Carmela Corbett comments on Alzheimer’s and the role of young carers

It is undeniable that we are seeing growing need in society and on the streets today, homelessness continues to be on the rise and the use of food banks is ever increasing.

The creative arts have a growing responsibility to shine a light on these issues. One cause close to my heart, that touches an extremely high number of families in the UK, is that of Alzheimer’s and of young carers.

According to the most recent census (Office for National Statistics, 2011), there are almost 166,000 young carers (aged 5-17) in England.

The children effected by this have no choice but to grow up far beyond their years and are often exhausted and struggling to juggle the pressures of their home lives alongside school work and a normal childhood routine.

I have written a short film (Her Majesty) that deals with this in what I hope is a unique, positive and nuanced manor. Rebekah Fortune will be directing and Pete Townsend is executive producing. I hope you might find a moment to take a look.

Carmela Corbett

Carmela Corbett is an actress and writer who sings. She graduated from The Juilliard School in New York City in 2012. Most recently she starred as Sheila Birling in Stephen Daldry’s critically acclaimed production of An Inspector Calls in London’s West End and as Viola De Lesseps in the Los Angeles premiere of the stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love. On-screen, she has appeared as Olivia in Mississippi Requiem alongside James Franco and Beth Grant, which premiered at the Nashville Film Festival in 2018; as Lola in the BBC series Undercover; and in the final season of the highly popular Mad Men.

Carmela currently has two television series she has written in development in the USA, one of which, Daughterhood, is a comedy about a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship and the pilot was shot in September 2019. Carmela will act in this alongside Evan Handler and Emmy Award winner, Carolyn Hennesy and Cecilia Albertini will direct.