Rising star Lauren Patel on her big role in new film Everybody’s talking about Jamie

Lauren Patel talks to Entertainment correspondent Caroline Whitmore about her debut acting role in new film Everybody's Talking about Jamie.


She's the rising star from Bolton who's landed herself one of the lead roles in the new film 'Everybody's talking about Jamie'.

Lauren Patel only auditioned for the role after spotting a call on a website when she was supposed to be doing her homework.

Lauren Patel and Max Harwood arriving for the world premiere of Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Credit: PA Images

She landed the role of Pritti Pasha in the Amazon Original Everybody’s Talking About Jamie - her acting debut, alongside Oldham's Shobna Gulati, Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire and Richard E. Grant.

"It happened so quickly, I was just putting off doing my B-Tech drama homework at Bolton Six-Form college and I saw an open audition online, and I thought oh I'll send a video in, I'm obviously not going to hear back from it, and then twenty days later I got the job, and then a month later, was my first day on set with Max and Richard E. Grant!

The film, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, is inspired by the 2011 television documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16.

It tells the story of a Sheffield teenager who overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and "steps out of the darkness and into the spotlight."

It became one of the biggest hits of the West End after it first appeared on Shaftesbury Avenue back in 2017. 

Now it's been made into a film.

Shobna Gulati plays Ray in the new film Credit: PA Images

Shobna Gulati, known for her roles in Coronation Street and Dinnerladies, plays Ray in the new film, and still can't quite believe it.

"Being in the film of the show, I don't think it has quite hit me yet. My friends go, 'oh you're a movie star and I go well no, its so weird isn't it?!"

The film Everybody's talking about Jamie is released on Friday.