Lancaster actor who stars in latest George Clooney film The Boys in the Boat makes surprise visit to his old school

Joel attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School from 2002 to 2008 and was Head Boy in his final year.

He left to go to the University of Oxford to study history of art and has been acting and performing professionally since he left university.

His most recent film, The Boys in the Boat, is currently in cinemas. Joel plays a significant role as one of the eight-man crew who were part of the Washington University team who went on to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The film was directed by George Clooney, and Joel recently shared a photo on his X - formerly Twitter - page of himself with the cast and Clooney at a film premiere in Los Angeles.

Joel's previous work includes Morecambe-based ITV drama The Bay, as well as films such as Les Miserables and Tolkien, and TV shows including Doctors, Eastenders and Casualty.

In 1999, Joel featured in the Lancaster Guardian after being picked to appear in Jimmy McGovern's BBC TV drama The Lakes. At the time, Joel was a student at Lancaster's Stagecoach Theatre Arts School.

Joel told LRGS pupils that working on The Boys in the Boat was "the most exciting thing I've ever done in my whole life".

He said that working with director George Clooney was "really great!"

"He is awesome, funny and talented," he said. "I was constantly learning from him and working together on a daily basis was amazing, we became friends."

Joel did not row when he was at LRGS, although he did join the University of Oxford rowing team in his first year, an experience which came in handy for the film.

Before filming began, Joel and the rest of the actors had to train for two months and learn to row like an Olympic team.

He said by the time filming had started, the cast felt like brothers. Despite the film being set in the USA, it was all filmed in England, at Henley, Eton Dorney and the Queen Mother Reservoir.

An LRGS spokesperson said: "It was an absolute honour to have Joel Phillimore, Old Lancastrian and now one of the leading actors in the latest George Clooney film, back into school.

"It was fascinating to hear his story of how he first got into acting when he was just six years old.

"Our students were brilliant at asking Joel questions. He explained how the audition process works, how resilient you need to be and that it is always good to have skills in other areas to fall back on and to support you as you look for work.

"Joel also works in marketing and development for Alive and Kicking. Joel said the role he is most proud of is playing a murderer in Series Three of The Bay. His dream role would be to play Hamlet!"

LRGS Head of Art Mr Bagnold, who taught Joel when he was at LRGS, presented Joel with an honorary Expressive Arts tie.

"Joel has promised to come back and see us soon," the spokesperson added. "We hope he returns with a BAFTA! Thank you so much for visiting, signing autographs and taking selfies!"

Joel also wrote an article for LRGS about his experience of filming The Boys in the Boat, which can be read on their website at https://www.lrgs.org.uk/the-boys-in-the-boat?action=saved