Earlier this year, a phenomenal movie premiered on the Hallmark Channel called Royal Hearts. Initially, I knew about it because my friend Cindy Busby was the lead. But when I found out it also starred James Brolin and that it was filmed in Romania, I could not contain my excitement! Without a doubt, it exceeded my expectations and it now ranks as one of my top favorite Hallmark movies of all-time. Recently, I interviewed the actor who played Ivan–Jeremy Colton. While I was previously unfamiliar with his work, I was thoroughly enchanted with every actor in that film (including Jeremy), and I am pleased to feature Jeremy on my site today.

RH: How/why did you get started as an actor? What kind of training have you had?

JC: I did a couple of plays at my junior school, having never done any drama before that. I really enjoyed the buzz and was asked to audition for my first professional theatre job a couple of years later. After that, I joined a group called The Television Workshop in Nottingham, which was run by a brilliant director called Ian Smith. The Workshop meets a couple of times a week and trains young actors in all aspects of performance. It’s still going strong and is a conveyor belt of raw talent. It’s produced the likes of Samantha Morton, Jack O’Connell, and Joe Dempsie to name a few. From there it was off to drama school and The Guildford School of Acting for three years.

What was your first official booking in the industry? What was that experience like?

It was a DH Lawrence play called The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre. I somehow managed to convince the director I could do it after a few auditions and they offered me my first big stage role at the age of twelve. It was a fantastic experience and definitely gave me the acting bug! Given the choice, I would do a stage job in between every TV/film gig. There’s nothing like performing to a live audience.

Heartbeat

Doctors

Much of what you have done in the business is not readily available in the U.S. What do you consider some of your more significant works so far? 

One of my first TV roles was with Helen Mirren in a Prime Suspect III, an edgy police drama.  Since then I have appeared in a lot of British shows including Peak Practice, Heartbeat, Doctors and A Thing Called Love. A few years ago I had a guest role in Legends with Sean Bean for Fox 21. That was filmed in Prague and was a lot of fun.

Ian from Royal Hearts

Hallmark viewers have seen you in the recent film Royal Hearts. How did you get involved with that movie? What was your experience like during filming? Any special moments with the stars of the film?

I was asked to self-tape for Royal Hearts quite a while before I was offered the part. I heard the day before we were due to fly off on our family holiday, so that went down well as you can imagine. My wife and two boys went to Greece without me, and I flew out to sunny Romania for the three-week shoot. If you want an acting job, book a holiday and all that …

Royal Hearts

It’s special being part of something like this from the beginning and we all became very tight. Jim (Brolin) was great and it was a real pleasure to work with him. The guy oozes charisma out of every pore! I’ve never worked on anything with such a nice cast and crew vibe and I know the rest of the actors felt the same. Cindy Busby, Andrew Cooper and I had a lovely afternoon exploring the Old town of Bucharest, which finished with a couple of cheeky cocktails. Just one of a number of cast get-togethers in a busy schedule. That, combined with the stunning locations made it a wrench to leave, and it’s not often you can say that in this business.

Prior to Royal Hearts, how familiar were you with the Hallmark network? What was your experience like with the network on this film?

Royal Hearts

I had heard of the Hallmark Channel before this but hadn’t seen any of the shows. It’s not easy to access it in the UK. I had no idea how popular it was with its phenomenal band of followers. It would be great to work for the network again in the future.

Any other upcoming/recent works you can mention?

I have recently finished a three-part drama based on a real-life murder. I can’t say too much at the moment, but my character has a checkered past!

Since you are based in the UK, are you content to remain in that market, or do you have aspirations to come to the U.S.? Or would you like to do what some actors do–go back and forth between the continents?

the kids

I enjoy being based in the UK and have a young family with kids settled in schools, etc. However, I would like to do more work in the US and given the chance would happily hop between the continents. My experience over the last few years working with US cast and crew has been nothing but positive.

If you could work with one or two people in the industry that you have not yet, who would you choose and why?

Tough one … Johnny Depp, a superbly versatile actor I’ve always admired. Derek Jacobi, an English actor who has done loads of great work and has an incredible stage presence.

When you have some downtime, what do you like to do to unwind?

Play squash (I coach professionally when I’m not treading the boards) and watch live music. I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and have been lucky enough to see him live many times over the years.

As an actor who is grounded and pragmatic, Jeremy is one who genuinely appears to have his priorities straight and to know what he desires from this career he has chosen. I can state with unequivocal assurance that Jeremy is one of those superb actors who appreciates every opportunity that comes his way and absolutely thrives on those adventures in the business that resonate with his giftedness and intrinsic values. As Jeremy is one who possesses the heart and soul of a bona fide working actor, viewers (as well as fellow castmates and crew members) can feel confident that no matter the role he is honored to receive, he consistently brings his optimal skillset to every project. While his credits may not be as extensive as some working actors, the level of quality he renders to every role is something that illustrates his indisputable commitment to the craft and his inherent skill. 

If you have not had the opportunity to watch Royal Hearts, I invite you to check your local listings for the next showing of one of my favorite royal films of all-time. Additionally, the movie is available for purchase from your favorite online retailer (I’ll place the link to my favorite here: Amazon). Besides watching/rewatching the film, I invite all of my readers to visit Jeremy’s links below and consider following him where applicable. While I have yet to view the rest of his fine body of works, there is no doubt that he gave an incredible performance in his first Hallmark film, and I can only hope that the powers that be will realize and appreciate his contributions and talent in that film and bring him back for many more. I refuse to accept that we have seen the last of this stupendous actor, and so whether it’s a sequel to Royal Hearts or some other worthwhile production (Hallmark or otherwise), I greatly anticipate Jeremy’s next appearance!

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