He's man that's well known in Tyneside, whether that be as former doorman on some of the city's most popular nightspots, or due to his passion for Newcastle United, but now Steve Wraith is making quite a name for himself in the world of movies, with one his latest projects getting a share of the spotlight at the world renowned Cannes film festival.
While to many Geordies, Steve is the man they'll have seen on a night out in town, or the host of countless football 'audience with' style events, alongside some NUFC greats; his love of acting found him at a young age, with him appearing in front of the camera and on stage from the age of seven to 18, before walking away from the industry. But, unlike many adults, who give up the ghost on their childhood exploits, Steve found himself longing to get back into it and took the plunge, by going back to college to do a Performing Arts degree his 30s and finding steady work as an extra, before graduating at 40.
Steven's renewed vigour for the occupation he thought he'd turned his back on years earlier, has seen him shoot films all over the country, alongside some big names from British TV and now, he's been seen on screen At Cannes, as A New Breed of Criminal, the film inspired by Newcastle's Sayers family, was shown at the famous event, which is like a shop window of film talent.
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Steve plays the lead in A New Breed of Criminal and, has also had a main part in gritty thriller Trafficking and securing roles in 1960s set production Bend it Like Bobby, playing a guardian angel to one of the main characters and horror film Alice in Terrorland.
With his film commitments now taking up a lot of his diary Steve splits his time between Newcastle and London and he actually attributes the words of a man well known to millions of viewers thanks to a certain London-based soap, with giving him the motivation and belief to give acting another crack.
Steve told ChronicleLive: "John Altiman, Nick Cotton in EastEnders, is a really good of mate at mine and was the one of the people instrumental in convincing me to get back into it all. I wanted to do things properly, which is why I went back to college to hone my craft all over again. It took a lot for me to do that, but I'm so glad I did.
"I've now had the chance to work with some real greats from the North East acting scene like Byker Grove's Lesley St John and Tony Hodge and Paul Tucker, who people will know from The Bill and Spender."
And it was another well known local personality, Ian La Frenais, the man famous for shows like Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Lovejoy. Ian proved to be a very honest critic for Steve when it came to his script writer debut on A New Breed of Criminal, with Steve explaining: "I wrote it in lockdown and on giving Ian a first look he told me 'The first 20 minutes is f**king brilliant, but the rest is a mess.'"
"By the end he said he was 85% happy with it and that was good enough for him, so that good enough for me as well! Getting to have my first ever film script looked over by someone like Ian was amazing."
A New Breed of Criminal is set for release in the coming months, with Steve, buoyed by the reaction to it in Cannes, already setting his sights on a sequel.
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