Thaddea Graham becomes an Into Film Ambassador

We're delighted to announce Thaddea Graham, one of Northern Ireland's most talented young actors, as our latest Into Film Ambassador.

She joins Sir Kenneth Branagh as an Ambassador in Northern Ireland, boosting our work and using film to enrich young people's educational and cultural development. Our Ambassadors are an ever-growing group of actors, directors and film industry professionals who share our aim of inspiring the next generation of talent. Other ambassadors include Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch and Rhys Ifans.

Thaddea Graham is the star of hit BBC3 drama Wreck, has appeared in BBC dramas Us and Doctor Who, and just finished filming the latest series of Sex Education.

Graham's new ambassador role was announced as she visited Ashfield Girls High School in East Belfast to launch our new Story Builder Key Stage 3 resource, which encourages young people to consider a career in the screen industries by developing their interest in storytelling and film. Sean Kelly of Into Film Northern Ireland said that Graham's visit would hopefully inspire more girls to consider a career in film and become the next generation of young female actors, directors, writers, producers and technicians.

Speaking about her new role, Thaddea Graham said she was keen to promote careers within the TV and Film Industry in Northern Ireland, and would particularly like to see more young women follow her path. "I'm so grateful to have spent the afternoon with the pupils at Ashfield", said Graham. "There is such a wealth of talent there, and it only solidified my belief that we need to encourage and support our young people by giving them the tools and opportunities to tell their own stories. I was so inspired by their very intelligent, heartfelt, emotionally rich and wildly creative pitches, and found their imagination to be very infectious. It's such a joy to watch them create and develop their own unique voices that need to be heard."

During her visit, Graham spoke about her experiences to around 120 pupils in Year 10, and as they begin to make choices for their GCSEs, it is our hope that some will be inspired to choose subjects such as Moving Image Arts, Media and Drama, which can provide a pathway into one of Northern Ireland's leading industries. 

Tracy Rossborough, who is Head of Media and Moving Image at Ashfield Girls' High School, has worked closely with Into Film to inspire her students, and was confident that Graham's visit would encourage more young girls to look to a career in the screen industries. "Over the years, Ashfield Girls' has built up a strong Media and Moving Image department with a great deal of support from Into Film. They have provided filmmaking opportunities, industry placements and workshops with a range of successful experts in the area of media and film for the students and this had led to an increase in the uptake of these two subjects. The practical, hands-on element of these two creative subjects has opened many doors for our girls."