It was serendipitous that Jacob Dudman should play his first leading role in a major film in the same place he grew up. While The Choral – which sees Dudman take the lead as Clyde opposite Ralph Fiennes – is set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden, Dudman is Ripon born-and-bred. “It was beautiful to make something that was so close to where I grew up, geographically but also culturally, and to be among my fellow Yorkshiremen,” he says, ironically dialing in from Vancouver, approximately 4,600 miles from his hometown. 

He doesn’t make a secret of how much this particular part of England’s green and pleasant land impacted him – both as a child growing up and now as a 28-year-old actor whose career has taken him to Rome, Budapest, Manchester and now Canada. “I do attribute the creative side of myself to an upbringing amongst the Dales. Going for long walks and picking up sticks I’d imagine as lightsabers, and spending a lot of time, in all honestly, bored but with a very active mind. 

“I loved, especially as a kid, fantasy worlds, and films or books that took you into what looked like quite a normal, often natural setting, but had a mythos behind it – and Yorkshire is full of mythology.”

He is, of course, not the first creative to be entranced by Yorkshire; you only need to look to artist JMW Turner, the Brontë Sisters and James Herriot of All Creatures Great and Small to measure just how much this historic county has impacted the arts. The Yorkshire setting of The Choral is not just a homecoming for Dudman, but also for its writer, Alan Bennett, who frequently uses the Dales as a backdrop for his award-winning projects. “Bennett’s unique ability to flip between those darker moments and the light is so deeply human,” says Dudman. “I think his work will be studied for hundreds of years to come.”

Landing in cinemas on 7 November 2025, having premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, The Choral transports audiences to the early days of the First World War and follows a village choral society whose male members have left for battle, leaving Dr Guthrie (Fiennes) behind to recruit a new group of teenage singers. As the choir continues under his leadership, the newcomers are drawn into a world where music unites despite the horrors of war outside the village hall walls.

Dudman’s character, Clyde, enters the story after returning from battle immeasurably changed both mentally and physically, having lost an arm to the conflict. “He’s always been an outgoing guy and was fairly popular in the small town of Ramsden but came back injured to a life he thought was secure to realise, not only had he had to go through all the horrendous things he saw in France, but also return to a world that is changing and a personal life that is crumbling before his eyes,” says Dudman. 

“It was a great honour to play a role where I got to research the difficulties not only of people who had to be at war, but then come home to a world they didn’t recognise; it was something I hadn’t learned about at school. 

“Clyde, as so many of us do, finds solace in expressing himself through art. There’s a great scene where Clyde says, ‘Life’s s***’, and Guthrie says, ‘So, sing’. I think that sums up the film and sums up Clyde; he finds healing through expression.”

Ralph Fiennes as Dr Guthrie in The Choral

Dudman as Clyde with Emily Fairn as Bella in The Choral

As one of two leading men in The Choral, Dudman had many scenes with BAFTA- and Tony-winning actor, Fiennes. They say don’t meet your heroes but Dudman professes Fiennes to be just as sincere and respectful as one would expect him to be. “If having scenes with Fiennes doesn’t improve you as an actor, I don’t know what will. There’s a scene where I have a monologue about the horrors of war and he just gave a very quiet and respectful ‘well done’ to me afterwards. Little moments like that, as a young actor, mean a lot coming from someone who is so experienced.” 

While The Choral is Dudman’s first leading role, it is certainly not his first time working on a big project. You’ll likely remember him from Harlan Coben’s The Stranger, historical drama Medici and Netflix’s The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die. When we speak, he’s in Vancouver filming the reboot of Scrubs – “the show is doing a really nice job of honouring what’s come before and also taking it in a new direction” – and is preparing to fly to Scotland for the next series of Outlander. 

This starry CV has garnered Dudman 338,000 followers on Instagram, but he says does his utmost to resist outside noise. “I try to keep away from the world’s opinions on things. I find The Choral very moving and part of that is the culmination of voices singing one song. It’s just a joy to share something that a lot of love has gone into and something I think that sends a good message about coming together as a community in difficult times, which I’m sure a lot of people will feel like we’re living through at the moment.” 

Having missed the premiere in Toronto, Dudman was on home soil for the London debut at the BFI British Film Festival last month. “I studied film in London so I would try and blag tickets to the BFI, often failing, and I remember standing on the balcony overlooking the red carpet and saying to my friend, ‘One day I’m going to be promoting a film there.’ Getting to go there with The Choral was a really full circle moment for me. What a privilege.” 

This said, Dudman wasn’t always convinced he would lead a life in front of a camera. Growing up with parents who were teachers – “I spent the majority of my childhood in school; my dad was my headteacher so I would be there from breakfast through to after school clubs everyday” – he was often immersed in extra curricular activities. “Sport was really my thing,” he adds. “I realise now there is an entertainment element of football where I would be imagining a crowd almost, as if I was trying to entertain the masses. It was always my sisters that would go to drama clubs. 

Images: David Reiss. Styling: Charlie Schneider-Jacobson Grooming: Toni Howard

“I think especially as a young man from a small town in the North, you can be quite concerned about what a man is supposed to look like – or what is masculine, what will help you fit in or survive this strange social maze that we’re all trapped in. The reality I’m finding, more and more, is that you’ve just got to be yourself. 

“There is no answer or box to try and fit yourself in. I’m embracing a slightly more feminine side to me that I thought I wasn’t allowed to inhabit. That’s bringing great joy to my life.”

The Choral is in UK cinemas from 7 November 2025.

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