To find it sad that privately educated actors dominate telly/film?

It's because it's almost impossible to succeed in the arts unless you have wealth. Most actors, musicians and artists can't develop their careers as they have to work and in the past they could survive on benefits and squat whilst developing their skills and reputation. I was thinking about this whilst watching snow horses and marveling at Gary Oldman. His generation (see also Tim Roth, Leslie Manville, Ray Winstone, etc)
There are a few lucky exceptions, but in the past there were also opportunities and pathways like the youth theatres which led to opportunities from the BBC (play for today, youth broadcasting) and early channel 4.
Music is much the same, for bands especially it's the preserve of the upper middle classes and those with generational wealth as it's also almost impossible to make a living from.

Acting is badly paid and insecure for the vast majority of people, so it is not surprising that a high proportion of those who stick at it long enough to become successful have financial support behind them. People who have been privately educated probably have a cushion of family money to fall back on and can afford to have a gamble on a career that probably won’t pay, and can get through the lean years when they won’t be making enough to live on.

The same is true in many other careers in the arts, creative industries, academia, etc.

It’s not as much about the connections as the fact the career route is only possible if you can afford to do it as a hobby for the first part.

Yeah it is not good. Some actors like Christopher Eccleston have spoken about this and there's some good campaigns like arts emergency to support working in the arts for working class people.

It shouldn't be the preserve of the privileged. There's so much talent and diverse voices we should hear. Like Alma's not Normal. Bloody amazing series and actor/writer.

If you need some positive stories on this listen to the episode of Life Changing with Sian Williams, about the guy who became the lead in the Lion King. It was great.

@Pottedpalm It’s possible to care about, say, the treatment of women in Afghanistan and ponder the domination of the privately educated in British screen acting. Good grief. OP, YANBU. It’s partly about connections and partly about not needing to worry about getting a ‘proper job’ when you are a nobody at first as you have the financial cushion of parents who can fund you while you audition and take bit-parts.

Sad? Bleak? Look around you. Much, much worse things happening…