Clare Higgins launches fightback against 'posh" actors Julie Walters warned earlier this month that acting could soon become the preserve of "posh" students because working-class people would not be able to afford to pursue it as a career. Now, her fellow actress Clare Higgins is putting her words into action. Higgins, who starred in the film The Golden Compass, plans to launch a free drama school for students who lack the money to pay for their training. "One of the things I really care about is to get out there and say to young actors, particularly those who don't have any money and who have not gone to Eton or Harrow, who are actually working class, 'Come and see me and I will train you for free,"" she said. In recent years, a wave of expensively educated actors has achieved success on television and in films. Eton College's celebrated alumni include Dominic West, who found fame in the American crime series The Wire, and Damian Lewis, the star of Homeland. Benedict Cumberbatch, of Sherlock, and Laurence Fox, of Lewis, attended Harrow. Higgins, who has won three Olivier awards, says she is working on the proposals with "a few very concerned" established actors, who share her worries that only "rich kids" supported financially by their parents can now consider attending drama school. The college will be based in London and open to people aged 18 and over who can demonstrate that they do not have the funds to support themselves. Most drama schools charge £9,000 per year - the top rate of tuition fees allowed by the Government. "We can't go on with this any longer where only rich people can afford to train in the arts, so we have to get out there and make it change now," she tells The Stage newspaper. I am not going to get political about it, but all I am going to say is that there is a dearth of training for people who don't have independent wealth or rich parents. We are aiming to stop that in its tracks.