movie script Tommy and Will are trying to sell centres on Roger Mitchell, a hero named after his teddy bear, who has three super powers – reading peoples’ minds, changing peoples’ minds and telekinesis. With those powers, Roger sets out to defeat the baddie, Nole Skum.
Tommy says: “Nole Skum is a scientist and he might be trying to screen people out which basically means getting rid of Down syndrome. And I might be a man on a mission to stop that happening.”
Tommy met with several writers who advised him to focus on topics close to his heart and says that screening “scars me more than anything else”.
Image source, Jane Jessop
Older brother Will Jessop (left) naturally became part of the storyline as the two brothers travelled to Hollywood
Screening is the option for mothers-to-be to take a blood test to see if they are at a higher chance of having a baby with Down syndrome and then having the option to terminate.
Under legislation in England, Wales and Scotland, there is a 24-week time limit for abortion, unless “there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities”, which includes Down syndrome.
It is an area of acute debate with activists currently challenging these laws.
“For us, to go from the fun to the more serious points was always our intention,” Will says of the documentary. “Tommy is warm and funny and wise and smart, but there are also things that he cares about very deeply and there’s work that we need to do to make the world a better place for people with Down syndrome.”
The brothers try to attract some big names to their project to give it some extra gravitas in Hollywood and luck out when actor Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones returns their call.
Kit has a cousin with Down syndrome, so understands what Tommy and Will are trying to achieve. As well as demonstrating his elaborate warm-up routine before acting, Kit takes on the role of Nole to rehearse a “climactic showdown” with Tommy during a read-through.
Will says it was amazing to film: “Obviously, Kit is a wonderful actor. But Tommy was very much holding his own. There was a kind of power balance between the two of them. And there’s a kind of proof of concept for what we could go on to do.”
Acting is just one of Tommy’s passions. Earlier this summer he released his memoir – A Life Worth Living: Acting, Activism and Everything Else – in which he writes: “Acting is my greatest passion and it makes me feel even more alive, but I’ve learned how important it is to speak up.”
He did just that in 2022 when he fronted a BBC Panorama programme to investigate why people with learning disabilities are more than twice as likely to die from avoidable causes than the rest of the population.
And he joined the National Down Syndrome Policy Group during lockdown which helped develop the Down Syndrome Act 2022. It ensures the government publishes guidance on the specific needs of people with Down syndrome and how those should be met.
It’s about avoiding situations such as “diagnostic overshadowing” when healthcare professionals overlook symptoms and assume it’s due to Down syndrome.
“I really do want to change peoples’ opinions and feelings about living with Down syndrome, and what it can be like when people give you chances in life,” Tommy says.
The trip to Hollywood is more than just trying to woo Tinseltown. It’s also about Tommy’s independence and his chance to push and explore boundaries.
So it’s an amusing moment when Jane hands Will a four-page list of everything he needs to do to keep Tommy happy on their trip – from having grapes to snack on, to the ever-useful combo of chocolate and wet wipes.
Image source, Liz Elkington
Filming you, fulming me – the two brothers
“I sort of feel that if we’d done everything on that list, we wouldn’t have had much time to do anything else,” Will admits.
But he gets where she’s coming from. “Here we are, going to the other side of the world to try and pitch a superhero movie in Hollywood, the land of the sharks.”
And that takes us back to the point of the journey. The brothers’ did manage to arrange a meeting with a hot-shot producer to pitch Roger The Superhero.
While Will was visibly nervous, Tommy was calm and collected and received a positive response which he described as “heartwarming” and one step closer to his dream of starring in a feature film.
“The intention is that we’re doing it for real,” Will says, as they return to the UK to finish their screenplay together. “And obviously we’d love to include other actors with Down syndrome. We could have so much fun casting this.”
You can watch Tommy Goes To Hollywood on BBC One at at 21:00 on 21 August and on iPlayer afterwards.
You can listen to the podcast and find information and support on the BBC Access All podcast. If you’ve got a story get in touch with Beth by emailing bethany.rose@bbc.co.uk
