A RISING star has defied his Down’s syndrome to play a leading role in a Bafta-nominated film.

Otto Baxter will mix with industry bigwigs at a screening tonight, for starring in and part-producing short film samuel-613.

The 28-year-old Steventon resident said: “I want to be famous, I do like people watching me. I want to win an Oscar and a Bafta. I was quite excited when the director Billy Lumby told me it had been nominated.”

The film, about a man who is doubting his Jewish beliefs, is nominated for best British short film.

Mr Baxter’s love for acting began as a baby, when his adoptive mother Lucy Baxter, 57, took him to the theatre.

The pair live with Otto’s three brothers, who are also adopted and have Down’s syndrome, and his best friend.

She said: “I adopted Otto at five months old. You get this little person and don’t know much about them, so it’s exciting to see how they are. It was very obvious he had an amazing imagination and loved stories.

“When I first adopted him I took him to see a children’s show with his brother. People said he wouldn’t cope, a baby with Down’s syndrome. But he sat up and watched the whole thing.”

Mr Baxter started acting at school, making his first stage debut in the Wind in the Willows before starting Stagecoach performing arts classes aged 12.

Ms Baxter said: “He had a wonderful mentor who did lots of Shakespeare. He did lots of theatre and more recently he’s done filming.

“It’s amazing. I’m very proud of him. He has charisma and the ‘X factor’. People remember him on stage – he has a large personality.”

Her son has starred in BBC documentaries Otto Does India and Otto: Love, Lust and Las Vegas.

He won best actor in the festival Entr2 Marches in Cannes, which recognises short films about people with disabilities, for his leading role in Ups and Downs.

Enthusiastic Mr Baxter described 15-minute film samuel-613 as “amazing” and looked forward to even bigger things.

He said: “I liked the eating, there was lots of interesting Jewish food. They gave me a cap and a hoodie.

“I want to do concerts and proms as a host, and I want my own chat show.”

He is committed to four other upcoming film projects.

Ms Baxter said: “One of the very nice things about samuel-613 is that it’s not anything about disability or Down’s syndrome. He is just an ordinary actor. That’s what makes it really special for me. It’s awful when people are typecast.”

She will join Mr Baxter at the Bafta (British Academy for Film and Television Arts) nominee screenings in London today ahead of the awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House on Sunday.