Netflix star on GCSE advice from Steve Buscemi

Moosa Mostafa with a huge mop of curly hair, large glasses and braces on his teeth smiles at the camera. He is wearing a suit jacket and white shirt with a black grandad collar. Image source, Getty Images
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Moosa Mostafa plays Eugene in Tim Burton's hit show Wednesday on Netflix

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Being given exam revision advice from Hollywood A-lister Steve Buscemi is not something that happens in everyday life.

But life for actor Moosa Mostafa hasn't been particularly normal since landing a part in the Netflix hit Wednesday.

The first season of the show became the streaming service's most-watched series ever, with season two launching last week.

In the latest episodes, the 17-year-old actor from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, reprises his role as nerdy outcast Eugene, with filming in Dublin coinciding with his GCSE exams last year.

(L to R) Georgie Farmer as Ajax, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, Moosa Mostafa as Eugene in the second season of Wednesday, all three wearing distinctive black and purple blazers. Farmer wears a purple beanie hit with a yellow crest and a purple tie. Ordonez wears a black and white stripey jumper and dark tie and Mostafa wears black-rimmed glasses, a white shirt and dark tie. Image source, Netflix
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(L to R) Georgie Farmer as Ajax, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, Moosa Mostafa as Eugene in the second season of the hit series

Tim Burton's production follows Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, as she returns to Nevermore Academy, with Billie Piper, Joanna Lumley and Buscemi the latest stars to join the cast.

"Working with Steve was great, " Moosa told BBC CWR's John Dalziel. "He is genuinely one of the nicest people I've ever met."

Filming was delayed, he explained, resulting in revision having to be fitted in between work commitments, travelling back and forth between Ireland and Warwickshire, and often having to revise in hotel rooms.

Buscemi, who plays Nevermore's new principal Barry Dort, would "take the time out of his day to come and say hello and give me advice," the teenager said.

"Before the exams he was telling me 'make sure you do those past papers' and tried to give me revision tests.

"It was his own little way. The cast were very close."

Actor Steve Buscemi as Principal Barry Dort, he wars a purple sports outfit and cap with yellow badge and trim and dark rimmed glasses. Image source, Netflix
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Steve Buscemi plays Barry Dort in the series

The teenager's first acting role was in Nativity Rocks! - the fourth in the Christmas comedy film series by Coventry writer and director Debbie Isitt.

While still at school, he was spotted by Netflix casting directors who were scouting for sci-fi series The Last Bus.

"On the back of that I got a really good agent," he explained, which resulted in his part in Wednesday.

"It was insane - all of a sudden you're flying to Romania for seven months to work with Tim Burton.

"I was like, where's this even come from?"

Filming the first series aged 13, he was one of the youngest cast members.

"Everyone was at least five years older than me, but I was just hanging out with them all," he said.

"So now we're just a group of friends who happen to work together."

Cast of Wednesday either sitting on or standing next to a golf buggy. All wear distinctive purple tee-shirts. Actress Emma Myers has blonde hair and is wearing bright pink tracksuit bottoms and pink top under her tee-shirt. Image source, Moosa Mostafa
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The cast had become "a group of friends who happen to work together" Moosa says

Eugene Ottinger is one of Nevermore Academy's quirkier students and president of the school's beekeeping club, which is where he first befriends Wednesday.

"He's very fun to play," said Moosa.

"He's the juxtaposition to a lot of what else happens in the show: he's very cheery and bright compared to the dark sad themes and melancholy stuff going on.

"I think it's nice that onscreen he has a contrast to Wednesday, specifically, so it's really fun to play that with Jenna."

Interest around both series has been "insane," he said, but returning to Leamington to hang out with friends "keeps me grounded in the very best way".

"I still get the perfect amount of normality from my friends, despite all the craziness," he added.

Moosa Mostafa, centre, is flanked to the right by mum Rima, and dad Hani, who is wearing dark glasses. To his left is sister Roo and cousin Omar. All wear black clothes and are standing in front of a purple backdrop with Wednesday, Season 2 in white letteringImage source, Getty Images
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(L-R) The actor, centre, attended the London premiere of the show with dad Hani, Mum Rima, sister Roo and cousin Omar

The show will be returning for a third season, Netflix has announced, but Moosa said he was still in the dark as to the future of his character.

If filming coincides with his A Level exams, he said: "I'm sure it will work out regardless."

His mother Rima said the GCSE exam clash "wasn't quite what we anticipated, but we rolled with it and Moosa managed it really well".

"He's learned a lot about managing work-life balance, and I think he's hugely matured and learned these life skills at a much younger age than a lot of his peers would get a chance to," she said.

"That in itself has been really admirable, so we're really proud of him."

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From Leamington to Nevermore

The first four episodes of Wednesday's second season were released on 6 August, with the remaining four released on 3 September.

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