Teachers star James Lance has revealed how he landed his latest role with a DIY audition filmed on his iPhone – by his mum.

The actor, 38, who lives in Brighton, was visiting mum Catherine when he got a call from his agent urging him to audition for the latest MoneySupermarket TV advert.

But his showreel had to be submitted by the end of the day – so he got his mum to direct and film a short video clip in her kitchen.

Thanks to the home-made tape the actor is now back on TV screens as a dashing presenter who introduces the latest advert in the “you’re so MoneySupermarket” series.

James said: “It was quite funny actually, I was helping mum to make choux pastry for a catering job she was doing when I had a call from my ad agent.

“I don’t usually do adverts but I quite liked the script so I said I’d go for the audition. But then she said I had to do it that day, so we had to get mum to film my audition on my iPhone.

“She directed me, which was quite hilarious, and we did a few takes before she said we’d got it right.

“And then we sent it off and I got a call the next day to say I’d got the part.”

James started his acting career at the age of 10 when he played the child of a main character in the film The Russian Soldier, filmed close to where he grew up in Somerset.

Catherine, who runs a cafe in Somerset said she was “extremely proud” of her son, even if he did require the help of his mother from time to time.

“It’s such a hard industry to succeed in and he’s done so well,” she said.

He recently appeared on the big screen in the movie The Look of Love, where he starred again alongside the star of I’m Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan.