George Robinson | Performer

George Robinson | Performer

George has always enjoyed performing and making people laugh, but he first knew that he wanted to act when he missed out on a Year 9 production of Les Miserables. A year later, he put that right, starring as Violet’s dad in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Nobody in his family has any acting experience, but George credits them with giving him his sense of humour.

At the age of 17, George experienced a serious accident while playing rugby in South Africa, which left him tetraplegic and using a wheelchair. After months in hospital re-evaluating what he wanted to do with his life, he decided to put his drama school ambitions on hold. Instead, he went to university in Birmingham to study Philosophy, and took some acting lessons on the side. After a securing an agent, his second ever professional audition was for his hugely popular breakout role as Isaac in Sex Education. George’s family nickname is ‘Fort Knox’, so he doesn’t struggle to keep a lid on spoilers for the show!

George loves playing Isaac, particularly because he is an unapologetic, self-confident person, for whom his wheelchair is ‘just a means of transport’ rather than a plot device. The role has given him greater confidence in life and for George, it’s symptomatic of progress within the industry, although he still believes we’re crying out for better representation, especially behind the camera.

George says it hasn’t quite sunk in that he is now a Breakthrough, but he hopes the honour will help him to continue performing, focussing on the stories he feels need to be told.

George’s Breakthrough credit is TV series Sex Education (Netflix)

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