Jude Powell tells us about his experience training as an actor and landing a TV role on The Chelsea Detective (BSL)

My name is Jude Powell, I’m a deaf 22-year-old English actor and filmmaker. I’m a British Sign Language user although I often use Sign-Supported English (SSE) as well.

I wear a hearing aid in my right ear. I used to wear a cochlear implant in my left ear but I stopped when I was five years old as it didn’t help me. I was born in Lewisham, London, and although I’m London-born, I have been based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, for many years, where I currently live.

At birth, I was born hearing, but when I was 18 months old, I became seriously ill with meningitis. This disease had a huge impact on my life, and I nearly died. Thankfully, a nurse saved my life. Then both my ears became profoundly deaf.

When I transferred from a mainstream primary school to a secondary school for deaf students, my life changed. I quickly improved my communication skills by observing other deaf children using British Sign Language and developed a strong deaf identity.

During my childhood, I struggled with anxiety because I had limited sign language skills, couldn’t write English well as my second language, and found it difficult to communicate with hearing people in hearing environments.

However, my communication has improved significantly over time. Now, I use British Sign Language fluently, write English confidently — whether on paper or using my phone — and sometimes rely on lip reading.

Although I do not speak, I continued to develop my oral communication skills while in the mainstream world. I fully accept who I am and am very proud of my identity. I stand confidently between both the Deaf and hearing worlds.

My first time performing on stage was at my mainstream primary school, Highworth Combined School & Nursery, during the Year Six leavers’ play Porridge, with the whole school — children, teachers, and parents — in the audience.

I played a policeman, along with five other students. During the performance, I closely watched my two BSL interpreters and copied their signs to help me follow along. It was all for fun, enjoyment, and to gain a bit of experience.

I became properly interested in acting in 2016, when I was 12 years old and started attending Heathlands School for the Deaf in St Albans. There, I had the opportunity to perform on screen for the first time in a short film with Year 5 and 6 students, which was submitted to the Into Film Awards.

One year later, some fellow d/Deaf students and I had an incredible opportunity to attend the Into Film Awards event at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London. While there, I walked the red carpet and had the chance to meet renowned actors such as Daniel Craig, Eddie Redmayne, and many more.

Before I joined Deafinitely Youth Theatre, I wasn’t aware that deaf theatre existed in London. It was four years later, in 2019, when a friend encouraged me to attend the DYT Summer School, that I discovered it.

I have been involved with Deafinitely Youth Theatre from 2019 to 2024, during which time I achieved GCSE and A-Level qualifications, as well as Bronze, Silver, and Gold Art Awards.

When I was training with Deafinitely Youth Theatre, professional mentors supported young people and taught us what theatre is and how it works. This experience taught me a lot about expressing my emotions during performances, especially how to communicate emotions effectively through both sign language and movement.

After finishing with DYT due to my age and achieving all the Art Awards qualifications, I joined one of the five-day free courses at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, in collaboration with Deafinitely Theatre and Graeae Theatre Company.

I also attended a workshop with the National Youth Theatre for the first time, which focused on AI-related topics. Recently, I was accepted into the NYT after a successful audition, which means I will be doing the membership course later this year.

I have attended many auditions for television roles and I was fortunate to land the role of Jake Green in the episode “Myths & Legends,” as part of The Chelsea Detective series.

The Chelsea Detective is a British crime drama series available on U, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and soon to be released on Acorn TV.

Jake is a deaf and non-verbal character who uses British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate.

Jake works behind the bar in Chelsea and spends his spare time mudlarking along the Thames foreshore. This hobby connects him with one of his mudlarking friends and leads to the discovery of something unexpectedly valuable.

The casting director of this series found me and invited me to attend an audition in Soho, London — near Soho Square Gardens — after reviewing my self-tape, in mid-2024.

When I arrived at the venue before the audition began, I met a most wonderful BSL interpreter, Alim Jadavji, who would be with me during the audition.

During the audition, I met the director and producer, and I performed each scene from the script. The following week, they offered me the role.

When I was on set, it felt unbelievable and extraordinary. There were so many crew members, and it was jaw-dropping to see everything in action during my first TV debut.

The filming took place in Chelsea, Battersea, and Kensington in London. Normally, I visit London in my own time, so I had never experienced anything like this before — working in real locations in London as part of my job.

One of the main actresses is deaf, Sophie Stone – she plays forensic officer Ashley Wilton. She is a regular on the show and the first deaf actress to appear in it. Her presence on the show creates deaf awareness and promotes understanding of how to work with and support deaf actors.

Also, when I work, I have the support of a magnificent BSL interpreter and a BSL consultant. Most of the crew and actors regularly use gestures, and sometimes I’m able to lip-read a little and understand what’s being said.

One thing I found very challenging while filming on set was the timeline. When I received the script, I thought the scenes would be filmed in the same order as the story. But in reality, most of the scenes were shot out of order.

This meant I had to think carefully about what I needed to show in each scene — what happened before, what comes after, and how to perform it in a way that made sense for the character’s journey.

Since English is my second language, I also spent a lot of time reading and translating the script into British Sign Language (BSL) for my dialogue. It was a big task, but I really love doing this as part of my job.

Making my official television debut in this series was one of the most memorable moments of my career. I had the incredible opportunity to work with a remarkably warm and supportive cast and crew, which made the experience even more special.

In my acting career, I’d love to challenge myself with a variety of roles like those I have done in crime, drama, and comedy with British Sign Language. I still want to explore more genres as much as I can, and to connect deeply with audiences and tell stories that matter.

One thing on my bucket list is to be more involved in scenes — so far, my screen time has often been limited, and I haven’t had the chance to take on a main or lead role yet. It’s not a big issue for me at the moment, but possibly later, because I’m always excited to grow into that space and show what I can really do.

After I finished working on The Chelsea Detective, I landed a role in a Netflix TV series. I can’t share any details yet due to my NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) but it will mark my Netflix debut which is set to be released in 2026.

I’d love to continue developing my skills and I will also be training with Vamos Theatre, which specialises in full mask performance.

I want to continue acting in TV and film but I haven’t yet had the opportunity to work on a professional theatre stage. It’s a goal of mine to experience all three — TV, film, and stage — as a performer.

Images courtesy of Acorn TV / Expectation Limited.