Gabe Nagy left Hurtwood in June 2025 with a place to study Acting at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He moved his entire life out to New York but, after only a few weeks, Gabe had to rush back to film the new 6-part British comedy series ‘The Reluctant Vampire’ for BBC 1 scheduled for release in 2026. Gabe plays ‘Vernon’, the brother of the main character Val (played by BAFTA winner Lenny Rush) alongside a mixture of well-known actors and comedians such as Tom Davis, Sian Clifford, Bill Bailey and Ross Noble. Based on the books by Eric Morecambe, written by Rob and Neil Gibbons (Alan Partridge) the sitcom is about a young vampire who finds out he is not a vampire at all, and who has to live a double life. John Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy stated, “We’re confident this will become one of the standout comedies of the year”.
Gabe was spotted by talent agents in the audience of Hurtwood’s Acting Company’s production of ‘Country Music’ by Simon Stephens. Run for 15 years by Ezra, Acting Company offers students intense training over the course of a year and always tackles challenging material. In the past Acting Company have performed Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’, Sarah Kane’s ‘4.48 Psychosis’ and Jean Genet’s ‘The Balcony’ to name but a few. In ‘Country Music’ Gabe had to play the same character at three different ages which gave him the chance to shine and the casting agents were instantly keen to represent him. Ezra (who trained at Le Coq Theatre School in Paris) was impressed by Gabe from the start, saying “Gabe had fabulous energy and enthusiasm. He was very talented, but it was his interest and love for theatre which struck me the most. He was eager to learn and ambitious. I could see that for Gabe it was not about being famous, it was about his love for the work”.
When I caught up with Gabe, he could not have been more positive about his time here: “Being taught by Ezra at Hurtwood was life changing for me. I had so many chances to perform at the school, but it was Acting Company which was transformational. Ezra was a real guru for me – genuinely a master of acting. I have so much respect for him and the way he pushed my ideas - I learnt so much from him. I am so grateful to Hurtwood.”
Currently filming six episodes in seven weeks, Gabe was having a wonderful time on set. He was convinced that everything he learnt at Hurtwood has stood him in good stead for this intense experience. ‘The Reluctant Vampire’ is in fact Gabe’s second screen role as he was also cast in ‘Extra Geography’ for Film 4Productions which he was filming whilst juggling his A Levels at the end of his second year at Hurtwood.
