‘Proud’ mum shares heartwarming tales of kid actor earlier than he was killed in tiger assault
The man who was mauled to death by a tiger was a former child actor featuring in shows on both the BBC and ITV as he was “passionate about acting and drama” from a young age
Chapman starred in shows on the BBC and ITV(Image: BBC)
The man who was mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park was a former child actor, with his ‘proud mum’ sharing stories of his ‘passion’ for performing. William Chapman, in his mid 20s, has been named as the victim of the horrific tiger attack on Saturday.
Chapman features in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films, and also played Edward Jenner as a young boy in the BBC series True Stories. An old blog post written by William’s mum shows a glimpse into his acting career, years before the attack.
The post was written just over 12 years ago and describes William as “passionate about acting and drama”. He attended a performing arts school in High Wycombe since the age of four, The Jackie Palmer Stage School.
Clip from ITV show May Contain Nuts of character Alfie Chaplin, reportedly played by William Chapman(Image: YouTube)
The drama school have posted a tribute on their Facebook page after William was revealed as the victim of the attack. The tribute says: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our former student, William Chapman. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with William’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.
“We loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer, during his time with us. It was a privilege to be part of his journey, and he will be remembered with great fondness by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him. William will be truly missed, and he will always hold a special place in our hearts. Rest in peace, William.”
William’s mum’s blog details an audition he attended in London for the ITV show ‘May Contain Nuts’ at age five. She wrote he was “unburdened by the nerves he can sometimes suffer from these days”.
She added: “He seemed to relax and thoroughly enjoy himself.”
William Chapman was mauled to death in the attack on Saturday
His mum noted further experiences, including working as an extra on Pan, a prequel to the Peter Pan story which starred Hugh Jackman was a ‘wonderful experience for him’.
The blog post also features an extract written by William himself from this time. It says: “Once on set we were sheltering from the pirates under the ship’s floorboards and we had to be terrified! Our chief gets shot by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), so remember to look out for that scene if you watch the movie.
“After lunch we just did more tutoring then we went back on set for a retake of the earlier scene, but we were lucky enough to meet and say hi to Hugh Jackman! We gave him a high five, awesome right?”
Chapman uploaded a video of him walking up to the tiger at the park(Image: Not known)
William’s mum noted how ‘proud’ she was of her son. She said: “Being a proud mum I couldn’t resist showing off his efforts as the young Edward Jenner for BBC Learning.” William’s family paid tribute to their ‘amazing’ and ‘bright’ son on Tuesday evening in a heartbreaking statement. The statement said William suffered from “significant mental illness” over a number of years and was given “strong medication”.
It continued: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back. The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.”
