Callum Hudson began his stage career as a child actor before returning to theatre in 2024 playing Noah Claypole in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Oliver! at Chichester Festival Theatre and for the West End transfer at the Gielgud Theatre, with the musical being directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, and Callum finished his run earlier this year. Having made his professional stage debut in 2017 playing Eric in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical, he went on to play Gavroche in Les Misérables and Young Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre. As part of Strictly Come Dancing’s Remembrance Day routine in 2019, Callum performed alongside the professional dancers including Amy Dowden and Anton Du Beke. Answering our questions, Callum talks about his time as Noah Claypole in Oliver! at Chichester Festival Theatre and the West End transfer, playing Young Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Gavroche in Les Misérables and Eric in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical, and performing in the Strictly Come Dancing 2019 Remembrance Day routine.

Having had a career on stage as a child actor, how was it returning to live theatre in 2024 when you booked Noah Claypole in Oliver! at Chichester Festival Theatre, and what was it like performing with the show in both Chichester and the West End transfer to the Gielgud Theatre?

Honestly, I just felt like the luckiest boy in the world. To be part of a company and creative team like that was the biggest dream. Everything aligned at exactly the right time, and I never forgot how crazy that was. Leaving performing as a child and going into an adult career can be really scary and destabilising as you figure out who you are as an adult performer, but I got to do it guided by the most sensitive and nurturing hands. Oliver! feels so integral to the DNA of the West End, so getting to create and perform an eight-show week as part of this revival’s original cast… it feels mind-blowing to think about even now.

What originally drew you to the role of Noah Claypole and had you seen Oliver! on stage or screen before joining the cast of Cameron Mackintosh’s new production?

I think most of us are familiar with the film, and hilariously, one of my first theatre experiences was playing Oliver in a local village hall medley (if I squeeze, I could probably still fit into the costume!). But I was just a bit too young to see the 2009 production. That didn’t mean, however, that I didn’t worship the girls on BBC’s I’d Do Anything, as any small-town queer boy did back in the late noughties. I could probably tell you everything that happened on that show, and if I were to go on Mastermind, it would most likely be my specialist subject.

As for the role of Noah, it was so otherworldly to anything I’d ever done, so I just decided to have the most fun with it I could. In the creative process, we were encouraged to make it as quintessentially ours as it could be, and it may have taken me a while, but by the end, playing that part was everything I wanted it to be. That, and a little bit camp!

How was it getting into character as Noah Claypole, and what was it like working with the rest of the cast and director/choreographer Matthew Bourne?

Getting into character as Noah was easier than I expected it to be because, as soon as I put that wig on, I was so far removed from everything I came into the theatre as that I tried my best to trust it was in my body. The power of WHAM!!

Working with Cameron Mackintosh, Matthew Bourne, JP, Graham Hurman and the rest of the cast was everything you would expect it to be: the most inspiring, joyous environment you could possibly want to be in. I truly believe everyone in that cast and creative team are geniuses, and I would not be the performer I am today without every single one of them. Matthew Bourne has a special way of trusting everybody that he works with completely, and to feel that energy was the most stabilising thing – something which is so important in such a large-scale production. I know I’ve said it before, but I still feel like the luckiest boy in the world.

How did you feel leaving the show earlier this year and what do you miss most about the musical and character?

Leaving the show was a really hard decision because everybody in that building became such a family, but I was so young when I joined the company that I felt, admittedly hesitantly, that I was ready to spread my wings. That being said, a job and people like that don’t come around too often, so of course I miss it. Every person was so instinctively themselves, and the community was like no other… and, of course, the MUSIC!

Leaving Noah behind was difficult because my Charlotte (the incredible Bethan Keens) and I had made it so uniquely ours. However, she is such a malleable and instinctive performer that I knew she could create magic with whoever took the reins (the gorgeous Dane Young). Although I have to admit, I won’t miss having fake spots put on me eight shows a week!! The support I felt when I left was incredible, which is so important for taking that step into the rest of the world.

How did you find the experience playing Young Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and how different was it working on a play opposed to a musical?

Harry Potter was one of the most exciting shows I’ve ever worked on, just because of the sheer amount of work everybody in that theatre gave to make what is such a technically complicated show beyond possible. To be even a tiny part of a production like that felt so thrilling, and I’m sure I walked around those wings with my mouth wide open in awe every day.

I was in that show when COVID hit, so it felt like my time was cut short, but hopefully I can return one day – if not just to actually learn how everything works, because I still couldn’t tell you! I was so lucky to work like I did as a kid (shoutout to the Stansted Express and to my family), and the novelty of that will never wear off.

I loved being in a play because I think straight acting and plays is where my heart lies. Growing up as a dancer, straight acting was so foreign, but now I know there is so much power in acting and there is always so much to learn, which is so exciting. I’m putting a lot of focus into honing my skills in that regard. I hope that my adult career will get to take some steps in that direction, as I would love to be able to spend some more time in that magic world.

In 2019, you played Gavroche in Les Misérables in the West End, how was it being part of a long-running musical and performing Gavroche’s songs?

Gavroche (like every 10 year-old theatre boy) was my absolute dream, and to be part of the final cast of the original production was it all coming true. I’m so chuffed to say that I was the last Gavroche ever to perform on the iconic revolve because it meant so much to me at the time and was so special. I’m still waiting for an appropriate time when I can bring that up as the fun fact you use when you have to give your name and a fact when you meet a new group of people.

I worked with some performers on that show whose advice I will carry with me for the rest of my career. I’m sure I was far too camp and far too loud, but it was one of the first times that I felt fully embraced by a cohort of not only performers but people, which was so important to little me. I’m sure if you gave me a red rosette and a tiny flag now, I could give you a rendition of Little People that would put 2019 me to shame.

What was it like having the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical as your professional debut in 2017 and what are some of your favourite memories from taking on the role of Eric?

Performing in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical was the biggest dream because it propelled me into confirming that I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and because it all happened so out of the blue. My dance teacher at the time suggested that I go for the audition as a nice day out, and I know now that nobody expected me to get it! I was 4’3” and pre-braces, but somehow I managed it, and I felt (not to repeat myself) like the luckiest boy in the world.

Performing in that show was so formative and really pushed me at the time. Still to this day, I would say that the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Also, that cast (although I didn’t realise it at the time) was filled with British theatre legends like Gina Beck and Tom Edden, who I was so fortunate to not only watch every night but learn from.

Also, it was the first time that I was surrounded by other kids who were exactly like I was, which was not only so fun but so comforting.

You performed on Strictly Come Dancing for their 2019 Remembrance Day routine alongside the professional dancers including Amy Dowden and Anton Du Beke; what was this like to do?

Strictly Come Dancing is one of those things that is part of the fabric of television, and it was so beyond crazy to get to be a part of that. Everyone I met on that show was so lovely, so supportive and so full of Strictly magic. Every day I worked on Strictly, I just spent some time looking around and reflecting on how this was the coolest thing in the world.

It was also the first time I’d worked properly in front of a camera, which, although intimidating, was beyond exciting. I had to learn very quickly!!! Being surrounded by dancers of that calibre was so inspiring, and watching them work was breathtaking. It was also the first time I ever got picked up from my house in a car, which was one of the coolest things ever to 11-year-old me.

Where does your love of acting come from, and how did you get started?

I fell into performing completely accidentally. My mum took my sister to dance classes, and I must’ve been really annoying in the waiting room because she forced me to go in, I think just for half an hour’s peace. My sister hated it, I loved it, and I’ve never looked back.

I worshipped The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music, like every awkward queer boy across the globe, and knew that it was all I wanted to do. I, embarrassingly, live up to every stereotype and, as I got older, was transfixed by all the female movie stars of the past, which shaped me so vividly. Through that, I fell in love with the acting world, repeating everybody’s lines back to them through the screen, and, to be honest, I think there’s a little bit of Bette Davis that comes through in every job I do.

Do you have any favourite theatre shows to watch?

As I say, I love watching plays, and I’m trying to see as much as I can. I watched All My Sons recently, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s performance rocked my world. Without sounding pretentious in any way, I think I watch things with such an analytical lens because I honestly just want to learn from the people in front of me and around me all the time.

The performance world is so expensive and ever-changing that seeing performances from people I admire just spurs me on to hone my craft even more. That’s how I learnt what I loved and why I wanted to perform as a kid, and I don’t think that has ever stopped. That being said, theatre also is just really, really fun, which is just as important.

I love seeing my friends thrive in different productions and will race to see whatever they are in. I went to see my best mate in Priscilla recently, and not only is she outstanding, but it’s so important to learn from having a boogie and a good time.

Also, bring back Sweet Charity, I want to see a production of that so bad. Also The Boys in the Band, so I can have a shot at playing Cowboy!!!!

What do you find the most enjoyable aspect of being an actor and performing on stage?

Honestly, it’s the people that it brings you. I have met some of the most important people in my life through this industry and would not be the person I am today without them. I feel so lucky to call this my job and count my blessings every day.

It is also one of the only careers that requires you to be authentically yourself and where who you are is celebrated just as much as the role you are playing. It is so unbelievably important.

Have you received any advice over your career so far that has stayed with you?

Probably from the most random of places! I remember being in a Year 3 class assembly at primary school and being stood at the back, really embarrassed and making fun of what I was doing. My mum pulled me to the side and said, ‘There is nothing more embarrassing than being embarrassed’, which obviously, at the time, I had a hissy fit about, but she was right.

It taught me to lean completely into whatever is needed from me and to remain completely malleable to not only a role but to a process in general. The more risks you are taking and the more open you stay, the more you will learn and grow as a performer.

It helped me a lot when covering in Oliver! as there were times when I was covering roles that were designed for people more than double my age, but I had to just lean into it and make it work because, to be honest, nobody else can do that work for me. The more I gave, the more I got out of it. Give yourself up to every opportunity and give yourself fully, because you never know what door it will open.

Also, in later years, the best advice I have received is to make sure that your life is full of joy outside of the industry. As we know, the industry can be so turbulent and unpredictable, so to make sure your life is full outside of your career is imperative.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I love to read, as I am such a literature nerd. I write a lot as well, which brings me so much joy. I like to think I’m pretty good at it as well (if you don’t blow your own trumpet, who else is going to blow it for you), and I would love to do something in my career with it. I’m starting to really believe that I could, so why not?

I also think I’ve probably taken up every hobby out there – but do I see them through? Who knows? I recently took up padel, which lasted about three weeks, so who knows what I’ll hyperfixate on next.

In all seriousness though, I love to spend my time around people that fill my cup and make me HOWL. Maybe I’ll take up paint-by-numbers. That could be fun…

What are you hoping the rest of the year brings, and do you have any projects coming up that you can tell us about?

Honestly, I’m hoping that the rest of the year brings me and everyone around me so much happiness!! But career-wise, I’d love to do some straight acting, as that’s where my focus is lying currently, but I’m honestly open to whatever.

I’m aware that I’m still really young, so whatever happens, happens!! I just did such a cool commercial dance job, which was so unexpected but so incredible. For the rest of the year though, I just want to keep learning and keep growing as a person and performer, as I truly love what I do and everything it could possibly bring.

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