SEPTEMBER 2017
“No pressure, no diamonds.”
Holly Woodhouse as Maggie in Anaktoron
Working as an actor…there will be times in your life when you work so hard and you are under so much pressure but you will have nothing yet to show for all your effort and stress. Don’t lose sight of the fact that you are in the process of forming diamonds. And, just like a diamond, what makes a good one (film) depends on the 4 C’s: the cut (edit); the colour (grading); the clarity (sound, light, visual); and the carat (audience size). Just accept that unless you’re directing and editing the film yourself, you will have to rely on other people to make your ‘diamond’ a good one. This doesn’t always happen but you mustn’t lose heart. There will always be something that you can take away from a project (even if it’s just that you’ll never work for that person again 😂), so stay positive.
The many self-tape audition faces of Holly Woodhouse
September was the month for…self-taped auditions. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re becoming more and more popular. And, as anyone who has done one will tell you, they can be tricky as there is nothing you can feed off to gauge your performance - it’s just you in the room. So, it’s easy to want to play it safe and do a standard reading for the role. However, that can work against you, especially if everyone else’s tape is the same. Own the character and don’t be afraid to do something different. And although it is tempting to keep trying to get the ‘word-perfect’ audition tape, if you do too many recordings, you can sometimes end up with a very tired and flat performance. But that doesn’t mean you submit a tape if you’re not happy with it. Do the necessary preparation. Research your character, learn your lines, rehearse until you’ve ‘got it’, and don’t hit the record button until you have!
New castings…I’m delighted to share the news that I have been cast as Emily Moore in Ross Kelly’s latest short film Sheltered which is listed on IMDb. I have also been cast in two other short films the details of which I hope to be able to share with you soon! With these films in production and IronStar Films currently filming the last-remaining scenes of Tellurian, the back quarter of this year is looking pretty amazing.
Watching the talented Craig McGinlay in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur:Legend of the Sword
Speaking of Tellurian…It's so cool when you're watching a blockbuster and you can say to your kids "I'm in a movie with him"! Craig McGinlay, who plays the role of Sir Percival in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (a brilliant re-telling of the classic story, by the way, so get your copy now) is in Tellurian in the role of Mike Walsh - the leader of the resistance fighting against the alien invasion engineered by my character Tellu.
A moment of quiet reflection in one of my favourite places, The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow
Giving back this month…has kept me busy with two of my favourite charities, the Ayrshire Hospice and my local primary school. You may recall I joined the Ayrshire Hospice Autumn Ball Committee earlier this year. Well, last night the hard work of the events team came to fruition and an incredible amount of money was raised. Next week I will have the great honour of attending the Scottish Fundraising Awards Gala Dinner, representing the Ayrshire Hospice Autumn Ball Committee which is a finalist for the Institute of Fundraising (Scotland) award for Voluntary Fundraising Group of the Year - wish us luck! Later this month, it will be full steam ahead planning the Halloween and Christmas fundraising events for my local primary school - no rest for the wicked, hey!
Festival glory abounds…this month as Fortress picks up the laurel for Best Short Film at the Wales International Film Festival and Max Payne:Retribution wins Best Fan Film at the Oniros Film Awards. I am so proud to be part of both of these fantastic films. You can watch the trailer for Fortress on this link https://youtu.be/JTCBDNY77wg and you can join the 117,000+ people who have watched Max Payne:Retribution by clicking this link https://youtu.be/0J5vrTMXXoo
Wishing you all an awesome October and a Happy Halloween!
