I was introduced to acting when I was 11 when my mum and I saw a local school production of Grease. I remember turning to my mum and I told her that I will be doing those shows when I went to that school the year after.
It was something about seeing everyone become a character but still being true to themselves, and the lights and sound made it even more exciting – I was eager to learn. I stayed true to my word, and I was in every show for my whole high school life. Then I went to a private college in Aberdeen, and this is where I learned the craft of stage combat, which helped me realise that this is something I can take with me into the future. Now, here we are at Arts University Bournemouth as an actor and Fight Captain for Romeo and Juliet!
I like to think of the emotional journey my character has gone through in the play; this helps me really get to know my character and see what kind of person they are. I then like to create a small character backstory before the play, and even after. After these two steps, I move on to physicality for my character and I always ask myself, “Why?” – Why does my character maybe have a subtle hand movement? Why does certain movements feel right for my character and why do some feel wrong? – these kinds of questions. Every performance and every rehearsal prior, I will always find something new about the character and that is something I very much enjoy about acting.
My experience at AUB has been wonderful – having a space to collaborate freely with other courses and be able to make connections to industry professionals is something not a lot of Acting courses at other universities have. Being here on the BA (Hons) Acting course has allowed me to be vulnerable and learn a lot about myself as a performer and a person. The incredible lecturers have helped me gain confidence in my practice and I am a much stronger performer thanks to all their support and help.
Fight Captain is my top achievement (at this moment!) at AUB – being able to help guide my castmates to make sure they shine on the stage during the fights has been so rewarding and they are killing it! Having five qualifications in stage combat, I am able to give them different angles to look at the scene and make sure they are all extremely safe and confident.
I do a lot of collaborating with the BA (Hons) Commercial Photography course as a model. All these collaborations are so fun, and it is great experience to build a portfolio, which has actually helped me get signed by a model agency in London! Modelling, to me, is the same as acting – it is all body language and facial expressions. Being able to help the photographer get a certain look or a certain feeling through the camera lens is always so rewarding when they get exactly what they want!
I also like to write poetry, and this really helps me find my own emotions as a human and not a performer, writing it down in a way where I can maybe use it as influence for an acting piece. Writing these is a great outlet for me and my mental health as uni can be quite full-on, but so rewarding, so making sure I am checking in with myself is super important!
In the next year and so, I will move to London with my partner, and I hope to start creating my own shows. I won't rule out anything – a tour job would be great as I am really enjoying the Romeo and Juliet tour. I would like to get involved in some theatres to start making connections and maybe even get higher qualifications in my stage combat to keep adapting it!
You never know what the future holds, so I would say it is never too late to start something and make your heart and soul happy.
