Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey said working-class actors are often unrepresented because productions are funded by “Oxbridge people”.
Morrissey, 58, grew up in a care home in Stoke-on-Trent and studied at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the help of a grant.
The actor, who as well as comedy Men Behaving Badly is known for dramas Waterloo Road and Line Of Duty, said wealthy financiers behind TV projects often “want their own”.
![Radio Times](https://www.irishnews.com/resizer/v2/4UYAEQANIZIMDGAQHBSDSD6ERE.jpg?auth=bd8fae62ddcfb79134581c96e4ef2c56ad40ddacbedea95c79846b779ab844ae&width=800&height=1066)
He told the Radio Times: “When Oxbridge people are pumping a lot of money into a production, they want their own.
“We’re (working-class actors) always under-represented, because it’s hard to sell a bunch of northerners to an American network when they consider Brits to be slightly fey James Bond-ish types, not people who work in a factory.”
However, Morrissey believes the pandemic could lead to a shake-up of British TV.
He said: “We just went through a period with all these glamorous series about spies or aspirational families.
“But I’ve got a feeling we’re going to head into a transition period, a bit like the kitchen sink era, where we’re going to want to know about the general public and the frontline workers. I think a lot of people are going to want to tell their stories.”
Read the full interview in the Radio Times.