By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2026-10-13 22:21:00 | Updated at 2026-10-13 23:16:51
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The man mauled to death by a tiger after jumping into its enclosure in England was a former child actor who starred alongside a “Harry Potter” actress on a comedy-drama show, according to a report.
William Chapman was killed by a Siberian tiger on Saturday at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after he reportedly taunted the beast and recorded footage from inside its cage.
Years before his grisly death, Chapman — who was in his 20s — starred opposite actress Shirley Henderson in the two-part ITV series “May Contain Nuts,” according to The Sun.
The one-time actor, described by friends as emotionally distraught prior to the attack, trained at the prestigious Jackie Palmer Stage School.
The High Wycombe, England-based school’s almumi include stars James Corden, Eddie Redmayne, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
“May Contain Nuts” is a 2009 comedy-drama on Independent Television centering on parents competing to get their kids into elite schools, according to the British Comedy Guide.
Chapman played Alfie Chaplin, the younger son of characters played by Henderson and Darren Boyd.
Henderson is best known as Moaning Myrtle in the “Harry Potter” series.
Chapman, a Doncaster native, also starred as historical figure Edward Jenner in the 2012 BBC series “True Stories.”
He had no other major television credits.
Around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Chapman was seen “pacing around with his headphones in” and “happily dancing” before asking fellow zoo-goers to snap a picture of him with the tiger in the background, according to witnesses.
“Excuse me, can you grab a shot of myself with the tiger?” he was heard asking a couple in a clip viewed more than 11 million times on X.
“One more, one more, one more!” he excitedly asked.
“Thank you, lady,” were his final words before he vaulted over the fence and straight into the enclosure.
Once inside, the man dropped to his knees in front of the predator and began taunting it, eyewitness Anthony Hunt told the Times of London.
“It looked like a performance,” the horrified onlooker recalled.
“He got down where everyone could see him in the main viewing area. He was on all fours, praying and bowing down to the tiger. It was like he was waiting for the tiger.”
The beast, named Altai, clamped down on his neck and dragged him out of sight of horrified onlookers.
“He had his arms wide open like he was saying: ‘Come here tiger. Kill me.’”
“Then the tiger came and started to attack him. He started to fight back and screamed. It was like he was just detached from reality. The last thing we saw, the tiger was on his neck.”
He began “yelling at the tiger and waving his finger at him, yelling, ‘No’,” another witness told the UK outlet.
“The tiger grabbed him by the neck. It all happened very fast. The tiger staff were in there quickly, and fired two shots to the ground to scare the tiger away from the man.”
Following the gruesome attack, zoo staff raised a black screen around the exhibit and shuttered the park for the rest of the weekend.
“We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority,” Yorkshire Wildlife Park said in a statement.
“Tiger King” star Carole Baskin insisted that the tiger “was not doing anything wrong.”
“The tiger was not doing anything wrong by being a tiger. I am relieved to hear that the animal was not harmed,” Baskin told The Post in a written statement.
“We don’t yet know all the circumstances that led to this man’s death, and it would be wrong to speculate,” she explained.
“What we do know is that a tiger is a powerful wild predator, and no amount of captivity, training, or familiarity can change that.”
