‘I can’t say I had any premonition of what life was going to be like’ says actor George as he prepares for next big role

A Lincolnshire actor who made his television debut five years ago has reflected on life since making it on the screen - and reveals his next big role. When George Robinson made his TV debut on the hit Netflix series Sex Education in January 2020 he was ready for ‘life to get strange’. But it changed in a way he couldn’t have imagined when covid hit, leading to a national lockdown.

Although his followers on social media skyrocketed, being confined to his Stamford home meant the reality of becoming a familiar face with millions of people didn’t quite hit. “Overnight everything changed. Thankfully I was at home with my parents so any idea of me getting above my station wasn’t possible, which is good because I wouldn’t want to get any glorious ideas,” he joked.



His character Isaac was introduced in the second series of the show, which followed the lives of school pupils as they grow up and was an immediate hit from its 2019 release. The witty character became embroiled in big parts of the plot making George a regular feature on the programme. The former Stamford School pupil has wanted to be an actor since he was a child, but until Sex Education the idea always felt far off.

The 27-year-old said: “The idea of getting paid for it didn’t happen until I got my first pay cheque. “I had seen it like a hobby, and growing up in Deeping and Stamford it felt far away from being viable.” George - who left his philosophy degree to pursue acting - likens film sets to being part of the circus, and over the years has become more familiar with the dynamics.

He describes becoming more of an advocate for himself and ensuring the characters he plays are accurate in their portrayal of disabilities. George is in a wheelchair after suffering a serious spinal injury in 2015 while playing rugby on a school trip in South Africa. He spent 10 months in hospital and was left paralysed below his shoulders, but with the support of friends and fundraisers locally working under the banner #TeamGeorge, equipment, treatment and resources were provided.

He has been using the platform he gained through Sex Education, as well as through #TeamGeorge, to spread awareness, often in a light-hearted way. But he is keen to get the balance right and describes his relationship with advocacy as ‘strange’ as he feels often there are other people better placed to inspire. “I can only speak from my own experiences,” he said.

“A certain form of advocacy comes with the platform and I’m trying to stay true to that. “It’s really important but it’s about doing what feels true to me.” He has been working with the Back Up Trust, a charity which supports people affected by spinal cord injury, and Horatio’s Garden, which provides therapeutic gardens at NHS spinal cord centres, George hit the screens again this year in the film My Fault: London, which was released on Amazon in February and is based on the book Culpa mia.

He makes a brief cameo as JP, one of the gang of friends who hang out at car meets, and described the experience as “fun”. The Stamford actor has also been filming in Cardiff for a spin-off of Doctor Who, which is part of a co-production between the BBC and Disney. Unfortunately he’s under instruction to remain tight-lipped about any further details.

Reflecting on the past five years, George said: “Everything felt so new and unknown. “I can’t say I had any premonition of what life was going to be like. “I can’t predict what the next five years looks like - I just know what I’m doing in the next week or so.

” Since hitting the screen George has been recognised more often but he says it’s ‘nothing major’ and the ‘most minimal version’ of fame. Despite this, life away from work has remained very much the same for George and includes visits to Burghley Park and dining out at his favourite restaurants, such as Sushi and Salad and Pizza da Mario in Stamford. With acting comes a lot of down time between projects - which was accentuated in recent years with the pandemic and American writer’s strikes.

George has been putting the time to good use by writing - something he’s been interested in since a child. He said: “I have lots of creative things going on in my head and I have got quite a specific set of experiences. “I understand the psychology behind spinal injury and disabilities so I can add a different perspective.

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