Troy

Troy is a bright, charismatic black student, very talented at basketball. He wants to do well in the sport he loves, but his deafness threatens to hold him back. Adam is his closest confidant and Maya his oldest friend.

'Troy is interesting to me because he has faced many dilemmas,' says David Ellington, who plays the part. 'In Rush 1, he was struggling with whether or not to have a cochlear implant, with how to win through and be taken seriously as a basketball player, and with the different issues he faces being both deaf and black. His latest passion is girls, in a desperate attempt to forget the black deaf girl who broke his heart in Jamaica over the summer.

'During the filming, I enjoyed running about in the old apartment with Jason, and filming in Oxford prison. The prison was an overwhelming experience.

'My ambition for Troy is that he will settle down with deaf black girl in a posh flat and become a basketball coach with deaf teenagers in a mainstream school.'

David is 30. He was born in Bristol, where he still lives, and educated at Burwood Park School in Surrey. His first acting experience was in the deaf festival at the Swan Theatre in 1997. His other credits include The Queen's New English (a deaf cyber pop video – the original version), Chronic Embarrassment, Reservoir Wolves; Talk (Disability Rights Commission), and The Inspector Linley Mysteries (BBC).

David has also been involved in the Sibling Sign group and drama workshops for young deaf and hearing children. He is currently working part-time as a teaching assistant at Elmfield School, Bristol, and also as a freelance drama worker.

And what of the future? 'I hope to land a big break and be a good role model in the Deaf community,' David says, 'but of course there's a long, long way to go.'

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