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You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. He never ever wanted to hurt anyone there was not a bad bone in his body. Jack was such an amazing boy and he did not deserve the stuff he went through. He got through to the final 10 auditions for the musical Billy Elliot in Newcastle. Wilkinson tries to persuade Jackie to let her pay for the audition, but he replies that Billy is his son and he does not need charity.Police said they were not treating his death as suspicious.Ī cause of death has not been disclosed at this time. Later, Jackie catches Billy dancing in the gym and realises his son is truly gifted he resolves to do whatever it takes to help Billy attain his dream. Over Christmas, Billy learns his best friend Michael is gay.īilly is supportive of his friend.
Wilkinson tells Jackie about the missed opportunity, but fearing that Billy will be considered to be gay, both Jackie and Tony are outraged at the prospect of him becoming a professional ballet dancer. Wilkinson believes that Billy is talented enough to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, but due to Tony's arrest during a clash between police and striking miners, Billy misses the audition. But, passionate about dancing, Billy secretly continues lessons with the help of his dance teacher, Sandra Wilkinson. When Jackie discovers this, he forbids Billy to take any more ballet. Unknown to Jackie, Billy joins the ballet class. He happens to see a ballet class that is using the gym while their usual basement studio is temporarily being used as a soup kitchen for the striking miners. Billy's father sends him to the gym to learn boxing, but Billy dislikes the sport. Ben Cook (actor)īilly lives with his widowed father, Jackie, and older brother, Tony, both coal miners out on strike the latter being the union bullyand also his maternal grandmother, who has Alzheimer's disease and once aspired to be a professional dancer.
The story was also adapted for the West End stage as Billy Elliot the Musical in it opened in Australia in and on Broadway in InBilly Elliot, an year-old from the fictional Everington in County Durham, England, loves to dance and has hopes of becoming a professional ballet dancer. Inthe film was adapted into a novel by Melvin Burgess. Filming began in the North of England in August The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festivaland then began a wider theatrical release on 29 September by Universal Pictures.Īt the British Academy Film Awardsthe film won three of thirteen award nominations. Set in County DurhamEngland during the -85 miners' strikethe film is about a working-class boy who discovers his passion for balletdespite his father's objection and the negative stereotype associated of being a male ballet dancer.Īdapted from a play called Dancer by Lee Hall, development on the film began in Around 2, boys were considered for the role of Billy before Bell was eventually chosen for the role.