Category: Lifestyle & Wellbeing
-
Defining Your Own Success As An Actor
By Tahlia Norrish Actor friends, indulge me in a little round of Hot Seating? When I say “successful actors”, who immediately springs to mind? And if I asked, “what does their success look like?”, how would you answer? An Oscar? An income of £30 million per film? Always working with the top directors on stage and/or…
-
Coping with Rejection: A Guide for Actors
A younger performer on coping with the rejection that comes with being an actor… When I tell people I am an actor, there are usually two questions. The first is: “Are you in anything at the moment?” The second is: “How do you do it? How do you deal with all that rejection?!” Whether you work in…
-
6 Ways to Combat Nerves at Your Next Audition
6 tips for tackling bad nerves at your next audition… For some, auditioning is just part of the daily routine of being an actor. But for others it’s the elephant in the room that we don’t want to address because addressing it would mean admitting that auditioning has become a fear, not a thrill. And that…
-
Freelancer Motivation with Muriel McClymont of FEU Training
Muriel McClymont keeps us motivated as freelancers with advice on clarifying our goals, achieving them, and overcoming what demotivates us. By Natasha Raymond As freelance artists in a competitive industry, keeping motivated can sometimes feel as challenging as finding work. But at Spotlight’s recent Open House, FEU Training’s Muriel McClymont shared some tips and techniques to help identify…
-
Working as a Parent: Reflections on Acting and Parenthood
Personal reflections on being a parent and a performer in a challenging, unpredictable industry… The determination I’d carried with me to make my career work my whole life stepped up another gear, and sure enough, I was pregnant before I knew it. Great! But then the reality of being a pregnant actress hit hard. Castings.…
-
Five Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Sooner
Georgia Tuohey gives us her list of things she wishes she’d known about acting sooner… Sometimes it feels like there are so many things to remember as a performer that don’t directly relate to any actual performing. Like, whose shift you said you’d cover in return for going to an audition, starting that database of…
-
Finding Your Other Calling: Achieving Balance in Acting
Lauren McCrostie talks about finding balance and a source of excitement, income and stability, outside acting. People working within this profession are often strangely acclimatised to its variant and demanding nature. We are used to, and acceptant of daily ghosting and rejection, financial instability, uncertainty over our career trajectory and ultimate powerlessness over our calendars.…
-
How Your Other Half Loves: How to Support Your Partner and How They Can Support You
Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager Bea Grist talks about what it’s like to love and support a performer-partner… Nine years ago, I met my performer partner whilst we were working for the same theatre company. We spent every free moment together and we fell in love. But then my beloved went off on a six-month…
-
An Actor’s Guide to Reconnecting with Your Purpose
Feeling out of touch with your passion for acting? Not sure on your direction right now? Katie Redford gives us her guide to reconnecting to the fire in your belly… Has anyone else watched one of those motivational videos on YouTube? You know the ones with clips of random members of the public staring out…
-
Bursting the Drama School Bubble: Life After Graduation with Thea Butler
What you should know about life after graduating from drama school My first audition after graduating was an absolute abomination, I was so embarrassed and upset that I immediately wanted to quit. A few months and a whole lot of auditions later, the same casting company that witnessed my first audition offered me my first…