SPOTLIGHT: Mr Elliott Ross

Young Brit Elliott Ross, has made the leap to LA and recently hit screens in his role as Prince Cederic in the highly anticipated (and truly unique) Disney+ series The Quest. Action-packed and exhilarating, the show is being billed as a new experience and one that combines state of the art technology with wonderful storytelling in the fantasy world of Everealm. If that was not enough, Elliott also stars in Apple TV+’s upcoming mini-series Masters of the Air, Steven Spielberg’s sequel to HBO’s award-winning Band of Brothers.

When he isn’t writing, Elliott works independently as a personal trainer for private clients, which also serves him well when prepping for roles, strength and endurance being important to the physicality of his characters. This comes after years of working at some of the best theatres in the UK like The RSC, Shakespeare’s Globe and on London’s West End.

How would you describe The Quest?

In a nutshell its an epic fantasy series produced by the people that produced shows like Lord of The Rings, Amazing Race and Queer Eye so its a real meeting of minds from three different sectors of the entertainment industry to create a hybrid show in which people get dropped into an immersive fantasy world and they have to help the characters like mine complete our quests.

It’s really endearing, moving and funny and visually spectacular. It’s visually amazing and very cinematic. To me it feels really unique and experimental. For me its been really good to be in the first series, especially because this doesn’t feel like its been done before.

Tell us about your role as Prince Cedric

I love Cedric and its an awesome character to play. The most interesting about him to me was the start and end points. At the start he is a combative, grieving boy that struggles to stay out of trouble and throughout a series of humbling failures he learns how to accept others, is open to new ideas and ultimately becomes a better man. For me it was a massive journey, full of energy.

As an actor, are there any pros or cons to having a series being available for binge watching?

I think that there are real positives and negative’s to it. I know that for me, in the past I have consumed shows and that we have really gone from watching to consuming. When you binge-watch it is the conversation for that week which can be quite nice. I think a healthy amount of anticipation can be good. The last show that I had to wait a week for was Severance and it was OK because I had an awareness of what Sunday night was. Because there is so much good quality content now there are more jobs and an abundance of choice can only be a good thing for audiences too. Now, more people are seeing themselves represented and other people are becoming more aware of those stories.

Masters of the Air has been so eagerly awaited. What can audiences expect when it arrives?

Well I think people can expect something in the same vein of Band of Brothers as it’s Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks’ next instalment of that story. It is a very big production, loads of extras, big cast and incredibly lifelike sets. The show is really about the relationships and the camaraderie between the characters which is really at the heart of the show. It’s going to be incredible and it is definitely worth the wait.

Was there any apprehension in signing on for such a big project?

No, I was quite honoured really. Band of Brothers was such an amazing piece of work and one of the things that is so cool about it is that the cast is so big, that there is a host of A-list actors appearing for a couple of lines. So many of them were at the beginning of their career. When I joined the cast of Masters of the Air I felt like I was in really good company and it was a privilege to be part of that. I want people to watch it in ten years time and feel the same about the start of my career.

What drew you to being an actor?

I don’t think that it ever really felt like a choice. It was what I did at school and it was my identity at that time. It was also the only thing that I was interested in applying myself to so when I left school it was all that I wanted to do. As a teenager I loved films, but I found theatre really inspirational. I loved going to the National Theatre and that was where my dreams were.

How do you balance work and your personal life, particularly with being a personal trainer?

I don’t think its too difficult, although it can be exhausting. The personal trainer work is great because its my own business. All of my clients know that I am an actor, and are happy to work around my schedule. It was wonderful to be able to have another job that was within my control. So when things have been really busy with The Quest I saw many of my clients first thing in the morning and conversely when I was filming I had to take a bit of a break. Generally its pretty fluid and it seems to work pretty well.

What are you working on now and next?

At the moment I’m auditioning a lot and I’m actually writing as well. I’m really passionate about it. It’s a comedy about modern masculinity, set in a British football pub where patriarchal men know how to talk about their feelings. It’s a buddy comedy that deals with real masculine issues. Hopefully people will find it intelligent and thoughtful, and I’d love to make it mainstream for young adult men.

Quick fire questions

Ideal travel destination - Somewhere with an amazing beach

Best store in the world - Vitamin shoppe in LA

Gadget of choice - Laptop

Go to pair of shoes - My black Adidas Gazelle sneakers

Brand/ designer of choice - Vintage Adidas

Favourite fragrance - Chanel Bleu

Essential grooming product - Curl cream for my hair

Recommended app - Viveno (scan the front of a wine bottle to learn more about it)

Icon - Joaquin Phoenix

The Quest is currently streaming on Disney+.

Follow Elliott Ross on Instagram.

Tajinder HayerMay 31, 2022spotlight, interview, long reads