Ahead of the release of Horrible Histories: The Movie, we
spoke to Sebastian Croft – who plays young Roman Atti – about shooting the
film, slimy sets and how he first got into acting
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’ve been acting since I was about seven, and started my acting
journey at [drama school] Stagecoach. I wouldn’t be doing what I am now if it
wasn’t for it and Julia Howson, who was head of Stagecoach Abingdon.
Were you a Horrible
Histories fan growing up?
I was a big Horrible Histories fan. I’m very dyslexic, and
they were the only books that I really enjoyed reading; because they’re such
fun and engaging books you learn without realising it.
As someone that struggled in the classroom with this, it was
a fun outlet to learn about history and got me really engaged in the subject.
Did things ever get
messy on set?
I wouldn’t say messy… but there were a lot of poo scenes.
The make-up team had a little cupboard for poo and different types of slime.
What was your
favourite scene to film?
I really loved shooting the songs. I thought they were
really good fun and getting to sing and dance with all these amazing actors was
all very surreal and weird.
My other favourite scene was the chase scene with Emilia (who
plays Orla). There’s a horse and cart that I have to chase after, and in my
head I felt like Tom Cruise, even if I knew it didn’t really look like that.
You and Emilia Jones were
friends before the film weren’t you?
Yeah, we’d wanted to do a film together for ages. Whenever I
got a script through, if it had a girl part, I’d always send it to her.
It was a real life goal for us to do a film together and we
didn’t think it would happen this quickly but it did and it was amazing.
Why should people go
out and watch Horrible Histories: The Movie?
It’s in keeping with everything that I loved about watching
and reading Horrible Histories as a child. We had the most amazing cast and
it’s a really fun family film.
There are lots of poo jokes but you’ll also learn a lot. It’s
such a fun way of learning and I think for a lot of kids who may struggle in
the classroom as I did, making learning fun is really important.
Horrible Histories The Movie: Rotten Romans is released on
Friday 26 July 2019. Book tickets here.