A dad who once clocked in on muddy building sites is now calling the shots onscreen with Hollywood stars.
Shane McCormick has swapped carpentry and concrete for cameras and action – producing his own feature films and working alongside established names.
Growing up in a single-parent household with very little money, the 37-year-old’s childhood was far from glamorous.
Surrounded by the wrong crowd and battling serious anger issues, Shane, from West London, was heading down a dangerous path – violence, pubs and drugs never far away.
His dream of acting felt like a million miles away, especially when he couldn’t even afford performing arts school in sixth form.
“From an early age, I loved to escape by watching films and dreamt of becoming an actor,” Shane told Need To Know.
“Being able to portray various characters and briefly ‘live’ other lives really captured my imagination.
“Honestly, I was an asshole.
“But underneath it all, I was a kid who didn’t know what to do with all the hurt.”
Instead, Shane joined the construction industry – a world far removed from film sets and red carpets.
Through sheer determination, college courses and years of graft, he worked his way from carpenter to site manager and eventually set up his own construction company.
Then came a life-changing moment – fatherhood.
He said, “Making a success of anything I do is incredibly important to me.
“I went into construction, so pretty far from my dream of acting.
“Eventually, I gained the skills and knowledge to become a carpenter and site manager.
“I also had a son – Roco, now 11 – and I swore I would be the best dad ever, the total opposite of the dad I had.
“This was the start of becoming a better me.”
Shane tackled anger management, built a thriving business, bought his own home, moved into property development, and even managed to buy back his mum’s council house for her.
On the surface, it looked like success.
But anxiety and a nervous twitch revealed that his heart was still set on acting.
At 26, Shane walked away from the life he had built.
He sold his construction company, bought a house for himself, got his mum a car, and finally enrolled in acting school.
Auditions were tough, and roles were scarce.
But Shane refused to wait for an opportunity.
He launched his own production company, Move Mountains Production, taking control of his career both in front of and behind the camera.
He said: “Now I’m involved in acting, production and the business side of film.
“I wanted to understand it all.”
His debut feature film, Trapped, tells a powerful story of escaping domestic abuse, starring him alongside major names and directed by Roland Manookian (The Football Factory, Rocknrolla).
The former builder now has at least three more feature films lined up and is in pre-production on his next project.
Shane added, “I was conscious of needing to advance myself quicker to make up for lost time.
“Some people in the industry don’t like what I’m doing – they think I’m jumping the gun – but I don’t care.
“It’s important to believe in yourself and never give up on your ambitions – that’s a message I always want to share with my son.”
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