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Typical Week
Monday I start the week working at home, writing letters and reading through casting newsletters, reviews, web sites: researching possible casting opportunities. I have to prepare a scene from a modern play for an audition I will have tomorrow. I choose the opening scene of One For The Road by Harold Pinter and work on the scene to present it tomorrow. In the evening I watch a play written by my friend Rebecca Lenkiewicz called 'The Shoreditch Madonna' at The Soho Theatre. Tuesday I exercise regularly, switching between running and swimming. The audition goes well. I'm up for an Italian character called Angelo with a shady history. It's always fun to play villains! Wednesday
It's my working day at Links Management. So I put my agent's hat on and represent my colleagues, making phone calls, submitting their details for various casting calls. I go to the West End and watch Death Of A Salesman by Arthur Miller. I've seen it on stage and film before; every time I see it I discover something new about the characters and myself. Thursday I have a meeting with the director of Mkultra, the performance collective I'm part of. We evaluate the last performance we did in Turin, Italy which was very warmly received by the public. We are planning to repeat this 24 hour performance in Athens and London this autumn. Friday I go to a casting for an Adidas commercial. We have to play basketball while they are taking our images. Saturday I'm at the Arcola Theatre. There is a new in house production opening next week called Carver and we work till the early hours to get the stage ready for the opening week. Sunday I'm facilitating a forum theatre workshop at Birkbeck College for the Forum Theatre Network run by Utopia.
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My Background
I came to Britain in 1998 to study at Exeter University. While I was doing my MA in Theatre Practice there, it became clear to me that acting interested me more than the other areas of the course and I auditioned for two acting schools in London to get further practical training in this area. East 15 Acting School offered me a place in their postgraduate acting course and in the following September I started this course. Since graduating in 2000, I've been based in London pursuing a freelance acting career.
Why acting? Knowing that acting is a high risk career with no regular employment guarantee, I had to take my time to make a final decision of commitment to this profession. Since my student days in Robert College Istanbul, theatre and film have been a passion of mine and during my studies at Bosphorus University (BA in Business Studies), I discovered that a creative profession would fit my personality better. With that thought I graduated from university and applied for postgraduate courses in film and theatre. Britain was my first choice with its tradition in performance arts and also the duration of the courses were one year instead of two years like in the USA.
That one year in the MA course gave me enough time to see clearly my potential as an actor and by the end of that year I was ready to move forward in life as an actor.
My Job
There are two phases of the profession as an actor. Phase 1 is the period when you are not attached to a project and you are marketing yourself as a prospective employee in the industry. Phase 2 is the period when you are actually committed to a project, supplying your goods as an actor to your employer. These phases are not clear cut, obviously the activities of one phase usually carries on to the next. As a self employed professional most of your responsibilities are to yourself. You have to make sure you are physically and mentally ready to work any time and to have a clear, objective strategy to develop your career. Alongside improving your skills as an actor, you also have to commit time and resources to meet people and present yourself. When I'm employed my immediate responsibility is to the director of the production who would expect me to make a solid contribution to the creation of the final product; be it a play, film or commercial.
My Work Environment and Training
As a freelance actor my working environment varies from job to job. The conditions of the work environment and number of people you work with will depend on the project and the medium. Between projects my schedule is very flexible and will be dictated by various meetings and interviews I will have to attend.
Worst Bits
Worst bit of the job is the waiting between an audition/casting and getting the news whether you've got the job or not. Because of the number of projects and actors casting directors have to deal with, often you will get no call at all if it is a negative answer.
Best Bits
Performing- being on stage or in front of camera, working with inspirational people.
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