A former Costessey High student plays one of the leads in a new six-part drama coming soon to BBC2.

Sam Claflin, who once dreamed of being a footballer for Norwich City, plays rebel with a cause Jack in White Heat, which charts the lives of seven friends from 1965 through to the present day.

Mr Claflin, who also starred alongside Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie, said he played Jack in the series until 1990 when 'the good actors, Juliet Stevenson, Michael Kitchen, Lindsay Duncan, then start being us'.

The drama starts in the 1960s, a time when people were more interested in politics, he told a national newspaper, adding: 'Back then, in our characters' decades, it was exciting, politics was everything.'

The Any Human Heart actor revealed to a national newspaper last year that, had he not broken his ankle as a teenager, his career may have gone in an entirely different direction.

He said that as a teenager it was '24/7 football' and he played the sport every day of the week.

He was a member of the School of Excellence for Norwich City FC but his sporting aspirations were shattered when he broke his ankle.

He had previously appeared in school plays and decided to instead focus on acting and joined the Norfolk Youth Music Theatre. He studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and has appeared in the TV programme Pillars Of The Earth, and he played footballer Duncan Edwards in United, the story of the 1958 air crash in Munich which killed eight Manchester United players died.

He has three brothers and his mother is a classroom assistant at his old high school, now known as Ormiston Victory Academy, and his dad is an accountant and a finance manager for Future Radio in Norwich.

White Heat also stars Claire Foy, Reece Ritchie, Lee Ingleby, MyAnna Buring, David Gyasi and Jessica Gunning.

Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC drama commissioning, said: 'The cream of new British acting talent have been cast to star in Paula Milne's White Heat, an epic story of our times told through the eyes of seven amazing characters, which will continue BBC Two's commitment to original drama in 2012.'

Do you a know local actor who has hit the big time? Call reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk