The Hunger Games franchise, from the books by Suzanne Collins to the films starring Jennifer Lawrence, has a huge following around the world. Coriolanus Snow, the main antagonist of the Hunger Games Trilogy is now the protagonist of, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ and the star of this $300 million global box office smash is none other than former Bilborough College student Tom Blyth.
Tom studied at Bilborough College from 2011-2013, taking courses in Drama and Theatre Studies, Business Studies, Media Studies and Music Technology. At the age of 21, Tom was offered a spot on one of the world’s most sought-after BA actor training programmes at the Juilliard School in New York, which has trained a host of famous actors and musicians including Robin Williams, Jessica Chastain and Yo-Yo Ma.
Sharon MacInnes, who taught Tom’s A level Drama class said, “Tom was an exceptionally talented student, who was completely focussed on his goal to become a professional actor. We always knew that he would go on to have an amazing career in the industry.”
David Shaw, Principal at Bilborough College said, “Every year an impressive number of our students progress to world-class drama schools and go on to work in the theatre, film and TV industry. As well as Tom, we have recent alumni in lead roles in productions of both Hamilton and Sunset Boulevard on the West End and we see this as an ongoing pipeline of talent from Nottingham to the world. I’m proud to be associated with Tom’s achievements and delighted that his talent and hard work is paying dividends. I’m also very grateful to our Performing Arts staff, whose commitment to industry standards and whose ability to instil confidence and self-belief in their students, hugely boosts their chances of success, whatever they go on to accomplish in the future.”