By Francesca Knight
Last night I went to a Q and A session with the great British actor, Hugh Bonneville. I met him a few years ago over a lunch to get some (much needed) advice about starting a career in acting. He told me, more or less, to get as much life experience as possible, to travel, to get a degree and to join the National Youth Theatre. I went, dutifully, and did all those things.
So I wanted, now given the opportunity to meet him again through Ideastap, to quiz him about the next steps in my career. He was, unsurprisingly, eloquent, charming and had a memory for names, dates and shows that would put me to shame.
His opening statement was a warning: “You will not learn anything from me”, a modest and untrue preface to a very entertaining evening. His advice was to be proactive (rather than reactive, as is the case with most actors), and to force “Lady Luck” to find you.
He told us of the 3 goals he had set himself at the beginning of his career, as a fresh faced Cambridge graduate wanting nothing more than to spend his life in the theatre, shunning the “lesser art” of television and film acting – paradoxically, he has now not been in a play for nearly 8 years. The first goal was to get an equity card within 3 years, the second, to work at the Chichester Theatre within 5 and the third, to work with the RSC within 10. He did all those things, but apparently, not in that order.
READ MORE: http://francescaknight.blogspot.com/2012/03/hugh-bonneville-q-and-with-ideastap.html
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