Jamie’s parents went through a very heavy divorce when he was aged eleven He was brought up by his Mum and saw his Dad only once a week. School became increasingly unhappy as he felt that he did not fit in, mainly because he did not like sport. Going around with a group of "left outs" he slipped from the A to the C stream , he became a habitual truant spending more time out of school than in and consequently did very badly in exams, ending up with little in the way of qualifications.
Jamies Mum was a theatre director and at the age of 12 he played Kurt in the Sound of Music, he joined the local acting workshop each Saturday and made some great friends. It was the only place where he was truly happy so it was no surprise that he went to Drama college after he left school at 17. Not long after he had to make the very difficult decision to leave college as he was offered the part of Nikko in the Wizard of Oz with the Royal Shakespeare company. Moving to Stratford, having his own flat and obtaining an equity card he found that life was exciting. He was offered an audition for further work and having learned a passage from the Tempest he froze during the audition, in tears he was convinced his acting career was over. He was amazed when he learned from his agent that he had been offered sixty weeks work with the R.S.C playing Balthasar in 'Much ado about nothing' and Baldock in 'Edward II'.
He was told that despite 'drying' he had undoubted stage presence. His career blossomed with the R.S.C to the extent that he later felt confident enough after two years to move on. He worked for Alan Bennett doing 'The Madness of King George' at the National Theatre and despite having a year out he went on to work again including tours to the Philippines, South America and the U.S.A. It was a very exciting time in his mid twenties meeting very famous people and attending lavish parties. On his return and having played Eric in 'When an inspector calls' in the west end Jamie desired a different challenge and immediately got the opportunity to teach at Drama college, by now being able to afford to buy a lovely flat in North London.
Having directed the final year play at Drama college and being so pleased with it, he was moved to say that he had not experienced fulfillment like it. He then went on to direct a few productions with the Fly Monkey company which he himself had set up. Despite the buzz he had begun to feel dissatisfied inside and begun a spiritual search reading endless books on spiritual subjects including Buddhism and Taoism. He decided to return to acting in 2003, auditioning for four parts in the 'Lion king' at the Lyceum. Increasingly Jamie had difficulty in motivating himself and often tired easily, he felt like quitting. The thrill of performing was waning to the extent that one night when playing Scar in front of 2,500 people he stood there and thought "I don't feel anything"
But life was about to change. He attended the final three sessions of the theatre land Alpha course, a course designed to introduce people to Christianity. Jamie had loads of questions and objections but his central one was" I am a good guy -Why should you be allowed into heaven and not me". He felt that the Christian faith was exclusive. Soon after he was offered a very lucrative offer to stay on with the Lion King but declined despite not knowing quite what he was going to do, he just sensed that there was something else. At the end of 2004 he went with a Christian friend to a morning service at Holy Trinity Church Brompton and within seconds of arriving he wept and kept weeping yet had no idea why. Shortly after Jamie attended the Alpha course feeling very numb with no zest for life, drifting and not sure if he even wanted to be an actor.
He admitted to being cynical, could not believe that the smiling Christian people there were sincere. He wondered if Alpha was just one big self help group and thought "What on earth am I doing here" He began though enjoying the talks by leader Nicky Gumbel and was struck by something he had said about sin. On a weekend train trip to Cardiff after reading the "Why Jesus" booklet something just clicked. Alone in the carriage and dark outside, at about 5.15 on January 29th 2005 Jamie said the prayer from the back of the book. With force and sincerity he said out loud. "Jesus forgive me for my sins- Thank you for dying on the cross for me- Come in ,heal and guide my life". At this point Jamie describes the most amazing profound experience. Peace, Serenity, Joy and Bliss. This overwhelming experience lasted about 20 minutes.
At the next Alpha group he shared his experience enthusiastically with others. Jamie had become a Christian. He began reading the Bible and uncovered a whole new world. His next experience of the Holy spirit left him Euphoric "as high as a kite". Many of the Christians at that Alpha weekend had similar experiences and they formed a home group together. Jamie testifies that the Christian life is not easy as it requires moving from a self centred life to a God centred one. The practical everyday surrendering is hard but worth it. In the months that followed tears regularly flowed from deep within, tears of relief. Jamie now feels very blessed, to be a Christian is an amazing and challenging thing. He wants to serve others and for God to use him for his glory. Jamie has now resumed his acting career, is married to Ruth with a daughter Emily Grace. SOME THOUGHTS The emotional deadening inside and dissatisfaction are common human experiences. Because we often do not understand what sin is we deny its effect on us. It is often thought that God cannot help with this because his spirit does not exist. But when you ask if a person has prayed for forgiveness, to forgive others, to ask Jesus to guide and heal them the answer is generally No. When we say yes like Jamie did God can transform us for the better. We just need to sincerely ask. It may be instant, It may take time but change will come.
Summary and References from Life Change- Mark Elsden-Dew