Jimmy Connelly loves his job, as a milkman in the London borough of Lambeth, and his only ambition is to one day be the regional manager of Express Milk Dairies. He is in his early 20s and lives at home with his mum, who is a 'massage therapist'. He spends his spare time hanging out with his friend Stan or down at Herbie Bush’s gym where he has just started boxing. Due to the fact that Jimmy has drunk three pints of milk every day for as long as he can remember, his teeth and bones are incredibly strong. It is this that leads to him accidentally putting Britain’s contender for the boxing middleweight world title out of action. With no time to find a replacement it is up to Jimmy to take to the ring. Easier said than done for someone who has never even had a sparring match before.

Jimmy is charming, honest and innocent almost to a fault. He places his trust, his boxing career and ultimately his life, in the rather incompetent hands of Bush, allowing his image to be manipulated to a point where even his friends and family start to turn against him. Jimmy remains fiercely loyal to those around him, not wanting to let anyone down, least of all his father, whose fortune cookie wisdom he quotes at every opportunity.

After a week of intensive training Jimmy finally gets a chance to prove himself; not just to those that know him, but to the world. The day has come when he has to get in the ring and fight world champion Jose Mendes. Even though he knows in his heart that he doesn’t really stand a chance, he also knows that he has to get up there and do it with head held high. It is Jimmy’s genuine character that ultimately leads to him being the hero of the hour and getting everything his heart desires.

(Bio by Lou)

Quotes about Jimmy

"At times, it's very funny and at times you have real sympathy for the characters. Jimmy's journey is like a coming of age and it's about him taking control of his life. It starts a certain way, he's very naive, very sweet, very lovable and easily controlled, but by the end of it he's slightly more of a man. It's a simple journey with an extravagant story around it." - Director Alex De Rakoff

"Jimmy is more straightforward - a man of the people. He's a milkman moseying through life who suddenly gets picked to fight the world boxing champion." - Orlando

Information about Orlando as Jimmy:

• "Truthfully, the minute we met [Orlando] he just smiled, and it sounds stupid and a bit corny, but I just thought, he is The Calcium Kid!" She goes on, "Orlando just had this sweet innocence about him. It was always going to be a hard thing to balance, someone who was a boxer but had this real sweetness in the character, and I think Orlando embodies Jimmy, I'm just delighted by him." - Producer Natascha Wharton
• "Orlando has done brilliantly," says Keane, "he's had to learn to skip, spar and shadow box and all these things have their own little difficulties. He's a good learner, he picks things up really quickly and he really looks the part." - stunt/boxing co-ordinator Vince Keane
• "Orlando was an interesting choice for me and he actually changed my complete opinion really of how this character should play out and we’re very lucky to have got him and he’s done a really wonderful job." - Director Alex De Rakoff
• "I wanted to get super fit so I did a lot of preparation. I really enjoyed it. I started training in LA, then went to Australia to film Ned Kelly and kept it up. I was trying to put on weight and develop shape because I'm a bit skinny. I was training here in London, three weeks prior to filming and that's when I made some headway. I was eating food in order to put on the right sort of weight and was skipping, jogging, shadow boxing and sparring. Looking back on the roles I've played: an archer, a soldier, an outlaw and now a boxer, this is the one time - for the weigh-in scene - I thought, "I've got to give it a go. I've got to get the boxing thing going and get the physique right." - Orlando
• "I wanted to work in England and I've known the director [Alex De Rakoff] since we were teenagers. Also, it was an opportunity to show another side of my character and play the fool." - Orlando

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