Joel Chalfen is the man who can't escape being a boy, reports CHARLES HUTCHINSON

JOEL Chalfen plays the lonely boy of the title in James And The Giant Peach and he knows he looks young for his age. So much so that for his amusement on arrival at each stop on the tour, he enjoys asking the show's new teenage recruits - local youngsters play the children of New York - to guess how old he is.

"They guess anywhere from 12 to 20 and the average is 14 or 15, but part of the reason is that my character wears shorts and I suppose they make me look more vulnerable," says Joel, who sounds younger than his years too, as he conducts this phone interview in advance of the Peach landing in York next week.

In reality Joel is 26 but the Cambridge graduate's youthful looks have now secured him two roles for Birmingham Stage Company, first as the boy hero in Roald Dahl's The Witches in his professional debut in 1999-2000 and now James in David Wood's new adaptation of Dahl's ocean-travelling James And The Giant Peach.

"I'm quite happy to play a ten year old ; it's enjoyable, as there's a different physicality to it and that's a challenge," says Joel, who trained in physical movement under the famous mime Jacques Lecoq in Paris at L'Ecole International de Theatre.

Joel had been directed by Graeme Messer in The Witches, and Messer has cast him once more for his latest role. "I can't say he regaled me with all these wonderful adjectives about me but the main point was that he wanted me to feel like a boy playing a boy; he didn't want to cast a girl," he says.

"What's interesting with Roald Dahl stories is that they're popular with adults as well as children and that's the easy way into the story for me. Adults enjoy James's journey as much as children do and like to imagine themselves being that small."

Much as Joel has prospered from his ability to play children, he seeks to diversify his roles. "I don't want to be typecast and I don't want to foresee myself playing boys for too long. It's good to do a variety of parts," he says.

To prove the point, since The Witches, he has appeared in a brace of Shakespeare plays. "I did Twelfth Night, where I played Sebastian, one of the twins, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and at one point they have to fight each other, which was interesting," says Joel. "I did manage to do it, with some creative acting from the other members of the cast, some blocking and some clever us of props!"

As for his other Shakespeare role: "That was in All's Well That Ends Well, and I played an old man!"

Such is the lot of the actor, who must thrive on myriad challenges. The Peach role of lonely James is a case in point. "I can't really draw on my own experiences as I had a happy childhood but I suppose my journey in doing this play is like James's journey; it's a new adventure. Like James, we all feel lonely at some point, and we all feel part of a group at some point too."

Once Joel completes his nine-month stint in James And The Giant Peach - a run that began with three months at Birmingham Old Rep Theatre this winter - he hopes to branch out once more. "I've been asked about the possibility of making a film in Poland this summer," he says. Rest assured, he will not be playing a young boy.

James And The Giant Peach, Grand Opera House, York, April 16 to 20. Tickets: adults £2.95, children £6.95, family of four £35; ring 01904 671818.

Updated: 10:25 Friday, April 12, 2002