THE SUN, THE TV MAG, SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 6 2000.

JIM'S A GOOD SPORT

A new goalie signs up for Harchester.

Landing a role in a hit show like London's Burning is a kind of break young actors dream about. But when it happened to Jim Alexander, back on our screens this week in football soap Dream Team, he opted for a short stay.

"It was fabulous to work on and I learnt a lot, but I knew as soon as I got the part that I'd only do two series," says Jim, 24, who played Blue Watch pin - up Joe Walker.

"There were acotrs who'd been there for years who had morgages and families. But I haven't got those responsibilities. I turned down a hell of a lot of money to stay - there are too many other things I want to do."

One of them was Dream Team, though viewers may not recognise him as Harchester's new goalkeeper Jamie Parker. He says: "I started London's Burning with bleached - blond hair as I thought it would suit Joe's personality, but then went ginger for the second series.

"The producers weren't happy, but I said, "It's my hair!" now it's back to my natural colour."

Jim looks even less like a tele star when he plays with his band The Leaf People. He and some mates from home, Oxted in Surrey, don silly wigs to sing cheesy cover versions.

But in Dream Tea, which returns for a fourth series of hour - long episodes, hunky Jamie and his glamourous girlfriend (Angela Saunders) cause a stir by stealing the media limelight.

The series follows the fortunes of fictional Premiership football team, though in real life Jim was a cricketer. "I was named the best Surrey under - 16 player," he says. "I'd always been into sport, but then it all went downhill!"

Turning instead to acting, Jim landed a place at prestigious Rose Bruford College, when he met his hero, former student Gary Oldman.

"He was there the day I graduated in 1997. He spent about three hours with us, talking about life as an actor. He was charismatic, interesting and a lovely guy, not a big star," jim says.

"You could tell he was having trouble with his drinking. Gary was on the wagon but he had the shakes and just didn't seem very comfortable within himself.

"My parents wanted to know what I had to look forward to. They asked, "How have you found it since leaving here?" Gary replied, "I suppose you know about my drinking and drugs... appart from that, the acting's been quite good!""

<-- Back