I'm an actress. Ask me anything

[whatacarryon2018]

I work in tv, film and theatre. I've had some amazing jobs but I've also had very long periods of no acting work...
Don't know if this will be of any interest to anyone but I've enjoyed reading the other threads so much and thought I'd throw my hat in the ring!

@DancingDot
I think people can stagger through a basic part but I think 'good' actors are naturally
Talented

@huggybear
It can be very lucrative, even for a jobbing actor. A commercial can be 25grand but then you might not work for Months...

I have a child who loves being on stage and has suggested they may want to pursue an acting career. Would you recommend that I encourage this now (when they are still a child - under 10) or do you think that it is healthier to wait until they are older? Do you know any child actors or people who used to be child actors and do they seem damaged by the profession?

Do you regret anything? Taking this path I mean? Ever wish you'd done a 'normal' job?

@DancingDot
I think that if your child wants to do it, they will Find a way to do it. Pushing them too young can be a mistake but by ten, they're usually pretty head strong. Does your child go to stagecoach or anything like that?

@foodiefil
All the time. I spend most of my life telling my boyfriend that I'm going to train to be a midwife or a primary school teacher or a chef....Then I get another job and I remember that I have the best job in the world and get over myself 🤩

@DancingDot
Also. I only think it's damaging if you aren't enabling your child to have a normal life. If it's what they genuinely
Love doing, encourage it as much as you can but for fun. The process of it being a 'job' can come later x

Good for you 😘

Yes they go to a local drama school which has a casting department. They have been asked to submit some self-audition tapes but I worry that rejection at this age might be harmful.

How do you remember all the words, you have to know everyone else's parts too.

Have you ever read comments on your TV performances on here?

@DancingDot
I don't think it's harmful at this stage. Doing an audition tape (providing the content it appropriate) is a really exciting thing to do x

@Freyanna
I've done a west end show where I had my own 'track' and had to learn three other peoples also. When you're rehearsing ever day and it's the only
Thing to think about. It just goes in!

What i find tricky is when I have to learn a script for a self
Tape audition. I usually find sectioning it down into units of 'what that section is actually about' is the only way to learn it.

@JaneJeffer
Once! I wasn't named but the character was named. The woman said she thought I was too old to play the part...in fairness...I was 😂

Do you prefer tv or theatre?

Theatre always seems so boring to me, same day in day out but then having about on a TV set doesn't sound any better...

@feral
I prefer doing theatre. There's nothing quite like a live audience. However. Acting for tv and film is so much more intimate and small and there's something lovely about that also. I guess what I'm saying is that I like doing both but ideally I'd be doing theatre.

Whenever I watch live theatre there's always a couple of cast members I spend too much time trying to think what tv I've seen them in before- would you be one of those faces? e.g. a familiar face but maybe not such a familiar name.

(I went to see Translations last week for Colin Morgan reasons, cough, and at the end my sister was saying one of the characters was familiar... She hadn't recognised the amazing Ciaran Hinds despite us both mooning over his Captain Wentworth many times over the years.)