How Masters Of The Universe star Sam C Wilson went from Big Issue to Castle Grayskull 

In the big new action film Masters of the Universe Sam C Wilson plays Trap Jaw – one of dastardly Skeletor’s key allies. It’s just one of the big roles he is taking on this year. 

He’s also in big movie franchise TV spin-off Blade Runner 2099 with Michelle Yeoh, and big BBC drama California Avenue with Erin Doherty, Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter.  

But what was his big break? We think it was working for Big Issue. Here’s what he had to say about his journey from Big Issue to big screen…

I was really lost. I had acted in the theatre society when I was at Leeds University, did a play at Edinburgh for 31 performances to about three people a night, which all doubled down on my idea that I should probably be an actor.  

But where do you begin? Getting into drama school felt, in my mind, as likely as being struck by lightning and as easy as crossing the motorway blindfolded.  

I was telling this to a customer I was serving at The Conway pub in Cardiff. Her name was Beth Thomas. And she worked at Big Issue. She told me they had a Jobs Growth Wales scheme and there was work going in their Cardiff office trying to find pitches for vendors at businesses. 

My idea was maybe I could become a journalist for Big Issue if acting didn’t work out. That’s what I was telling everyone. Honestly, I am surprised I lasted there as long as I did, because I was not good at the job they employed me to do. I was not hitting any numbers. What I really loved was getting to know all the Cardiff vendors.  

I remember Stu, tall Mark, James. They were all lovely. I was pretty green, I’d never really developed a bond with anyone who was homeless. I learned so much. 

And I also helped organise a fundraiser called the Dylathon in Swansea – where we read Dylan Thomas for 36 hours straight. I read with a vendor on stage in the middle of the night – to me it felt like I was speaking at the Oscars. It felt huge.  

Read more:

• Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke: ‘Surviving brain injuries gave me a fire to keep going’
• Sabrina Cohen-Hatton on her journey from homelessness to fire chief – via The Big Issue
• The 100 bookshop tour: Trains, festivals and Dylan Thomas

While I was there, I was also applying to drama schools. I owe Big Issue big time – I can admit it now because I won’t get in any trouble, but I was spending a lot of time on the computer working on drama school applications and was always printing out copies of my CV and headshots on the office printer.  

But something clicked. I wasn’t shit any more. My monologues were better. And I got an audition. Bless Beth and Mike, they gave me a day off for it. I think they were quietly aware they were doing me a kindness keeping me on at all.   

Then I got the phone call. I was always locking myself in the downstairs toilet there – a terrible employee – to take calls. I’d got into drama school! I couldn’t hide it, and they were so happy for me. They even organised some leaving drinks.   

So I went to the Drama Centre just round the corner from here [in King’s Cross], and did an intensive course for 12 months. It changed my life.  

A few years later, I did a one-man show and saw Tom Watts – who I worked with at Big Issue [he’s still there] – on the front row. It was so lovely to see him.  

Big Issue has been so instrumental. They provided a kind of ecosystem for me to feel stable and calm enough to go after an acting career. They were filling me with the good stuff before sending me on my way.  

And now I’m in the new He-Man film Masters of the Universe. It’s still quite surreal. There is an action figure of me. I was scanned in the 3D scanner – with a lot of prosthetics on, but it’s still me. Crazy.  

It has been quite a journey. I had my head and body scanned by [legendary prosthetics and make-up effects designer] Barrie Gower, who did Stranger Things and the White Walkers in Game of Thrones. It’s my body apart from Trap Jaw’s retractable implements; the robot legs, face and jaw are all costume.  

We wanted to make Trap Jaw strong, so I was carb and protein loading and lifting heavy weights to get big naturally. Then the stunt team trained me in fight choreography. 

And finally, you go in at 3am for six hours of prosthetics, you’re covered in glue and paint, and you’re on set with Idris Elba. And you’re on wires, grappling, getting very physical with key members of the cast (I think I’m allowed to say that).  

I feel like I’ve been building up to it. I did Stella and met Ruth Jones, who is a big hero in Wales. Then I filmed Hanna with Esmé Creed-Miles, and Samantha Morton [her mum] was there. I’ve become friends with actors I’ve seen on telly.  

Working with Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer on Blade Runner 2099 felt like an out-of-body experience. I can’t say much, but it’s set 50 years after the second film, so it’s a different socio-economic landscape but the same universe and rules.  

And I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about California Avenue at all. But Helena Bonham Carter is the loveliest woman and a really generous actor.  

And meeting Idris Elba on Masters of the Universe? I mean, he’s a mega star. He’s Stringer Bell in The Wire. But he is also really lovely. So I feel very lucky. 

Lots of actors go their whole career without doing a big film. Six years ago, I felt lucky doing theatre above a pub. Ten-and-a-half years ago, I felt lucky to be at drama school. 

And before that I felt very lucky to be given the day off by Big Issue to audition for drama school.  

Masters of the Universe is out now in cinemas  

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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