People like David Nicholls

David Alan Nicholls (born 30 November 1966) is a British novelist and screenwriter.

Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril College at Eastleigh, Hampshire, taking A-levels in Drama, English Literature, Physics and Biology.

He also took part in college drama productions, playing a wide range of roles. He went onto study at the University of Bristol, graduating with a BA in Drama and English in 1988.

He later trained as an actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.

Throughout his 20s, he worked as an actor, using the stage name David Holdaway. He played small roles at various theatres, including the West Yorkshire Playhouse and, for a three-year period, at the Royal National Theatre. He struggled as an actor and has said "I’d committed myself to a profession for which I lacked not just talent and charisma, but the most basic of skills. Moving, standing still – things like that." Nicholls says that a turning point in his career came when a friend gave him a copy of PJ Kavanagh’s memoir The Perfect Stranger, which tells the author's own tale of maturation, finding love, and discovering his path in life.