Yorkshire Bridgerton and The Stranger stars to headline modern slavery fundraising gala in Sheffield

"[In my teens] I’d go home and set up a camera and film myself [doing sketches] and then I’d learn different editing tricks. As you come more into your own, you can feel more confident to express yourself - at least that’s what I started to feel.

“And I’ve never looked back. I think my journey into becoming an actor was very much a journey in life of accepting who I am and that it’s okay to express yourself in whatever way you want.”

At 16, Dudman found the courage to share a video on YouTube. His choice was a clip he had edited that showed him impersonating actor Matt Smith as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who.

"I like doing impressions and I thought you Whovians out there might be interested in this one!,” he wrote. He was right. The video has racked up some half-a-million views to date and gave Dudman the confidence to post more impressions, growing a YouTube following.

Their popularity has led to regular voice acting work, most significantly his role portraying the titular character in a series of Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.

Dudman attributes much of his creativity to an upbringing amongst the Yorkshire Dales, claiming his imagination was spurred by being out in nature and, too, by the folk of Ripon where he grew up, and nearby Harrogate, where Dudman went to school.

For a long time, of course, he kept it hidden, but things started to change in sixth form, when a football injury impacted his excellence in sport and prompted him to take up acting as a new hobby.

“I think in school I was always acting, in the sense of trying to fit in and be someone who maybe naturally I wasn’t,” the 26-year-old reflects.

“[I had this impression] that sportspeople are cool, drama people can be a bit strange. Then I had a real Troy Bolton (from High School Musical) moment in sixth form when I realised that was all a load of nonsense.”

Initially, Dudman applied to study biology at university. “That was like the path well-trodden and the one I was told to go down. At the last minute, I had a gap year. I had no idea what to do, no money, no plans

"So I stayed at home and made short films to fill my time. At that point I had a bit more of a platform on YouTube with people following me and I just made it my mission to make something from nothing.”

Part way through the year, he began applications for a number of film schools and secured a place on a Film Production course at the University of the Arts in London.

His intention was to study to become a director but he found himself drawn in to a weekend acting class. "I wanted to learn about acting from a director’s point of view – and I just fell in love with it more.

"I started missing lectures to go to auditions and I got myself an agent and I actually had to leave my course early because I got an acting gig.”

His first television role was as the male lead of BBC teen drama The A List. Weeks after production wrapped up, Jacob landed a part in the third series of International Netflix hit Medici and a role in Netflix series The Stranger followed.

He has also secured a part in LGBTQ+ drama Now and Then, alongside Richard Armitage and Stephen Fry and back in 2017, Dudman made his directorial debut Save The Rhino Vietnam in association with charity Save The Rhino International.

The film sees Dudman and Paul Blackthorne going on undercover missions, meeting with the Vietnamese Government and coming face-to-face with some of the most endangered species on the planet to uncover lesser known facts about the rhino poaching crisis.

Later this month, Dudman will be raising awareness of another global issue, when he speaks at an anti-slavery fundraising event in Sheffield.

He will be joining Bridgerton star Ruby Barker as a headliner at the gala evening, which is taking place in aid of Causeway, the national modern slavery and criminal justice charity headquartered in the city.

Barker, who lives in Leeds, will deliver a welcome address and Dudman will speak after dinner. They will be joined by Happy Mondays singer and former The X Factor contestant Rowetta, who will be performing live at the event at Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery on September 21.

The evening aims to both fundraise and raise awareness of modern slavery and cycles of exploitation and crime. “Part of the reason I wanted to get involved was because of how shocked I was about how little I knew about some of what goes on,” Dudman says.

These days, he juggles acting and voice acting with his work as an independent film maker and earlier this year, he also launched his own production company – HG4 Productions, its name a nod to the postcode of the area where he grew up.

“We specialise in nurturing emerging talent but also highlighting voices and stories from the north,” Dudman says. “It feels really good to be back behind the camera and making my own stuff.”

Tickets for the Causeway event in Sheffield are available at www.wearecauseway.org.uk