About Gordon

Ask Gordon McAllister, who has lived there for several years and seems to have no trouble finding an outlet for his passion for acting -- a passion he developed back in England during primary school, he says. Now 15, he already has quite a repetoire under his belt including his first film role: Gordon plays a young Charles Lush, in flashback, to Charles Dance's mature character in "The Labyrinth", recently filmed on location in Beirut.

Gordon's father, who works at the Meteorological Office at RAF Akrotiri, may have provided the in-roads for this budding star with his assignment to Cyprus. RAF base camps are well-known for their established theatre groups, and Gordon has made good use of the opportunity to further his experience.

"I went to a stage school for a couple of years where I studied for London Academy of Music and Dramatic art exams," Gordon writes. "I got quite far in those but then we came out here, I started doing work with local theatre groups, which is great out here because everyone knows you and I got some good groupies!!

"I have entered the Cyprus National Drama Festival in which I won the Adjudicator's pot and then the actual award itself. Both times it's been the most exciting experience. I have done such a range of material here, I feel so lucky."

It's not all hard work and no play, though. In his spare time Gordon sails and skis, pasttimes easily had in Cyprus, which he says he'll miss when his family returns to the United Kingdom later this year.

So how does a young British actor in Cyprus get a film break? The resemblance between Gordon and Charles Dance aside, it came down to a fortunate set of connections between the production design people and Gordon's drama teacher, who heartily recommended him for the role of young Lush. After a few fits and starts in the shooting schedule, Gordon found himself on the set in Lebanon.

At the moment, little is publicly known about "The Labyrinth" (a working title that will probably change), although Gordon believes it's based on a real story that took place during the war in Beirut in the 1980s. A partial cast list includes:

Director/Writer: Lorne Thyssen
Producer: Elie Mouawad
Charles Lush: Charles Dance
Leila: Nabila Khashoggi
Raymond Khattar: himself
Walid Jumblatt: Raymond Houssni

It's easy to understand why Gordon would be so excited about his part in the film, yet he obviously keeps both feet planted firmly on the ground. He's enjoying life. And just in case all this 'biz' business falls through, he's just passed his Grade 5 Piano and Theory exams.

"I don't know about a career in films," Gordon writes. "I would really love to but I also don't want to be an unemployed actor living in London. I have just applied to join Equity and hope to get an agent, but I'm also keeping up my studies so I have plenty of options."

Still, it could be that Gordon McAllister's star is on the rise.

March 2000

Gordon has four plays coming up. He describes them here for us:

‘The Rose and Crown’ – for the local theatre club, they do three one act plays and the best goes onto the Rosebowl drama festival in May. It's not a good play but fun to be in all the same.

‘Memory’ – an improvisation - proving very hard!

‘After Liverpool’ – for my drama exam in July, progressive theatre which is so cool.

‘After Juliet’ – my school's entry for the Rosebowl, we have very few boys left now which is a shame (but guarantees a good part!).

All this on top of his coursework! Stay tuned to find out when Gordon sleeps and eats....You go, kiddo!