YOU NG actor Zain Ali wants to challenge the stereotype of young Asians in Blackburn.

Zain is due to appear in a film produced by a youth film academy on the problems of enforced religion.

He wants to pit himself against the stereotype of someone from the town’s Asian community with his acting and writing career.

The aspiring 23-year-old novelist from Blackburn will feature in the film Hell Or High Water produced by the National Youth Film Academy (NYFA) in London.

It centres around the story of a young woman forced into a new religion after her parents are killed in the 2018 Indonesian Tsunami.

Zain will play the character of Peter, who is tasked with keeping tabs on the new recruits to the religion, including the protagonist, Cahya.

He said: “I was looking online, and I found NYFA in London and applied in April and gave an audition.

“The film will be shown around the world at film festivals.

“I think the message of our film is important, especially with what’s going in the world in regard to terrorist activity.”

Growing up in Asian household saw Mr Ali move away from acting until a football injury in his second year at UCLan studying business led to him dropping out.

He said: “Three months later I was just looking online and saw an advert for TV series Ackley Bridge for extras.

“I got a role and it was good for me because I got to meet the likes of Adil Ray.

“Life is short, and I do not want to regret not doing something.”

He said: “I feel like in Blackburn, there is not enough representation and it’s quite important to play this identity and show us in a positive light.

“I am doing this because I want to be a positive role model for young Asian boys and because there is a stereotype that if you do not have an education, you will be a drug dealer or a taxi driver.

“I just want to show them that they can do whatever they put their minds to.

“We have more options than our parents ever had, so we should take advantage of it.”

Production started a month ago and with the restrictions being lifted, is expected to finish before the end of the year.

The film will be available online on the NYFA website after its film festival release.

The NYFA are also raising money to finish the film. Visit their crowd-funding page to donate https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/hellorhighwaternyfa