Always do what you are afraid to do...

So last weekend (Friday) I received an email from my agent, stating that I had an audition on Sunday and was to prepare a one minute classical speech. CLASSICAL. Immediately I panicked, I haven't done any classical work in a while, not since training. After frantically panicking/screaming and stressing I managed to calm my self down, I got in touch with some actor friends and girls that I trained with and I eventually decided on a speech from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream. Instantly I was reminded of the beauty of Shakespeare and I really fell in love with the piece again, especially the character I had chosen to portray, Helena. Helena is a fiery character, passionate, erratic and head over heels in love with one of the other characters Demetrius... The problem is, he's in love with Helena's childhood friend Hermia. Hey, we've all been there! I worked hard all weekend learning my lines and really getting to grips with my character so come Sunday I was ready to go in to that audition room and show the casting directors what I was made of.

A problem I find amongst British actors compared to the likes of American actors is that we don't really appreciate ourselves when we've done a good job, however we are quick to beat our selves up over something we haven't done so well, for example a bad audition. In this industry positivity is vital. We have to pick our selves back up from knock backs all the time, its part of the job. If we forever doubted ourselves or questioned our ability we would never survive. There is always something positive we can take from a negative experience, we can learn from it and effectively grow from our mistakes. I can honestly say that on Sunday, I forced myself out of my comfort zone and it paid off, I did an excellent audition and reminded myself of my versatility as an actress. The head director gave me some amazing feedback after my speech and I walked out of that audition room feeing electric! On top of that I also made some amazingly talented new friends from the industry. I haven't yet heard back from the company I auditioned for, however the experience alone has massively boosted my confidence and I will never panic over performing a classical piece again. I am no one trick pony!

ALWAYS do what you are afraid to do... You might just learn something about yourself.