A Masterclass.

The Theatre Royal Haymarket provides masterclasses with noted people from stage and screen to inspire and help us struggling actors. I previously went to one hosted by Fiona Shaw, and although I found her fascinating and very profound, I also felt rather out of my depth. I was worried this was an indication of a lack of expertise in my field, but upon eavesdropping on various whispered conversations around me, I soon realised that most other people felt the same; she is of the old-school acting elite, and a lot of methods she talked about and her acting style were not truly reflective of actors today, and so I found it difficult to relate. I didn't go to a masterclass for a while after that experience, as I really only learnt that although Ms Shaw is a fantastic actress, her opinions didn't hold my attention for three hours.


Having said that, I have kept an eye out for other masterclasses that would be of more interest to me, and with that in mind, booked myself in to see the stars of director Trevor Nunn's current West End hit, Flare Path; Sheridan Smith and Sienna Miller. As a huge fan of the musical Legally Blonde (despite working front of house at the Savoy for eight months I never got bored of Sheridan's performance or the ridiculously chirpy soundtrack), and an admirer of Sienna's style and grace on screen, these are two women who I am thoroughly excited to learn from.


However, an hour and a half into it, I realised that these two women couldn't actually depart particularly helpful information. This is because both of them have been in constant work since they were 16, and have never struggled for auditions or finding new jobs. In fact, Sienna made a comment about having three or four auditions a week... a week??! A month would be nice! Both women knew the right people, or, as Sheridan admitted, have been extremely lucky. To be in Flare Path they didn't even audition, Trevor Nunn text them both. I mean, when does this happen in normal people's lives??! Still, what I loved about them both is how down to earth they are, and seemed almost nervous about being quizzed by an audience of mainly late teens to mid 20's. It was a fun experience, but it became obvious when audiences started asking questions that it was the two women that were actually out of their depth... albeit in a way that I would like to be.


For example, a question was, what did you do for work when you didn't have an acting job? Sheridan worked in a burger van, but this was when she was 15 and hadn't begun an acting career; once she had begun, it never stopped. Sienna was a waitress, but again this was before she kickstarted her career using her mum's agents, and she said, 'I've been lucky enough not to worry about work between jobs because there's always been a bit of money left from the last one.' A bit of money? Try millions!


Neither of them trained, but are hugely successful, whereas now actors are told if they haven't been to RADA or Central then they won't even get a look in with the good agents, and unfortunately this seems to be true. Sheridan's advice was to get into a play and invite agents to come and watch, and a girl in the audience called out, 'but they don't come!' And again its true, an agent isn't interested unless you have the right credentials already or know someone on the inside. Neither actress knew how to respond to this, as both have never been in that position.


All in all, it was lovely to hear their stories and both of them are incredibly talented individuals, but next time I go to a masterclass, I'm going to go and see someone who struggled for years before their career began, and see what pearls of wisdom I can squeeze out of them. After all, as another huge success, Ethel Barrymore said;


'For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a Macaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.'


Looks like I have a long way to go.