Article: Just look how Billy has grown up; At 14, after Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell had the world at his ballet-trained feet. But rather than burn out like many child stars, he has gone on to forge a serious career in film.

Byline: NICK CURTIS

WHEN it became clear that Billy Elliot was going to be the hit Brit film of 2000, director Stephen Daldry voiced fears over his then 14-year-old star Jamie Bell. "I hope," Daldry said only half Jokingly, "that we haven't turned him into Drew Barrymore."

That Bell's career might go into a typical child star's tailspin seemed all the more likely since Billy was an ordinary, one parented, north-eastern lad who just loved to dance ... and that's all Bell was, too. A mortifying future already seemed etched on his face when, "really f***ing embarrassed", he was beaten by the even younger Haley Joel Osment to a Golden Globe award and was ...

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