Joseph McManners (born 3 December 1992, in Canterbury, Kent) is an English actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in Petham near Canterbury and recently left Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (also in Canterbury) for a boarding school after being awarded a drama and academic scholarship.
McManners decided to become a singer after he heard the song My Heart Will Go On whilst watching the film Titanic at the age of 8. He plays the violin and the piano and is learning to play the guitar.McManners auditioned for the lead role in the BBC's operatic version of "The Little Prince" directed by Francesca Zambello and was chosen from 25000 others to play the part.
During filming for "The Little Prince", he was spotted by executives from Sony BMG which led to a UK£2 million 4-album record deal.McManners went to Prague together with his producer Nick Patrick in 2005 to record the music for his first album In Dreams.
Most of the music was performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and Joseph's brother plays violin on "Where is Love The album was released on 5 December 2005.His debut album release reached number five in the classical charts within a few daysThe album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards and the release of "Bright Eyes" from the same album debuted at number one in Asian airplay.
In December 2006 it was reported that McManners had left Sony BMG over artistic differences. In the same year, Joseph was a guest singer at Liam Lawton's live concert held at the Dublin docklands, an event attended by almost 5,000 people.
The orchestral arrangements were done by composer and arranger Nick Ingham.Joseph's second album is currently being recorded and will be released some time next year.In 2004, McManners starred as Oliver Twist in a local production of the play at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre opposite Ron Moody who played Fagin in the 1968 film adaptation of the famous novel.
He reprised his role as Oliver Twist two years later in the BBC's "Celebrate 'Oliver!'" presented by Shane Ritchie on 26 December 2005, and he appeared in an episode of BBC's The Sound of Musicals on 4 February 2006 (filmed in 2005).
McManners made his feature film acting debut in Hot Fuzz. He played the part of Gabriel who is described as being an 'angelic schoolboy'. The back-story and sub-plot surrounding his character was cut from the final version and can be found in the bonus material of the DVD.
One reporter noted shortly after the film's release in early 2007 that because of Joseph's age, he was unable to legally view the film until his 15th birthday later that year.It was also reported that McManners had turned down an earlier offer in 2005 to star as the young Hannibal Lecter in the Hollywood film about the serial killer's childhood called Hannibal Rising due to school and other commitments.
In the summer of 2007 Joseph attended an audition for the role of Eustace Scrubb, a character in the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is scheduled for release in 2009.
However, the part went to British actor Will Poulter.
