Brighton's Aston Newman Hannington on Meryl Streep and Brighton

Aston Newman Hannington sat down with The Argus while he was back in his hometown touring with The Cher Show.

The 28-year-old spoke about the importance of family, his career so far and aspirations for the future.

Hannington, who has performed in West End shows including West Side Story, Bat Out Of Hell and, most recently, The Cher Show, was “born and bred” in Brighton and watched many productions at the Theatre Royal growing up.

“It is special to be back in Brighton,” he said.

“The reason it’s so special is because my first show my nana managed to come to, but since then she just hasn’t been able to get to London so this will be the first time she’s seen me perform in seven years.

“My family are forever supportive, and I always get the 'you were the best one on the stage'.

“When I saw it was coming to Brighton, I thought I’m definitely doing it.

“Also just being in the theatre I grew up watching shows in. I remember watching shows when I was in college and never imagined I’d be doing a show here.

“It’s a real full circle moment.”

Aston Newman Hannington at the Theatre Royal Brighton (Image: The Argus)

Hannington started acting at St Aubyns School and said performing was a way for him to express himself.

He was taken under the wing of his drama teacher at the primary school in Rottingdean, who came to watch him perform in The Cher Show.

He then went on to secondary school at St Bedes before attending Laine Theatre Arts in London.

“I started acting in Year 4 and it was sort of an outlet because I was a naughty child,” he said.

“And I kept going. I got drama scholarships at school and then I auditioned for the college I went to in London, Laines, which is more of a musical theatre school.

“I’d never danced before but then it all rolled from there.

“I left Laines halfway through my third year because I graduated into a West End job, the Sinatra Show.

“That was my first show, that was at the London Palladium, and then I did West Side Story and then I went into the Mary Poppins movie which was amazing.”

Aston's latest role was performing in the Cher Show (Image: The Argus)

The actor said his career highlights include featuring in Mary Poppins Returns and also Bat Out Of Hell.

He also described an encounter he had with Academy Award winner Meryl Streep.

“Theatrewise the Cher Show is up there but friendshipwise I made amazing friends on Bat Out of Hell. That was an incredible two years of my life,” he said.

“I think careerwise it would be the Mary Poppins movie because I met the most incredible actors that you never imagined you’d meet.

“I had a funny incident on Mary Poppins with Meryl Streep.

“She came and met us all and I said 'oooh Meryl I’m such a fan would you mind saying that’s all to us?'.

“We were all Devil Wears Prada fans in the room.

“She walked away and didn’t even look at me and then she turned around and said “that’s all” and everyone dropped to the floor.

“That was an incredible moment.”

In the future, Hannington would love to do more television acting and revealed which show he dreams of working on.

“My dream is to be in EastEnders,” he said.

“I’ve watched it since I was a child and to be in that would be incredible.

“I would like to do more TV acting and film but wherever the job takes me, I enjoy all of it.”