An entire generation knows Alex Kew’s face. When they look at him they see afternoons spent in front of the telly, laughing, avoiding their homework. For kids brought up in the noughties, Alex is Josh Barker: a chubby-cheeked jester in a questionable Hawaiian shirt. He’s the boy from the hit CITV show My Parents Are Aliens.

And yes Alex may have changed: he’s now 25, his waistline is streamline, he’s got long hair and a beard. But he still gets recognised. “Oi Josh!” People shout at him when he’s at the pub or out on the street. Soon they’ll cat-call something else, like “He’s behind you!” or “Oh no he isn’t, oh yes he is...” because the comedy kid has returned to tickle your funny bone as Buttons, Cinderella’s loveable lovesick servant in the Mickfield Community Pantomime.

“Buttons is rather smitten with young Cinderella,” says Alex. “It’s unrequited sadly but he’ll be okay. He’s a happy go lucky character. He’s quite childlike.”

In many ways Alex is a performance veteran. His first job was in Inspector Calls at the Garrick Theatre when he was eight. “It was just me walking around in the rain. Walking off and coming back on again.” Next came the Young Vic where he played the bell boy in Skin Of Our Teeth. He spent seven years in a hugely popular series before playing guitar for the hotly tipped indie band The Wutahs. “My Parents Are Aliens seemed to strike a nerve,” says Alex. “The schedule was tough. Between takes child cast members would have lessons with an on-set tutor while the other actors got to relax and learn their lines.” Soon Alex began to get spotted on the streets. “It was fun but looking back it was quite manic. It didn’t help that I had exactly the same dress sense as my character.”

Being Josh Barker took up his teenage years - from 13 to 20 - so in the three years that followed his time on the show, perhaps unsurprisingly, Alex took a break. He had some small TV parts though mainly spent “a lot of time playing guitar and drinking beer” and squandering “probably too much money.”

His two-year stint with The Wutars ended this summer when the band split and since then Alex has been exploring a solo career. “Ideally I’d like to be able to do both music and acting and be able to make a living out of it. That’s the dream.” It starts here: Mickfield Community Pantomine, 11 - 14 January 2012.

The tickets are £4 for adults, £2.50 for concessions and can be purchased by contacting boxoffice.mcp@gmail.com or 07530 947739.