Rugby League was an opportunity to express myself when I was young. Give a big kid a rugby ball and he can run through people, so it became my career. I played in the Super League for Salford City Red

While my hero was losing his fight, I had a battle of my own

THE BIG INTERVIEW

At 16, I was on top of the world. I was double World Youth champion, I’d been the fastest 14-year-old of all time in Europe, and I already had a shoe contract. At 15, I was UK champion over the 100 an

While my hero was losing his fight, I had a battle of my own

Leigh Lawson has embraced acting and poetry with the same determination that sustained Marie Lloyd, the music-hall queen whose memorabilia he collects, as Carla Passino discovers