Scene-stealer: Child star Lenny Rush's rise to fame

Lenny Rush is getting rave reviews that different actors tin lone imagination of - and yet he's conscionable 13 years old.

He's the "fearless" scene-stealer of Children successful Need according to 1 critic, portion different calls him "phenomenal" successful Daisy May Cooper's acheronian comedy, Am I Being Unreasonable?

His latest show, CBBC's Dickensian play Dodger, with Christopher Eccleston arsenic Fagin, has conscionable snapped up a Bafta successful the week it returns to TV.

So it's nary astonishment helium handles talking astir his five-year vocation with aplomb.

Sitting connected a sofa successful his Essex location aft a time astatine school, he's articulate and thoughtful - and funny.

His mum Lisa is sitting nearby, but he's evidently utilized to him handling interviews by himself.

"Sometimes radical deliberation acting is glamorous. But adjacent though it's hard work, I really emotion it. It's truthful fun," helium says.

Lenny started acting with section play classes astatine the Pauline Quirke Academy, and was rapidly signed up by an agent.

But helium was already utilized to being successful beforehand of a camera, having appeared successful CBeebies documentary Our Family successful 2017, which offers snapshots of household life.

One country shows Lenny, his younger member Bobby and their parents peeling vegetables for a roast dinner.

Lenny's aboriginal comic endowment is instantly evident - helium grabs a instrumentality of broccoli, transforming into a blushing bride, batting his eyelashes arsenic helium clutches his greenish bouquet.

Lenny went connected to play Tiny Tim successful A Christmas Carol doubly - connected signifier for the Old Vic, and past for BBC One - on with roles successful BBC children's shows Apple Tree House and The Dumping Ground.

On BBC One's Am I Being Unreasonable? helium stars arsenic Daisy May Cooper's often-exasperated lad Ollie. It's a relation that requires the young histrion to woody with immoderate beauteous big themes.

Lenny says helium truly picked up connected moments erstwhile Ollie was "vulnerable", and says: "What I truly liked astir that bid is that astatine 1 point, we consciousness atrocious for each azygous character."

"What a acquisition they person successful Rush, who has the comic chops and affectional scope of an histrion doubly his age, and the benignant of chemistry with Cooper that is an implicit joyousness to watch," wrote The Guardian's Lucy Mangan.

There's nary uncertainty helium is capable to convey large extent with conscionable a look oregon a comment, displaying skills and maturity mode beyond galore children his age.

He has a disablement - spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC) - a uncommon information that results successful abbreviated stature and skeletal anomalies, and a cleft palate.

Might this person fixed him much beingness acquisition to gully connected for his acting?

"I deliberation - it's not bully to accidental this - but sometimes having a disability, radical truly instrumentality successful the information it's a DIS-ability. And I truly don't deliberation it is astatine all."

Instead, helium draws connected the upsides, saying: "Like erstwhile I did Tiny Tim, they were looking for disabled children.

"So without having the disability, I wouldn't person been capable to person done it. So I deliberation there's much positives than negatives."

Some of his much caller roles, including Ollie and Morgan, person not made his disablement cardinal to the part.

Lenny's cause enactment him up to play Ollie adjacent though the character, arsenic written connected the page, did not person a disability.

When helium landed the part, the writers hardly changed a word. He whitethorn question astir connected a Segway, but his information is conscionable accepted arsenic portion of household life.

Lenny besides got to experimentation with improvising for the archetypal clip successful his scenes with Cooper.

He admits helium was "very nervous" astir moving without a publication successful beforehand of the formed and crew, but his co-star was his information net.

"I knew that if I got immoderate bits wherever I didn't cognize what to say, she would ever backmost maine up."

Ollie has to deterioration a genuinely unspeakable day barroom chapeau from his nan, who has besides fixed him Duplo, which is much suited to a toddler. He past has to talk to her connected the telephone and unreal helium likes his gifts.

To get retired of the call, helium takes the telephone and says the enactment is breaking up, rustling handfuls of wrapping insubstantial and missing words out, earlier hanging up.

"That spot was my idea," helium says with a grin.

It's "refreshing" this relation isn't astir his disability, but helium adds: "Even if radical bash cognize I person a disability, that's fine.

"My mum ever says, 'Because you've got your disablement and you're different, radical retrieve you'."

How does helium consciousness astir being a imaginable relation exemplary for different children?

"It's an honour," helium says. "For idiosyncratic to spot different idiosyncratic with the aforesaid happening arsenic them connected the telly - I deliberation it gives them anticipation that it volition beryllium each right, you know."

He himself has been inspired by Warwick Davis, whose acting credits see the Star Wars films, Harry Potter and Willow.

They some person SEDC, and met aft Lenny worked with Davis's daughter, Annabelle, successful The Dumping Ground.

"Warwick's lovely," Lenny says. "He does a normal for radical with dwarfism called Little People UK.

"We each spell determination and we person a disco successful the night, it's great."

He truly enjoyed being portion of the event, saying: "To beryllium honest, sometimes, particularly erstwhile you're retired wherever I live, successful a tiny town, you don't truly spot a batch of small people, bash you?

"You don't consciousness lonely, oregon the unusual 1 out. You conscionable benignant of consciousness similar the lone one.

"It's crazy, you spell to the convention, and there's each the different small people."

Nowadays, he's a recognisable look connected TV, and was precocious asked to instrumentality complaint of Pudsey's Celebrity Call Centre, herding unruly celebrities including Mo Farah, Richard Madeley, Mr Blobby and adjacent Lord Sugar arsenic they took donations from the public.

"It's everyone's dream, to beryllium honest, bossing astir celebrities," Lenny laughs.

The sketch saw TV's nicest interviewer Lorraine Kelly swearing similar a trooper betwixt calls.

"She fto a fewer F-bombs gaffe out," Lenny laughs, but admits helium wasn't successful the country erstwhile she really fto rip.

Recalling Peter Andre's cameo, helium says: "I retrieve sitting there, and Peter Andre walking in, and thinking, 'I've got to archer Mum astir this, she'll spell crazy!'"

Lenny besides gets immoderate large lines successful Dodger, which has conscionable won champion publication astatine the Bafta Children and Young People's Awards.

There, helium plays Morgan the crossing sweeper, who has conscionable been promoted to a shoe-shine.

The show's upcoming Christmas special, which sees Dodger clang a festive enactment astatine 10 Downing Street, besides gives a spot of backstory to Fagin.

"You get a small glimpse of him, he's mislaid immoderate radical successful his life," says Rush, but adds it's a feel-good episode, with "everyone coming together, having amusive - that's what Christmas is truly about".

Next, helium has voiced an unnamed Disney+ show, and volition beryllium successful fearfulness movie The Queen Mary, starring Alice Eve, though helium admits he's "a spot of a scaredy cat" and prefers thrillers.

Having caught the improvising bug, the young histrion besides wants to enactment connected mockumentaries similar Ricky Gervais's The Office and Cooper's This Country.

As for moving with her again, helium says with a smile: "Oh I'd truly similar to. Maybe Daisy could constitute something, let's anticipation so."

The Christmas-based occurrence of Dodger is broadcast connected 4 December connected CBBC astatine 17:35 GMT.