Big Boys creator Jack Rooke has said there should be “more routes” into the creative industries for young people.
The Bafta award-winning writer and comedian behind the hit Channel 4 programme spoke out about the need to protect creative opportunities for young people and ensure that the industry is an accessible space rather than intimidating.
The 32-year-old also emphasised his concern over the state of the arts landscape and how any funding or support he had, which helped him kickstart his career, “seems to have disappeared”.
Speaking on the Roundhouse podcast, Making Space, he said: “We need young people to become our next generation of artists.
“We can’t continuously create blocks and harder routes in.
“We need to create more routes in.
“Encouraging very small acts of creativity leads to bigger ones. We live in a world of rewarded excellence, but creativity doesn’t have to be perfect. Some of the best art I’ve ever seen is on a dirty car window.”
The writer, who is also a commissioner for the Young Creatives Commission (YCC), Roundhouse’s independent initiative which aims to help improve arts access for young people, said he joined because he felt “concerned about the landscape of the arts right now”.
“Every bit of funding or support that helped me make work and build a career seems to have disappeared,” he said.
Rooke’s semi-autobiographical sitcom Big Boys stars Derry Girl actor Dylan Llewellyn and Sweet Pea’s Jon Pointing.
It follows the lives of two very different boys as they form an unlikely friendship after being thrown together at university.
Earlier this year he picked up the Bafta Television Craft award for best comedy writer for the series after previously winning it in 2024.
Roundhouse is a youth charity and independent multi-arts venue based in Camden.
The full interview can be streamed via the Roundhouse website and all major podcast platforms.
