JOEL Davies from Lowton met his hero Pete Postlethwaite when he was nine – and now he is following in his footsteps.

The 17-year-old, of Gleneagles Close, was invited to meet the late Hollywood actor from Warrington at the Royal Exchange theatre and then met him again at the Liverpool Everyman a couple of years later.

It was Pete’s encouragement and advice which inspired Joel to take acting seriously, and he has since gone on to appear on the likes of Coronation Street and Cracker.

“I remember going in there and being incredibly nervous,” said Joel.

“He had a pint of Guinness in front of him and we talked about the play and his children.

“I met him after the show as well and I told him what I thought. Looking back I was quite critical!”

Pete, who died five years ago, worked with Bryan Singer on The Usual Suspects, Jim Sheridan on In the Name of the Father and Steven Spielberg in Jurassic Park: The Lost World, but he never forgot his Warrington roots.

Joel added: “He was incredibly supportive. He talked me through his life and how he got to where he was.

“He gave me a lot of good advice. The main message was 'do what you love'. Whether that makes you rich or famous is not really the point.

"Do exactly what you want to do and that’s where you’ll do well.

“I certainly did that. My favourite thing has been Radio 4 afternoon plays. They’re not the most well-known things in the world, but I loved doing them.”

Joel had wanted to be an actor since first appearing in Croft Primary School’s nativity play, aged six, but he said meeting Pete was a turning point.

“It inspired me to take that next step," he said.

“After that I auditioned for Abacus Agency, which looked after Keira Knightley and people out of Harry Potter at the time.”

Joel was accepted into the National Youth Theatre when he was 14 and learnt from the best, with master classes from the likes of multi-award-winning actress Helen Mirren.

So it was not long before casting bosses started taking notice of him.

Joel said: “One of the things I loved doing was Coronation Street. It was small part in a huge euthanasia story with Julie Hesmondhalgh’s character, Hayley.

“It was fantastic to work with all the cast and see it first-hand.

"Another highlight was Cold Blood with Matthew Kelly.

“I worked with Jemma Redgrave and she really encouraged me to keep going.”