Happy Valley's James Norton says school was a nightmare he 'couldn't leave'

18 January 2023 , 18:55

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Happy Valley's James Norton says school was a nightmare he 'couldn't leave'

He plays a psycho bully in TV drama Happy Valley but actor James Norton revealed he was himself the victim of playground thugs.

But the 37-year-old, who stars as murderer Tommy Lee Royce in the hit BBC show, said professional help has done him the world of good.

He said: “My school years were complicated. I didn’t have the greatest time.

“I was quite badly bullied for five years and I was at boarding school so I couldn’t leave.

“I’ve had a great therapist for the last four years, and it’s not from a place of drama. And I’m luckily not suffering from depression or anything like that but it’s been really, really helpful to understanding what [happened to me at school].”

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Norton plays murderer Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley (BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)

James grew up in Yorkshire before attending the “Catholic Eton”, boarding school Ampleforth College.

The McMafia and Grantchester star thinks the “weird” environment there contributed to his sometimes awful treatment by his fellow students in North Yorkshire.

He told the Comfort Eating podcast host Grace Dent: “I’ve realised that boarding schools are really weird places.

“We’re the only country that still sends our kids away voluntarily.

The actor has described boarding schools as 'really weird places' (Getty Images)

He grew up in Yorkshire and attended Ampleforth College (PA)

“You’re stuck with these people, and all these young kids are just deeply, deeply homesick and they’re just lost.

“For some of them, that pain manifests itself in being needy or rebellious. But some of them get angry and rather than crying out for their mum they just bully someone.”

James will be seen having his head shaved in Sunday’s episode as his confident character Tommy prepares for a court appearance.

The final season of Happy Valley centres around Tommy Lee Royce (BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)

Much of the third and final series centres around the murderer, who is being visited in jail by son Ryan, now 16 and wanting to build a relationship with his father.

Cecilia Adamou