Solihull actor Neil Sheffield was on his first visit back home in months this week when he came to Birmingham to promote a stage version of the children's classic Wind in the Willows.
And it would have been no surprise if his family had problems recognising him having lost a stone in weight playing the part of Chief Weasel.
"I play not only the Chief Weasel but also Otter and there isn't really time to change," says 36-year-old Neil.
"As Otter I am wearing this suit like a diver's suit and on top of this I have the weasel costume. I have sweated out at least a stone so far!
"It is actually a really fun part. He is a really evil baddy but he is also really stupid so of course he gets his comeuppance in the end."
The Mike Redwood and Steve Richards adaptation was a sell-out in London's West End and features new songs, live animation, masks and puppets created by the team behind television's Spitting Image. It aims to be faithful to Kenneth Grahame's much loved children's book telling of the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, Mr Toad and the wicked weasels.
In many ways Neil has come full circle as his first theatrical experience was playing Uncle Bulgaria in play when he was an eight-year-old pupil at Greswold School in Solihull.
"I just knew that I really enjoyed it and in some way I knew that was what I wanted to do. But I didn't come from a theatrical family, my dad ran a family business as an organ builder. I did go on to do theatre studies and drama but I didn't really realise that I needed to go to stage school until someone told me. So I was 22 by the time I joined ALRA in 1990."
After studying acting and directing, the former Tudor Grange student has gone on to play roles on stage, television and in films. He will be touring with Wind in the Willows for the next couple of months.
"It is great because I rarely have the chance to come back home now - I have worked for the past two Christmases. All my family are planning on coming to see it."
