00s child TV star from hit BBC series now looks completely unrecognisable

00s child star Gabriel Thomson looks worlds away from the role he once played 24 years ago.

The Michael Harper actor shot to fame in BBC sitcom My Family, which ran for 11 series from 2000 to 2011.

He starred alongside Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker, who played his parents Ben and Susan, and his on-screen siblings Nick and Janey played by Death In Paradise’s Kris Marshall and Daniela Denby-Ashe.

Back in 2000, the BBC also reported that Gabriel almost had a chance at beating Daniel Radcliffe to the role of Harry Potter.

He had previously held roles in the 1999 film adaptation of Great Expectations and ITV drama Painted Lady in 1997, as well as starred alongside Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in Enemy at the Gates.

However, after his stint on My Family, Gabriel took a step back from acting, and he now looks very different.

After a few feature and short film roles in recent years, and a run with the British Shakespeare Company, Gabriel moved on to studying law, to be a human rights barrister.

He previously told FE Week: ‘I had grown up acting, pretty much falling into the role on My Family so when that finished I took a moment to ask myself “Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life? Is this my calling?”

‘There are so many young actors out there that are really passionate and really want to make it and I think that somewhere over the years I lost some of that passion.’

The then-28-year-old had missed out on his A Levels due to his acting career, but returned to education at City and Islington College.

‘It was nice going from being a celebrity to a normal every day lad. It is nice to go back and get stuck into something completely different,’ he said.

‘After the first initial shock of the other students seeing me around the college and going “look it’s him from My Family”, no one cared really, they just got on with it. We were all in the same boat really to get to university and everything else, so that was great.’

The star also keeps followers updated on social media, where he frequently shares pictures and videos raising money for various charities by running marathons.

In May, Gabriel ran 550 miles across Spain for the Red Cross, aiming for a marathon a day, and also spoke about his sobriety journey.

Alongside various clips of the journey, he wrote: ‘I never quite punctuated the end of my Camino de Santiago journey – so here we go!

‘I had an inexpressibly incredible time running the 550 miles of the Camino Frances across the north of Spain and along to Finisterre (the end of the earth!) and Muxía!

‘There’s no point in trying to put into words what the experience was like, ’cause I just ain’t that eloquent and it’s all too vast and nebulous, but I can say that I pushed myself to do things I could never have imagined or believed I was capable of just a few years ago.

‘I met some beautiful people on the way, and regularly encountered the type of selfless, human kindness that reminded me how much goodness there can be in this world – a feeling which has perhaps become less tangible as I, like many, have increasingly found myself basing my estimation of humanity’s character on what I see on social media or on the news.

‘I saw so much beauty in so many different forms and was lucky enough to feel a kind of freedom I think one rarely gets the chance to experience in life.’

He went on: ‘I didn’t listen to anything on my headphones during the run and so had a lot of time to reflect! At times I thought about how far I’ve come since all the miserable ‘1st runs back’ I used to find myself enduring after months of stuffing my body with every combustible/powdered/liquid poison I could squeeze into my lungs and bloodstream in an attempt to escape myself and reality; of how I’d routinely be telling myself this would be the absolute last time I’d ever be doing a painful, post-binge run like this one – until, of course, the next one.

‘It’s been six years today since I last had a drink or drug, and strangely enough I haven’t had to go through a torturous run like that since! They’re just an awful lot longer these days.’

Gabriel also ran the London Marathon in 2023, raising funds for the charity Mind for those struggling with their mental health.

At the time, he explained he was doing it for his friend Casper who sadly died by suicide.

Gabriel said: ‘Three years ago today my beautiful friend, Casper, took his own life. That someone so warmly charismatic, intelligent, unconditionally caring, and who was loved so deeply by so many, could ever find themselves feeling that alone and in that much despair, is an indescribable tragedy.

‘As someone myself who has also long experienced spells of depression, I know how important it is to have supportive organisations like Mind there in your time of need.’

In March, Gabriel also shared a teaser for upcoming film Hungry Like The Wolf, which he stars in and serves as producer and writer.

His other credits as a child star include The New Adventures of Pinocchio and Night Wolf.

My Family is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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