I've started looking into choosing a monologue from Cymbeline as Imogen. Technically I'm a couple of years older than the listed playing age as it appears pretty much anywhere I can find, but I really don't look it so I feel that's a risk worth taking. Other than that, it's the usual fare of cast interviews, audition tips and guitar practice.
I'm not doing a seperate post for my bio questions this month. These all come from my friend Lauren - if any of my other readers want to suggest 3-4 questions for January (and beyond) stick them in a comment.
So we're one month in already. How's it all going? Obviously we have the blog here, but how are you managing the work behind the blog?
4 weeks today, in fact. It's already been a bit hilly emotionally. There's been some late nights, some tears of frustration and a lot of beating myself up. I've got a lot of gremlins in here - I spent five years running away from everything I knew and loved and that included theatre. Coming back now means dealing with a lot of things I locked away, not just from those last few years before I left Bath, but from much earlier. I'm starting to learn to listen to the good memories, but to know which ones to ignore and grow out of, they still need to be heard first. And some of the good things are a long way back, as far as primary school in some cases.
If you woke up tomorrow through the other side of drama school, what would you want to do first?
Have a big celebration with family and friends. All those people who I can trust to tell me when I look tired, remind me to eat, listen to an hour of crying down the phone and still be relied on to fill those premiere seats! My acting (as with my general emotional coping strategy) has always been a pretty internal and personal thing. I often did school plays against the better judgement of teachers interested in keeping up my grades or having any semblance of a sleep pattern for production week. At university my incredible and long-suffering personal tutor somehow got an honours degree out of me in spite of spending most of my time outside of lectures involved in any production I could get my hands on even if it was just painting set for a one-man show. I know how easily I get carried away, and how much I end up being inside my own head and talking about very little else. So surrounding myself with those people who will catch me and give me lots of tea on the bad days, but also talk me out of the rut and throw me back into the fight once I'm on my feet again is important.
How would you hate to be described (primarily as an actor, but you know)?
Let's give those gremlins a voice then. I'd hate to have my body shape entirely overshadow my acting ability, expressions, voice and everything else. I know it probably will be commented on, but I'd like to think that 5 years from now if I end up on a big screen it will be in a role where that shape is either entirely irrelevant, or is deliberate and isn't seen as horrible. I'd equally hate to be dismissed as only doing this to prove a point. Obviously I'd love to see a break in the trend of super-skinny celebrities, but I wouldn't want to be labelled as only that. And finally, I think pretty much every actor would say they wouldn't want to be described as terrible. I'll take criticism, and I believe that in all walks of life, it'd be a boring world if we all liked the same things, but I know how it feels to have your best work dismissed out of hand and it hurts enough when it comes quietly from a teacher who doesn't like you. It's another thing entirely when it's public.
Why does pizza come in a square box?
Ah the inevitable bonus question! Because the square boxes are easier to make and cause less production-end waste than a more complex box would. Inside that box there could be a plain margharita, stuffed crust, garlic bread, piles of veggies or just a handful of pepperoni, it might be spicy, or made with barbecue sauce instead of marinara. The box might give you some clue of what's inside, tell you where it was made (or, if it's like the ones we had the other day which inspired this question, come with an interactive image on the front that comes to life in front of a camera...) but you're not really going to know what's inside until you open the box. Pizza-based philosophy, boys & girls, you saw it here first. Or something. Next question?
..Oh, no more questions. Right then. Comments and feedback, potential bio questions, observations on plays or adaptations I've covered that you've seen or read yourself... these are all welcome! This is a learning process and as I mentioned just now, I know I can get very much into my own head when I'm working with anything related to theatre and the more I can bring that out, discuss ideas with other people, the more successful I think the year ahead will be.
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