A Bridgend-born actor has been hailed for tackling a thief who snatched an elderly woman’s handbag — just an hour before he was due on stage at a film festival.
Aneurin Barnard, who stars in the new animated film Rogue Trooper, was in the French town of Annecy for its international animation festival when the incident happened.
The actor chased down the thief, rugby-tackled him to the ground and held him there until police arrived, according to accounts from the festival.
The elderly woman got her handbag back.
About an hour later, Barnard walked on stage for a “Making Of” session about the film — and mentioned, almost in passing, what had just happened.
“It feels really weird for me to be telling this story,” he told the audience. “I just helped an old lady who’s been robbed and had to tackle a robber on the way here like an hour ago, so yeah.”
Asked about it afterwards by an audience member, he played it down. “I just had to hold them down until the police arrived,” he said.
The film’s director, Duncan Jones, who was on stage alongside him, told the room: “If the front row can confirm the blood on the knuckles. Sorry, it’s just been a really weird day.”
He added: “It’s been a very strange 24 hours, but we love Annecy.”
Jones — the son of David Bowie, and known as “Zowie Bowie” as a boy — later shared the story online, describing how Barnard had jogged over to the panel, sat down “calm as can be, bloody knuckles on display,” and entertained the audience with tales from the film shoot.
The moment was reported by the entertainment industry outlet Deadline, whose reporter was in the room at the time.
Barnard, who was born in Bridgend, is best known for his roles in Dunkirk, The Goldfinch and the BBC series Men Up.
He takes the lead role in Rogue Trooper, a science-fiction film based on the cult British comic 2000 AD, which had its world premiere at Annecy this week.
The film sees him voice a genetically engineered super-soldier, alongside a cast including Sean Bean, Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden and Asa Butterfield.
It is the latest project from Jones, the director of Moon and Source Code, and has drawn warm reviews following its festival debut.
Barnard joins a long line of Welsh stars making their mark on the big screen — from Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sir Anthony Hopkins to Michael Sheen and Katherine Jenkins.
A UK release date for Rogue Trooper has yet to be confirmed.
