We know what you’re thinking: what working life? Most actors spend more time out of work than in it. Either that or they spend their time finding their ‘centres’ or getting into character in their very cold, very dark and very humble abodes.
Although some of these cliches may be true, it’s fair to say that there’s a lot more to the world of acting. So, what is the actor’s working life really like? Arts Hub asked two people that know a thing or two about it all: performers Anne Odeke and Edmund Kingsley. Both at different stages of their careers, they share their experiences, aspirations and words of wisdom on the craft.
Anne Odeke: three jobs in one
Having two, “peformy jobs”, one as a member of HaHa-HeHe Theatre Company and the other as a stand-up comic, Anne Odeke, born and raised in Southend-on-sea, is busy making a name for herself within an industry that she’s only recently broken into after graduating with a degree in Modern Drama. “People who know me really well were not surprised in the slightest. I’ve always (although hating the term) been a ‘drama queen’”, she explains.
“I came to be in HaHa-HeHe Theatre Company having met the other two members whilst at university. We found that the three of us got on extremely well and had very similar ideas with regards to performance and comedy. Our dissertation piece ‘I gave him my heart, he gave me…an apple!?!’ got us a First and we also won the Evolve prize, giving us the opportunity to show our work at the Battersea Arts Centre – the show sold out,” says Anne. “So our next goal was to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and whilst it was tough being goldfish in a sea of sharks, we learned a hell of a lot.”
However, even now with a degree in Drama and a few shows under her belt she still gets a bit of a funny reaction when asked about her profession.
“When I tell people I’ve studied theatre or that I perform/do stand-up, I get what I like to call ‘The Side Tilt’ – this is a non verbal form of communication, when you notice the head in front of you tilt to either the left or right (either direction is acceptable), followed by a pitiful look and an ‘I understand’ nod. This ‘tilt’ implies one of the following”, says Anne, before reeling off the options:
“1. The ‘tilter’ thinks you’re stupid.
2. The ‘tilter’ thinks you’re immature and should get ‘a real job’.
3. The ‘tilter’ thinks your dream is to win the X-Factor and/or Big Brother.
4. The ‘tilter’ thinks your stupid.”
It might sound like an amusing anecdote, but it’s just one of many preconceptions people hold about what is a glamorous, but also a very competitive field of work in which many fail, as well as suceed.
Specialising in contemporary comedy HaHa-HeHe Theatre Company are now in the process of producing their next piece. Carefully planning the right course and experience has been key in Anne’s journey into comedy acting, but her route into stand-up comedy was little less organised.
“Whilst up at the Fringe, I happened to be in a blues bar with my best friend,” reveals Anne. “The band failed to turn up and whether it was the numerous glasses of vino or the Scottish heat, my best friend decided to go up to the manager of the bar and say ‘Not to worry, my best mate Anne is a stand-up!’. So off he marched to the front of stage, next thing I knew my name was being called and I thought ‘Why the hell not?!’ I got a great reaction and really enjoyed myself.”
She hasn’t looked back since and has gone on to perform at venues around the UK including The Pear Shape and Funny Bunnys and The Comedy Store.
Although successful, juggling the acting and stand-up comedy still doesn’t make enough to pay the bills at this point in her career. So by day Anne is more commonly known as Miss Odeke.
“I absolutely love my job as a Drama teacher. I love the enthusiasm of the kids and I love the fact that no two days are the same. 5 days a week I talk about the subject I enjoy most.”
“The dream is to become an extremely well-known mixed-race lady-comedian,” confides Anne, “the bigger the audiences, the bigger the rush.” You couldn’t pay her enough to give up her love of comedy and theatre, so, for now, balancing several jobs seems to be what keeps it all interesting.
Anne’s final words of advice for aspiring actors are clear: “It’s very clichéd but ‘Don’t give up’. Don’t let those evil ‘tilters’ force you into doing a job you’ll hate – after all who wants to get to 100 and say, ‘I wish when I was younger I’d have…’. No thank you! But then again, who am I to tell you what to do? I’m kinda starting out myself. Exciting stuff if you ask me!”
Edmund Kingsley: living the dream
Actor Edmund Kingsley on the other hand has been working full-time since leaving drama school in 2003. “I’ve been very, very lucky in that so far I haven’t had to do anything but acting jobs to make ends meet. Something has always come along just in the nick of time. That’s not to say there haven’t been times when jobs have finished with nothing else on the horizon and a few torturous weeks have been spent sleeping badly and waiting for the phone to ring,” admits Edmund.
With his mother a successful director and his father the established British actor Ben Kingsley, it is no surprise that Edmund caught the passion for acting at an early age.
“When I was two years old Dad played Silas Marner in a TV adaptation of the George Eliot novel. One day the girl playing his daughter threw a wobbly, as toddlers do. As I happened to be on set and was the right age they dressed me up and wigged me up and my acting career started then and there. Apparently I told my parents that day that I wanted to be an actor, and since then I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else,” shares Edmund. “The advantage of being part of a family that already has people in the business is that they can offer advice on the practicalities as well as moral support.”
Being out of work is a horrible situation but almost all actors have to cope with quiet periods at some point in their career. “The best way I’ve found of keeping going is to get straight down to writing because it’s something creative that I can have control over”, says Edmund.
“I set up Tough Crowd, a website where we try out script ideas as podcasts, and I’ve always got a few ideas in a notebook that have occurred to me whilst doing an acting job that I can expand on whilst waiting for the next one. I also try and keep my hand in by taking part in things like rehearsed readings or workshops of shows that may happen in the future. All this is in addition to the less glamorous other half of professional acting, which is keeping your ear to the ground, writing letters, keeping photos and CVs up to date etc.”
One can imagine there are also added benefits to working as an actor, glitzy awards ceremonies, as well as those bright and early starts but, often overlooked, is the opportunity to give exposure to and support worthy projects.
“For the record, I’ve had far more experience with early starts than glitzy award ceremonies”, says Edmund, an active supporter of Actors For Refugees. “I think actors have to be careful about publicly supporting political or charitable causes – if there’s any hint of self-promotion or of us indulging in the emotional drama of something you can end up turning people off and hurting the very cause you want to promote.”
“Rather than telling people what to think, the core activities of Actors For Refugees are the public performances of programmes of testimonials and statistics relating to, for example, the treatment of asylum seekers or the practice of extraordinary rendition. It’s an opportunity to put the performance skills we have to have in our professional lives to good use by communicating the experiences of marginalised and disenfranchised people to as wide an audience as possible.”
So, what is his best career highlight so far? “The theatre highlight has been the RSC: I spent all of 2006 and the first three months of 2007 doing Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra and the Tempest with a great bunch of people in Stratford, the States, Newcastle and the West End. My favourite morning’s filming was on an empty Cornish beach doing a big, shouty scene with an actor I really enjoy working with in summer last year.”
The best piece of advice Edmund’s been given was to “keep breathing and don’t f**k it up.” So, what about his advice for those wanting to make it as a professional performer? “This is probably too prosaic to be counted as wisdom, but go and train for as close to three years as you are able at a good, accredited drama school. While there are always going to be the lucky one or two who go straight to the top without training they are the exceptions that prove the rule. Whatever natural talent you have, acting is a craft that must be learned and practiced and a good drama school is the best place to do it.”
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Edmund is currently playing Jaques in As You Like It at the Bridge House Theatre in Warwick.
Anne’s next gig is at The Pear Shape on 5 March 2008.
