A talented local boy stars in the romance adventure series Billy the Kid.

Jonah Collier, 13, from Radlett plays the child version of American outlaw William H. Bonney in the new Billy the Kid series from Michael Hirstthat - the creator of Vikings and The Tudors - that will air in the States on Epix on April 24.

While actor Tom Blyth plays Billy as an adult, Jonah’s role follows Billy from his early Irish roots before he becomes a gunslinger.

Jonah has been acting professionally for three years now, following the footsteps of his mother Anna-Marie Wayne who is also an actor and other family members who have worked in the entertainment industry.

 

Jonah Collier in the new Billy the KId tv series

Jonah Collier in the new Billy the KId tv series

 

He said “It’s always been something that I had been wanting to do professionally. I was asking for some time to get an agent and my parents finally agreed a few years ago.”

His current take on Billy is not the first time he has been in the spotlight, as he also starred in the Dreamworks production ‘Prince of Egypt’ at the Dominion theatre in the West End before the pandemic, and also starred in the Channel 4 drama Deceit, which tells the story of Rachel Nickell’s murder.

However this role took him even more out of his comfort zone, as he flew over to Calgary in Canada to film the Wild West show.

“It was right in the middle of the pandemic so that made it quite strange because not many people were travelling and we had to quarantine for 2 weeks in two different hotels when we arrived in Canada,” he said.

He continued: “After that, though, it was such an exciting experience for the eight weeks that I was over there and I also got to visit some amazing new places like Banff and Drum Heller.”

In between takes, he enjoyed exploring he mountains and hunting for snakes.

Recalling memorable moments on set, he said: “One of my favourite days on set was when I had to fall off a wagon into a river and then pretend to nearly drown.

“We filmed in the real river and I just loved getting to shoot a stunt like that. They had this giant hot tub next to the river for us to get into between takes to warm up though, as it was freezing in the river.”

Pesky bugs during the night did make filming emotional scenes difficult, with the child-actor noting that they were “dive-bombing” down their tops – but Jonah was even more shocked to see actress Elleen O’Higgens, who played his mum, put on her coat and find a mouse inside.

His mother Mrs Wayne said:” It’s been just incredible getting to see Jonah blossom as an actor. When we started this journey with him we never envisioned him breaking through into the types of amazing jobs that he has so quickly. We are so very proud of him and his hard work.”