Growing Up on Stage with Raphael Higgins-Humes
Raphael Higgins-Humes has been a popular face on the West End for the good part of ten years. Having started out in globally recognised shows including The Lion King, Raphael went on to become a semi-finalist in The Voice UK. Pursuing his passion for performing alongside finishing his studies at school is a great achievement and now Raphael is stepping onto screen playing a lead role in Reform The Funk’s latest production, Kojja. We had the chance to ask Raphael about his unique journey of being a child actor and how staying true to his passion has kept him motivated along the way.
Raphael was only eight years old when he started performing in the West End production of The Lion King. Playing the role of young Simba, this led Raphael to travel around the UK and Switzerland touring. He tells us how “At the time I didn’t think about how big it was, I was just having so much fun pursuing my passion”. From there Rapheal went on to be in multiple theater shows including Small Islands (a play telling the interwoven history of Jamaica and Britain), Motown the Musical playing young Michael Jackson, as well as making it to the semi-final of The Voice Kids on TV. “I feel like having all that experience when I was younger helped me build up my confidence”. Reflecting on this and asking if he feels a sense of achievement, Raphael explains how “My family have always been supportive, they’re really proud of me and sometimes they have to remind me how much of an accomplishment some of the things I’ve done really are.
““I kept my mind occupied, kept auditioning and more stuff came up - it’s just about keeping consistent and not giving up””
This was particularly important during the last few years when Raphael took a bit of a break from the stage and focused on studying in school and living out his youth. “I had been acting for a long time and being away from my family, missing weddings and friend’s Birthday parties, so I didn’t mind settling down a bit”. The intensity of working on live shows is something that he explains as “one of the reasons I enjoy doing films - it’s different kind of hours, it’s not a set contract for a long period of time. It's given me a lot of flexibility as a young adult so I’m able to do other stuff, like finishing sixth form.”
Despite having a huge amount of main roles under his belt, Raphael tells us how age often has an impact on opportunities. “When I was younger, up until the age of 11 or 12, my voice hadn’t broken and I was still able to sing high. But I’d say it’s harder to get roles when you’re 14 or 15”. When explaining this further, Raphael tells us how this is mostly influenced by contracts, “I think this is about licensing because if you’re an adult you can be acting for longer amounts of time with more demanding hours.” Whereas under 16 year olds have stricter restrictions on performance and employment time. Often, adults are cast for teenage characters for this reason. “I feel like many kids might not understand that so they’ll find it quite hard when they’re not getting as many roles”.
This leads us to discuss rejection and how Raphael has learnt to take it in his stride “Experience has helped me with that. Being in so many shows as a child actor, I thought I could go for any role and get it. But after a while, seeing this not happen was upsetting at first because I wanted to keep on acting. I had to look at the bright side - that I had time to take a break. I kept my mind occupied, kept auditioning and more stuff came up” sharing how “it’s just about keeping consistent and not giving up”. With Kojja being his second on-screen credit, he tells us how the past few years has “helped me to understand other roles which is why I’m capable of playing younger characters because I can use my experience to understand that character’s emotions”.
““ I’m capable of playing younger characters because I can use my experience to understand that character’s emotions””
The role Raphael plays in Kojja is Ake, which he tells us is “a boy who is very innocent and has a lot to learn about growing up as a young black person and the challenges that they face”. With a major part of the story being Ake’s relationships to his uncle Chisom, Raphael shares how he related to the narrative of the familial dynamic, “Even tho I’m not Ugandan, I resonated with the innocence that Ake has and how his Uncle is trying to coach him and give him good advice.” He tells us how “When I was younger, I wanted to do things my own way and my parents and siblings would pull me up on that. I didn’t understand why until I was older and realised they just wanted what was best for me.” This adolescent experience is one that Raphael feels most people will be able to relate to, resonating with the push/pull between self-agency and familial protection.
““ I resonated with the innocence that Ake has and how his Uncle is trying to coach him and give him good advice. When I was younger, I wanted to do things my own way and my parents and siblings would pull me up on that” ”
On set, the sense of family and community is something that Raphael really felt; “Especially with me and Enoch who plays Uncle Chisom and our relationship off set, the conversations we’d have when the camera was off. There was this sense of connection and that really showed in the film.” When discussing developing the character of Ake, Raphael tells us about the rehearsal process and how “That's where I first learnt that it wasn’t strictly about the words on paper but the emotions we were bringing to it and that strong connection.” Finding his way to embodying the character was something he credits the cast, crew and the conversations he was surrounded by during the filming, as well as the relationship he built with director Derrick Kakembo. Raphael tells us how “I’ve definitely grown through this project and Kakembo’s style of directing because he’d have conversations with me before we’d start a scene, he’d give me one focus, one person in mind for the scene and having that really helped me bring the character to life. I feel that’s something I can develop as an actor and do for myself.”
Having initially met Kakembo through playing football, Raphael tells us how “I knew him as a very vocal, energetic person, a real team player and this was one of the characteristic I saw him keep as a director”. Raphael was grateful for the hands on, intimate approach Kakembo took to communicating, explaining how “He focused on me bringing the emotion to my character by having close one to one conversations that helped me to hone in and focus on each scene.” This is something Rapheal describes as being quite similar to the on-screen relationship between Ake and Chisom, explaining how “Kakembo had that Uncle role already from football and I saw him keep that throughout the film”, helping build trust and tenderness to Raphael’s character.
We end our conversation by asking Raphael what his dream acting job would be. He grins and says “a superhero film, something by Marvel”, reflecting Raphael hopes to step off stage and onto the big screen. As we watch this exciting chapter unfold, it’s clear that whatever role Raphael takes on, he will do it with the same sense of passion he started with all those years ago.
Interview & Words: Bethany Burgoyne / Photographed by Kim Lang
