Episode 5 School for Stars

Millions dream of fame, success and a life in the spotlight.

But few realise what it takes to make it to the top.

You've got to be extra special for someone to look at you.

We're back.

Down and a-up and a-back and a-over.

Inside one of the most famous stage schools in Britain.

London's Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts where, for some pupils,

dreams of a career on screen and stage really can come true.

Pose, pose, pose, pose.

This is what life is like for those seeking the big-time.

They should be mesmerised by you.

This is the School For Stars.

Previously on School For Stars -

Max needed help with his dancing from best mate Luca.

Now, the dynamic duo are taking music to the street.

But will they hold their nerve?

-Yeah, there's a lot of people here.

-There is. Bit nervous, I guess.

-It'll make it really good.

-Yeah.

Having had big success as a TV star, Layton's now

passing on his knowledge and helping others follow in his footsteps.

I was one of these kids once.

And she may have already tried out for a big TV show,

but nothing could have prepared Mimi for the audition of a lifetime.

Are you serious?

This term, everyone's been fundraising for the school's Trust.

As this is a fee-paying school, the Trust helps scholarship pupils

pay their fees and Karen's come up with another idea to make some cash.

One that could be a record breaker.

I set out a challenge for some of the kids to actually come

forward to be able to do the splits and I'm hoping to break a record.

Karen wants to break the jump split world record, currently

held by dancers at the famous Moulin Rouge theatre in Paris.

Five, four, three, two, one, go.

To beat the current record, Karen needs 62 pupils to jump

down into splits, one after the other, in less than 30 seconds.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I need to time it now, OK?

With neither dancing nor splits being his forte,

Max has opted to sit out and time the practice attempt.

Ready?

Five, four, three, two, one, go!

One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14...

How quick was that then, Max?

He didn't time it!

SCREAMING

Oh, Max.

It's not all fund raising and breaking records though.

For the year 11s, it's GCSE exam time and everyone's hard at work.

Well, almost everyone.

Eden has got quite a short attention span, I mean, yeah,

she does sit at the back of classes just messing around a little bit.

-Who turned that off?

-Eden.

Eden's punctuality is not really that good.

Eden's always late.

I think that's just kind of her, she's never really on time anywhere.

Sorry, I'm late.

I...was stuck in traffic.

SHE CHUCKLES

-I was late this morning...

-Good afternoon!

..because of traffic again.

To be fair to Eden, she's missed lots of lessons recently

because she's been ill.

But with her GCSEs literally around the corner, it's more

important than ever that she makes up the time.

She can't afford to slack now

because all of the 11 years of school is going to go to waste

so she really needs to just get on top of things.

It's stressful because where I have missed a lot of lessons,

I have to work even more harder.

And one subject she really needs to do well in is English Lit.

-TEACHER:

-Act two, scene four.

Act two, scene four.

And, Eden, what are the names of the twins?

Oh, Sebastian and, is that right, the girl and the boy?

-Sebastian and Viola.

-Viola.

Why's she asking me questions?

THEY LAUGH

Yes, I think Eden needs to be a little bit more focused in class.

At the moment she's not showing the understanding I'd expect

-at this stage.

-I am working hard at the moment.

I do concentrate and I do know stuff about my English.

What's the duke asking Cesario to do there?

Erm...

..I don't actually know.

In all of her run up to her GCSEs, Eden has been getting D grades

and she really does need to be working towards those C grades now.

At the moment I think I'm giving about 80,

80%, 70%.

But I will give 120%...

tomorrow.

If Eden wants that C, she has to knuckle down and revise hard.

Thanks, Miss.

But with time running out, will she be able to do it?

Anyone wants to go to lunch today, they better do some decent hops.

Getting good academic grades is important.

But the real reason everyone is here is to be a star

and year ten Mimi is already shining.

Mimi's a great actress.

-Two years ago I purchased this cream. "Anti-aging".

-OK.

I've aged.

Some people have to really try to act, she doesn't.

It just comes to her and just looks good.

That is false advertising, that.

That is false, I could sue you, I could have you.

Probably one of the most instinctive young actors I've worked with.

When I read the words "anti-age", I expect to not age.

She's really ambitious and she's dedicated.

You want to have a look?

She's a bit of a nutter as well!

I look like Susan Boyle, love, have you seen my face?

LAUGHTER

I really love acting and that's obviously where

I see myself in the future and it's what I want to do with my life.

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?

I like to do comedy and different accents.

Where are you going now?

To rustle up a delicious salmon fillet.

Dennis, it's midnight.

School principal Anne's more than aware of Mimi's potential.

There's something about her, when she performs,

you find yourself warming to her instantly.

But it's one thing being recognised within the walls of this school.

What really counts is the industry, and Mimi's about to be given

a real chance to make a name for herself in TV.

I'm just going up to the agency to talk to Anna

because she wants to speak to me about something.

-Hey, morning.

-Morning.

Right, this is a bit of a rush for you but can you go to

Elstree Studio today? It's to workshop a new part in EastEnders.

-Yeah? Oh, cool.

-Yeah?

So there's some new characters going into the square,

maybe a new family.

What they'll do is they'll put you in a room with some other

actors and see how you interact and give you a scenario to act out.

OK.

'They think they're putting a new family, or something,

'into EastEnders and they want me to audition for it.'

So excited. Oh, my gosh.

Auditions don't get much bigger. This could be life-changing.

Getting called for auditions is one way to showcase your talent.

But if pupils want every chance to make it,

they also have to do things off their own back.

Which is why year ten busking duo Max and Luca are rehearsing hard.

BOTH: # It's empty in the valley of your heart

# The sun, it rises slowly as you walk... #

'Luca and I used to busk together quite a lot last year

'and we haven't actually been since so it's starting to warm up now'

so we want to get out there and start doing it again.

BOTH: # And I'll find strength in pain

# And I will change my ways. #

-We need to go over that harmony again.

-Yeah.

I'll just go higher.

They want to hit the streets as soon as possible,

so take rehearsals back to Max's house.

And picking them up, it's Max's mum who wants to know all about it.

Max, have you thought of a name for your busking duo, for you and Luca yet?

Not really.

-Who's doing the singing and who's...?

-We're both singing.

You've got to sort out who's doing the high harmonies,

who's doing the low ones. I could always do it.

No, you couldn't.

-She can fill in when...

-I could join your band.

-You're so embarrassing.

-..it's your day off.

Well, you must get your singing from somewhere, right?

It's from his grandmother.

There's not much we can do in school with instruments and stuff

because of our busy schedule and all that.

But, yeah, that's basically why we're here so we can get piano

and guitar working together.

-What note is it?

-A.

-A?

Max and Luca are really good friends, they complement each other

and whereas Max wasn't too keen to do the dancing at school,

Luca's brought him on in the dancing and whereas Luca wasn't too keen

to do the singing, Max has really pushed him in his singing.

So they're a good duo, the pair of them.

-Ready?

-Yeah, just give me a count in or something.

BOTH: # In the middle of the night

# I may watch you go... #

With the peace and quiet of Max's room, the boys' idea is to

practise as much as they can, free from interruption.

They just didn't count on Max's mum.

-How far have you got with it?

-Yeah, yeah, we're going all right.

-At the moment...

-We know what parts we're singing

and we know what, what instruments come in when.

-Are you going to be all right?

-Yeah, we'll be fine.

-All right, see you.

-I'll keep an eye on him.

-OK, see you.

-Bye.

# In the middle of the night

# I may watch you go... #

# There'll be no value in the strength... # DOOR OPENS

-How's it going?

-Yeah, it's good.

Yeah? Do you want a drink?

-Oh, cheers, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Right, pineapple juice.

-Yeah, Mum, we don't need that.

You do. If you're singing a lot, you do.

# In the middle of the night

# I may watch you go... #

Max, make sure you've brushed your teeth and you're in bed by 8:00, OK?

-I'm going out now.

-Mum, bye.

-See ya, bye-bye.

DOOR CLOSES

A new day at school and the day of the English Lit GCSE exam.

Everyone's nervously cramming in as much last-minute

revision as they can.

What's onomatopoeia again?

That's like bang or woof.

Everyone that is except Eden.

I'm not really nervous actually. I know a lot about English Lit.

I've done quite a lot on the train this morning.

I don't want to go into my exam with loads of revision

because then I'll just forget it.

So if I just chill out and think of it in my head

instead of people getting me nervous, I'd rather just chill out.

Eden's confident she's done enough. But has she?

Either way there's nothing more she can do because now it's exam time.

Go.

Start giving it. If you want it, it's here.

Do you know what I mean? Standing in front of you.

Karen's still after pupils for her split jump world record attempt,

so the lower juniors are limbering up.

Hold yourself there.

So far this term, Sadie has struggled to do the splits.

She wants to be part of the record attempt,

but with Karen only picking perfect splits, the pressure is on.

I'm a little bit nervous about my splits because at the start

of the term, I wasn't very good at it but I do think I've got better.

OK, guys, can I have you in a straight line please?

I can't do these.

If you cannot do them, there is no point being in this line.

I don't want people this high off the floor,

I don't want a bent back leg, I need a full split all the way down.

CHEERING

Your turn.

OK, ready?

Let's go down, and, one, two, three, four...

Sadie not only has to do the splits but she has to hold them.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and 17,

18, 19, 20.

Let me see it, baby. Good girl, it will be there.

I did it. I did the splits.

Karen said I will be there. I'm happy I'm in, yeah.

I know that she was really worried about her splits

so I'm really happy and I'm sure that within a couple of weeks

she'll actually have that nailed so I'm very pleased with her work.

It's one thing being able to do the splits,

but can the lower juniors do it fast enough?

Three, two, go.

3.7 seconds.

THEY CHEER

It's quick.

And when it comes to the real thing, they could very well be in with

a chance to smash the record.

Oh, that actually really hurts now.

For Eden, her English Lit exam is over, but how did she do?

I'm happy with myself because I answered all the questions

and I knew quite a lot in the exam actually.

The questions weren't that hard.

When I saw them, I thought I was going to get scared

but I weren't and it was all right.

It's smiles all round, although she's not going to know for sure

until her results come out in August.

For Mimi, the waiting's over.

She recently auditioned for a major high-profile role

and she's just been called into Anna's office.

Will it be good or bad news?

-Now, remember the audition you went for for EastEnders?

-Yes.

And the workshop you did?

Well...

you've been offered the role.

So congratulations.

-Are you serious?

-Very serious, yep.

You're going in as a new regular character in the square...

..and you start...next week.

-Next week?

-Next week.

Your life is now going to change, Mimi,

you could be on EastEnders a lot.

-Well done.

-I can't believe it, I can't believe it.

No, you deserve it, you did a good job.

I can't believe it.

THEY LAUGH

You're going to be working very hard.

You've got eight episodes to shoot straight away

and they're going to make a very big deal about you

coming into the square so, oh, and don't tell anybody.

-Well, mum.

-Keep it closed.

Keep it closed, yeah.

-Thank you so much, Anna.

-Congratulations.

MUFFLED: Thank you.

Bye-bye, honey.

I didn't think she was going to say it, I thought she was going to

tell me about another audition, but, I got it. I can't believe I got it.

Yeah, this is definitely like a dream come true because it's,

like, this is what I want to do

and I can't believe I actually got it, I actually can't believe it.

It's a massive role, but Mimi can't tell anyone as EastEnders

want to keep their plot lines top secret.

So for now, Mimi has to go back to class

and behave like it's just a normal day.

I'm desperate to tell everyone.

I sort of, like, sometimes I think "Oh, I could just tell one person,

"just one person".

But there is someone who knows, and she's just as excited as Mimi,

although maybe not for the same reasons.

I'm a big EastEnders fan.

I'm going to have to learn to keep it a bit cool when we get there

and not go "Oh, it's the Vic!".

And Mum better keep her cool today as Mimi's been called down to

Albert Square to say hello to her new workmates.

I'm very excited about meeting all the cast

because obviously I've seen them on the TV.

I think it's going to be a bit strange because you know them

as someone else.

I don't know, I think I'd accidentally call them

by their character names by accident and that would be really

embarrassing cos they'd be like, "That's not my name".

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Are you excited?

-Yes.

-Nervous?

-Yes.

Yeah, OK, let's go.

It's been an exciting few days for Mimi,

and now a great end to the week.

It may be the weekend but for Max and Luca, the work goes on.

They want to help Karen raise money for the school fund so they're

hitting the streets of London's famous busking hotspot, Camden Town.

Me and Max haven't been busking in quite a while

so we've got to see what we can do to get as much as we can.

We're going to give all the money to the charity as well so,

-it should be good fun.

-Yeah, should be good.

Last year they made £2,000 from busking,

but it's not easy.

You need a permit from the council, have to agree a performance spot,

then get an adult to mix with the crowd to keep an eye on things.

-Yeah, there's a lot of people here.

-There is. It'll be all right.

Yeah, it'll be good fun.

-Bit nervous, I guess.

-We've just got to make it really good.

-You want to do it now?

-Yeah, let's do it.

BOTH: # Stretch out my life

# And pick the seams out

# Take what you like

# But close my ears and eyes

# And watch me stumble

# Over and over

# But love the one you hold

# And I will be your goal

# To have and to hold

# A lover of the light. #

Thank you. APPLAUSE

Success. The first song's gone down well.

We did good, we did good. We got money for charity and it went well.

But there's more money to raise, so, boys, you better play on.

We need to make this kind of like a bit, you know.

Make it good, make it good.

-You want to do Too Close?

-Yeah, yeah, do Too Close, let's do that.

# Which way is right

# And which way is wrong

# But how do I say

# That I need to move on?

# You know we're headed separate ways

# And it feels like I am just too close to love you

# There's nothing I can really say... #

A new day at school, and there's a very special buzz going round.

Mimi's secret of a major role in EastEnders is finally out.

And it's quite literally big news.

That doesn't look like her!

She looks really nice.

It's just so strange seeing her in a newspaper.

It's like one of our family getting into a massive thing.

So we're all, like, going round the school going, "Ah, she got into it".

It would be really cool to, sort of, see Mimi on telly

and be like, "Oh, I know that girl".

It's EastEnders, everyone watches EastEnders.

It's going to be weird that we're going to be out with her

and people are going to keep coming up to her

and we're just going to be standing there, like...!

We're the friends.

Sort of shows that it is possible, that you come to the school

and you do work hard and you can be in a show like EastEnders

or something big and you can sort of make your life.

The whole school's excited,

but in assembly, the chat's a bit more down to earth.

Has there been any fundraising, guys? Any ideas?

Fresh from his busking triumph, Max has a surprise for Karen.

-So how much have you raised?

-110.

-Yay.

-£110.

By giving their hard-earned cash to the Trust,

Max and Luca are helping future students of the school.

I think this is awesome, I think this is amazing,

and I think that the kids don't appreciate

how many of them could do this

and I just think that effort, doing that, is amazing,

to support each other and support the Trust,

I'm really thrilled, really proud.

Fundraising may be going well, but with the end of year show looming,

Karen still has a lot of work to do.

Jive talking.

I've got a little bit of Essex in there.

It's the biggest event of the term

and rehearsals are happening everywhere.

You want to be in the business, let's go.

We're going to be here ten till six, no joke.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

One, two, three, four, five.

Pretty much everyone in school's involved. Everyone except Mimi.

Mimi, can you just sit out, darling, just while we do the vocal?

Because work on EastEnders is so intense, Mimi has to leave

school while she's filming and will be taught on set by private tutors.

So she can't be in the end of year show.

I'm not sad that I've got it, I'm just, like, it's a bit sad that

I've got to, like, I'm not going to be able to see people every day.

I'm used to coming in and seeing everyone every day

so it's going to be really strange.

For Mimi, it's a harsh reminder that with success comes sacrifice.

It's a bit overwhelming, like,

that I'm not going to be doing this any more.

Everything's about to change.

When he landed a major part in a BBC3 series, the same thing

happened to Layton, so he's the perfect friend to give Mimi advice.

When you left school did you, like, miss it

and was it really strange and stuff, like?

Erm, I missed, like, sometimes I felt that I missed out on,

like, having fun with my friends and stuff,

because you're going to be away from the classroom so you're not going

to be in your friendship group as much, you're going to miss things.

But, it's amazing on set, and, I don't know,

I hated it when they were like, "Cut, time to go to tutoring now".

It was the worst but you've got to get it done, work and play.

I suppose it's work-work, isn't it? Double whammy.

Are you nervous about it at all?

Yeah, I'm nervous because, like, obviously everyone else there,

I'm the only new person, everyone else knows each other.

I'm just going to go in and start, like, they're, like, acting and...

They'll be so nice to you, I'm sure,

because they've all been new once as well.

Yeah, I suppose. You being recognised on the street and stuff.

I wouldn't say I'm Victoria Beckham / Beyonce / Gaga,

but, obviously, every now and again.

I'd be really freaked out because no-one ever recognised me,

I've never, like, done anything like that before.

-I'd just be like, "Hi".

-I guarantee you it will happen.

-You'll have to get used to it.

-It will happen.

Well, yeah, of course.

If you're going to be on TV, like, every night on a TV show that

everybody watches, just enjoy it, I think.

Sometimes a chat with someone who knows just what you're going through

can make all the difference.

Layton's success in the industry has given him a lot of experience,

so much in fact he now wants to share what he's learnt...

..so he teaches dance at an associate school.

With classes happening on evenings and weekends,

these schools are for people who can't attend the main school,

and it's how Layton kick-started his very own career.

I came to this associate school in 2010.

I started coming here just as a student

and then a couple of years on when I got older,

I started assisting the teachers and stuff like that.

Now, I've got a couple of my own classes.

I do ballet, tap, jazz, but today I'm doing street dance

and I've got a full out class to do today

so we're going to be busting some moves.

One...and two,

with a fist, and it goes round, three,

and it pushes, four, to the side.

Round the head and push aside.

Boom and hack, hack, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, boom.

I love giving back

and trying to give what I've learned from college during the week.

If I do, like, a really cool routine or inspired by a teacher,

I can try and come here

and give my energy to the students too so it's really nice.

And Layton believes in teaching how he was taught.

Can I just see a whip? And whip, whip.

A little bit of fun.

If I had hair, you'd all be blind. Again.

But ultimately hard work.

Let's go with the muzak.

Five, six, here we go.

I know it's a good class when they're responding to the choreography, the kids,

when they're, you know, smiling, having fun.

I love the way he teaches dance.

It gets everyone going, it's really exciting.

He's really an inspiration and he's, like, amazing to work with.

His dancing inspires me, there's nothing else to say.

I was one of these kids once, 11 years old, here for fun.

For all they know, there could be an audition down the line,

it gets really serious

and they're going to be in it for the rest of their lives.

Hard work, self-belief

and dedication can help on the journey to stardom.

But it's not just getting there that matters.

A true star will always remember where they have come from.

Next time on School For Stars, Luca brings a new meaning to the

expression "break a leg".

You move, you get up off your bottom, and I will send you home.

All eyes are on Marni

when she performs at an exclusive agent's showcase.

I'm trying to stay cool but it's, like, bubbling away underneath.

The pressure is definitely on.

And will Sophie get through her drama exam?

And if I'm giving you a tough time, it's only

because I think you're worth giving a tough time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd