Luke's no casualty

Having swapped a part in one leading TV show, The Bill, for one in another, Casualty, actor Luke Hamill says his latest role has inspired a new respect for the craft of acting and given him confidence for the future

I actually got into acting as a result of my becoming disabled. Acting hadn’t been in the forefront of my mind until my spinal injury when I was 18 years old. When I was at university in Swansea, one of my tutors put me up for presenting and other roles with local TV.

I came back to London after studying and I was in the gym at Aspire, a charity of which I’m now a trustee. There was a phone call and an advertising agency was looking for someone in a chair. So the receptionist came through to the gym because she’d just seen me passing and asked if I would like to shoot a commercial for a week, starting Monday. I’d just quit my job in the City, so it was perfect timing.

After that, I joined Louise Dyson and her agency, VisABLE People, who got me more commercials, some corporate video work and a few small parts, but I saw acting very much as work that happened along and that I could do, rather than as something I really wanted to do. I think that’s changing now.

There I was, aged 18, and I’d had this whole stigma about wheelchairs, and I was now actually using the wheelchair myself, but there were no role models reflecting my new image, so I took it on myself.

I went on to spend two-and-a-half years as a cast member on ITV’s The Bill. I was the radio controller at the police station who gave the shouts to the police officers, telling them where they had to go.

The rest of the cast were great and the set was pretty accessible. It was a former warehouse, a lot of them are, so they lend themselves to that.

When it comes to whether or not I’ve changed attitudes, I still ask myself if the industry is ready for a disabled character who’s just there, without any comment on their disability.

It’s a process, this acceptance of the last “Ism”.

In that sense, the role that I’m in now with Casualty is a big development for TV. For one thing, it’s not just about the medical or tragic side of disability, it’s also about relationships with family.

At The Bill, I only used to film odd scenes every two or three weeks. But with this Casualty job, I’ve been filming back-to-back 12-hour days, long scenes where I’m central to the plot and action. I’ve gained a wealth of experience and with that comes confidence. This Casualty role has given me a love of acting and a respect for acting which until now I’ve never had.

• Luke Hamill plays Alex in BBC One’s Casualty, from 29 November.

•• Luke Hamill was talking to Ian Macrae