BULAWAYO – A Bulawayo-born actor has just become the latest breakthrough international star after landing a leading role in a British supernatural series which premiered on Netflix on August 24.
The 25-year-old Percell Ascott plays Harry in The Innocents, an eight-episode Sci-Fi series shot mostly in Skipton, England, and Norway.
When teenagers Harry and June, played by Sorcha Groundsell, run away from their repressive families to be together, they are derailed by an extraordinary discovery – June’s ability to shape-shift. A scientist tries to capture her and discover the key to her power, putting the two on a dangerous path.
Ascott, who has been in Wizard vs. Aliens and The Weekend Movie, stars alongside Groundsell – who has previously starred in Clique, Iona and Sleeping Lions – and Guy Pearce who plays Halvorson.
Ascott was born in Bulawayo on June 10, 1993, before leaving for England with his mother aged just three.
He told the BBC while promoting the series that he owed it all to his mum.
“I’m feeling grateful and thankful to be in this position. I owe it to my mum who has sacrificed a lot for me to be in the position that I am in,” he said.
“At about 14 my dad used to ask me the question, ‘son what do you wanna do in life?’ and I kind of very early on decided I want to be an actor and I started making choices in which that would get me to a position like this one.
“Being a creative comes with a worry or risk in terms of financial dependence but there are people who pushed me and said you can do this.”
He recalled how his mother would work two jobs to support their family, and says he hopes his life story will inspire others.
“My life is testament to the fact that you can dream and achieve your goals that you set out.”
He described the “incredible feeling” of having a billboard with his picture at New York’s Time Square and told of his hopes of bringing out the positive from Zimbabwe.
Ascott kick-started his filmography career featuring in 2010’s TV movie Excluded. Subsequently, he bagged a role in 2012’s British TV crime-drama series Silent Witness, where he played Joel Barron.
Percelle’s acting career reached a new height when he was offered the lead role of Benjamin Sherwood in 30 episodes of British science-fantasy TV show Wizards vs. Alien, which aired from 2012 to 2014.
Courtesy of his polished acting, Percelle grabbed the part on numerous TV movies and series including Youngers (2013/14), X+Y (2014), The Coroner (2016), and Casualty (2017).
