The man fatally attacked by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park was a former child actor, with his ‘proud mum’ having previously shared accounts of his ‘passion’ for the stage. William Chapman, in his mid 20s, has been identified as the victim of Saturday’s devastating tiger attack.
Chapman appeared in the ITV production May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, famed for her portrayal of Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films, and also took on the role of a young Edward Jenner in the BBC series True Stories.
A historical blog entry penned by William’s mother offers insight into his theatrical pursuits, years prior to the tragedy. The entry, written just over 12 years ago, characterises William as “passionate about acting and drama”.
From the age of four, he trained at The Jackie Palmer Stage School, a performing arts institution in High Wycombe.
Following confirmation of William as the attack’s victim, the drama school published a tribute on their Facebook page, which reads: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our former student, William Chapman. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with William’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.
“We loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer, during his time with us. It was a privilege to be part of his journey, and he will be remembered with great fondness by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him. William will be truly missed, and he will always hold a special place in our hearts. Rest in peace, William.”
William’s mother’s blog recounts an audition he attended in London for the ITV programme ‘May Contain Nuts’ aged just five. She described how he was “unburdened by the nerves he can sometimes suffer from these days”.
She added: “He seemed to relax and thoroughly enjoy himself.”
His mother documented additional experiences, noting that working as an extra on Pan, a prequel to the Peter Pan tale starring Hugh Jackman, proved a ‘wonderful experience for him’.
The blog entry also includes an extract penned by William himself from that period. It says: “Once on set we were sheltering from the pirates under the ship’s floorboards and we had to be terrified! Our chief gets shot by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), so remember to look out for that scene if you watch the movie.
“After lunch we just did more tutoring then we went back on set for a retake of the earlier scene, but we were lucky enough to meet and say hi to Hugh Jackman! We gave him a high five, awesome right?” William’s mother expressed how ‘proud’ she was of her son, saying: “Being a proud mum I couldn’t resist showing off his efforts as the young Edward Jenner for BBC Learning.”
On Tuesday evening, William’s family released a devastating statement paying tribute to their ‘amazing’ and ‘bright’ son. The statement revealed William had battled “significant mental illness” for several years and had been prescribed “strong medication”.
It continued: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back. The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.”