What this isn't is a piece of Agony Aunting that will tell you how terribly hard it is to be an actor, or that you'd be better served going to secretarial college. That, dear Reader, is a given.
What this isn't is a piece of Agony Aunting that will tell you how terribly hard it is to be an actor, or that you'd be better served going to secretarial college. That, dear Reader, is a given.
Fame costs, a wise woman with a cane once told a class of students in legwarmers. And right here is where you start paying. With sweat, according to the FAME kids' teacher Lydia Grant. But also with ingenuity; with the surrendering of any hope of a social life; and crucially, with the expenditure of a great deal of your own money.
WAYS IN...
1) GO TO DRAMA SCHOOL
The obvious advantage of attending a reputable drama school is that you get three years of good training, agents come to your final year show and some people are crass enough to judge you by it. The key word here is reputable. While there are plenty of smaller drama schools run by dedicated professionals, there are also a rash of money-spinning enterprises cynically set up to take cash off young straplings desperate for a career on the stage. Be careful before you sign away your money. Be sure that the school is a good one. Most of the best are registered with the National Conference of Drama Schools www.drama.ac.uk
The big five British drama schools are arguably Central (alumnae include Judi Dench, Julie Christie, Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave), RADA (think Ralph Fiennes), Webber Douglas (Minnie Driver), Guildhall (Ewan McGregor, Joseph Fiennes) and the Bristol Old Vic (Daniel Day Lewis, Jeremy Irons).
Other well-respected UK schools are Royal Scottish Academy, Drama Centre (Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery), Arts Ed, Rose Bruford (Gary Oldman), Mountview.
Shop around, find out what each school specialises in (Drama Centre is resolutely Stanislavsky based, for example) and if their take suits you. Ask former students. Read between the lines of the prospectus. Do a bit of research online.
If you don't fancy going to drama school (or you get rejected; or you can't afford it; or you are a late starter and don't have three years to offer) then there are plenty of places where you can go to hone your skills. The City Lit in Holborn runs excellent evening classes and a 2-year programme that runs either weekends or a day a week.
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