Throughout my second year training, I’ve begun to transition from an actor in training towards a professional product ready for the industry. This year has been a good opportunity for me to figure out my main skills that I’d like to show off in my showcase. Through my established repertoire lessons I’ve been able to find out about new different paths I can take in order to put myself out there into the industry and make a living doing what I enjoy.

Industry Research

Firstly I looked into certain film actors i like and what kind of journeys they took.Film acting really appeals to me because of how detailed and internal it is. I enjoy working in a more subtle, naturalistic way, where small thoughts and reactions carry meaning rather than big external choices. The camera picks up on everything, so it requires a level of honesty and focus that I find particularly engaging. 

As I approach graduation it’s important that I look critically at opportunities in screen acting and identify a clear and realistic pathway into professional work. In recent years there has been a significant shift into naturalistic and authentic performances in UK television, which would suit nicely with what kind of work I would ideally be doing in the future. Securing appropriate representation is a crucial step in accessing these roles. When I’ve been looking into agencies, it is important to target agencies that have strong relationships with casting directors that are prominent and established in television and film in the uk. One acting agency I’ve been looking into is Insight Management and Production, they specifically stand out to me because of their focus on developing new emerging actors and supporting early career  progression into screen work.  In addition to this, I would also invite a range of mid-tier agencies that have strong industry connections and a track record of signing emerging actors. Agencies such as Markham, Froggatt and Irwin and Keddie Scott Associates are particularly relevant, as they represent working actors across television and film and offer realistic opportunities for early career work. I would also consider inviting slightly lesser established agencies such as Gordon and French, as their smaller rosters may allow for more personalised development. Alongside these, I would include a small number of higher-profile agencies, such as Hamilton Hodell, in order to maximise visibility because even if I don’t get signed it’s still good to be seen.

Alongside screen acting, voice acting presents a significant and growing area of opportunity. The expansion of digital media including video games, animation and audiobooks excites me a lot. This is something I’ve always wanted to delve into and I believe my voice has improved over the first two years of training. As a result of this, my natural vocal qualities are conversational and grounded, which could align with things like commercial voiceover, narration, and character based audio work. Furthermore, my training specifically over this year with opportunities like my Shakespeare assessment as well as my first professional rehearsal process, has provided me with a strong foundation in character development and text analysis. Developing skills such as microphone technique and recording practice will be essential in bridging the gap between stage and screen acting with voiceover work.

Headshots

One photography company I have researched for professional headshots is Akta Headshots. I was initially drawn to the company through their branding as the “UK’s leading provider of headshots,” which suggests both credibility and industry recognition. What particularly appeals to me is their use of colourful, contemporary backgrounds, which help their images stand out in comparison to more traditional headshot styles. This aligns with how I want to present myself as an actor who is approachable and authentic. Additionally, Akta’s ethos of supporting actors who show potential but may require guidance is reflected in their pay what you can pricing structure. This makes their service more accessible for me and indicates a commitment to emerging performers, which is especially relevant at this stage in my career. Overall, their style feels modern and expressive, and I believe it would effectively communicate both personality and versatility within my casting type.

Another company I have considered is YellowBelly Photo, whose work offers a contrasting aesthetic. Their headshots have a more cinematic and atmospheric quality, which could allow me to present a different aspect of my casting, particularly with more screen focused roles. YellowBelly is also well established, being a company I’ve personally been recommended by many third year actors at the Conservatoire, which suggests a level of trust and proven industry relevance However, a key drawback is the higher cost of their packages, especially when compared to Akta, despite offering a similar number of final images. While their work is of a high standard, this financial consideration is important when weighing up options as an emerging actor. Ultimately, both companies offer valuable but distinct approaches: Akta provides a fresh, accessible, and personality driven style, while YellowBelly offers a more cinematic and polished aesthetic suited to screen acting.

Actor CV

I began my research into actor cv’s by looking into the current Leeds Conservatoire third year actors cv’s and spotlight profiles. Fortunately I was able to reference Benjamin Kelly’s cv and find what I wanted the content of the page to be. However, I found that although detailed I wanted mine to be more visually appealing.

In developing my acting CV, I experimented with a range of layouts and formats in order to find the most effective way to present myself professionally. A key priority was ensuring that my name and headshot were the most prominent elements on the page, as these are the first points of reference for agents and casting directors. I wanted the layout to be clear and immediately readable, allowing someone to quickly establish who I am and what I offer as a performer. To achieve this, I used Adobe Express, which I found particularly useful due to its flexibility and ease of adaptation when testing different designs.

As part of this process, I explored the use of colour as a way of subtly reinforcing my personal brand. I chose green as the primary colour within my CV, as it connotes a grounded, approachable, and down-to-earth quality, which aligns with both my personality and my casting type. This choice was also influenced by feedback I have received about colours that suit my appearance, as well as a desire to visually connect my CV with the colourful and contemporary style of Akta’s headshots (my current favourite). This helped create a sense of cohesion across my marketing materials, making my overall presentation feel more considered and consistent.

In terms of structure, I focused on creating a layout that balances clarity with professionalism. I used bold headings to ensure that key sections could be easily identified, allowing agents to quickly navigate the document. I also introduced a clear division of information by using a column layout: one side contains my personal details, including contact information, skills, and physical attributes, while the other focuses on my credits and training. This separation allows for efficient scanning while maintaining a clean and organised appearance.

When selecting which credits to include, I made a conscious effort to demonstrate range and versatility. I included a mix of classical and contemporary work, such as Our Town and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, alongside more modern plays like Faustus: That Damned Woman. This was a deliberate choice to show that I am an adaptable performer who is comfortable working across different styles and periods.

Moving forward, I intend to carry these presentation skills into my professional career, recognising that self-marketing is a crucial aspect of working within the industry. Understanding how to clearly and effectively present my skills, experience, and casting type will be essential when applying for representation, submitting for roles, and maintaining professional materials such as Spotlight. This process has reinforced the importance of not only the content of a CV, but also its design and readability, ensuring that I can communicate my strengths quickly and confidently to industry professionals.

Actor Biography

In developing my actor bio, I aimed to present a clear and concise overview of my training, experience, and artistic identity, while also considering how I am perceived within the industry. I began by identifying the most important aspects of my journey, starting with my early experience at Theatretrain and Barton Peveril, as this established the foundation of my interest in performance. I then focused on my training at Leeds Conservatoire, as this represents the core of my professional development and reflects the range of skills and approaches I have been exposed to. When selecting credits to include, I made a conscious decision to highlight both classical and contemporary work, such as Our Town and Till the Stars Come Down, in order to demonstrate versatility and range within my performances.

Throughout the process, I experimented with writing the bio in both first person and third person, which helped me understand how tone and perspective influence how I am presented. Writing in first person allowed me to feel more connected to the content and emphasise my personal voice, but it felt less formal and less aligned with industry expectations. In contrast, writing in third person created a more professional and objective tone, which is more commonly used in platforms such as Spotlight and theatre programmes. This shift also encouraged me to think about how I might be perceived by casting directors rather than how I see myself.

Overall, I aimed to keep the bio concise, professional, and adaptable for different contexts, ensuring it communicates both my experience and my interest in naturalistic, character-driven acting. The process of refining the bio has helped me better understand my casting type and how to present myself clearly within the industry, while also recognising the importance of changing the tone and content depending on its intended use.

Summative Statement

Myself As An Actor

One of my goals this year was to better understand which kind of roles would be suitable for me to look towards. I’ve had feedback from my teachers that my casting type is awkward, off beat, best friend. After receiving this I began to look for monologues that suit this style of acting. I wanted to find a monologue that I could put on the front page of my spotlight that immediately shows this.

This casting type is something that agents will be looking for in the current market, with the rise of streaming platforms churning out shows like Sex Education and After Life. Rather than occupying the role of a conventional lead, this casting positions me as a character actor that can provide specificity and relatability to an audience. I take time to remind myself that this is not a limiting categorisation but an understanding of how I’m going to be initially perceived in the industry and how I can better market myself as an actor.

Another exploration of myself as an actor is how I present myself to people like casting directors and agents. The mock auditions in both Screen Acting and Established Repertoire have let me practice how to present myself and come across as someone who you’d want to work with. As well as good preparation, the scenes we did for Michael allowed me to lean into the aforementioned casting bracket I could fit in. This proved successful with positive feedback, being called the ‘standout pairing’ and a ‘great personality in the room’. These auditions were later sent out to directors on the MA Directing course at Leeds Conservatoire and as a result, I’ve been cast as a prolific role in A Peasants Feast directed by Brandon Robinson-Connolly .

Shakespeare Assessment

Before beginning my work on Shakespeare, I felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I had previously encountered Shakespeare during my college production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but at that time I struggled to fully connect with the language and did not feel confident in my process. I was aware that many actors describe a “breakthrough” moment with Shakespeare, and I felt a sense of pressure to reach that point myself. This uncertainty made me question my ability, but also motivated me to approach the work with a more open and committed mindset.

After discussing these concerns with Esther, I felt reassured and inspired by her passion and clarity when approaching Shakespeare’s text. She emphasised that the work does not need to feel inaccessible or overwhelming, but instead can be approached in a practical and actor-focused way. This shifted my perspective significantly. I began to recognise that engaging with Shakespeare would be an important step in my development, not only because of his significance within global theatre, but also because it challenged me to improve my ability to work with complex, heightened language. Developing confidence in handling large, text-heavy material became a key personal objective.

One of the most valuable aspects of this process was learning techniques to break down the text into manageable sections. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the density of the language, I was encouraged to focus on identifying themes, intentions, and emotional shifts in order to better understand Malcolm in his tense meeting with Macduff. This made the text more accessible and allowed me to approach it in a way that felt both logical and creative. In particular, exploring how different themes and emotions manifest physically was highly impactful. By connecting language to physical sensation and response, I was able to ground the text in something tangible, which made my performance feel more truthful and embodied rather than purely intellectual.

Moving forward, I intend to take these skills into my professional practice within the industry. The ability to break down complex text, identify clear intentions, and connect language to physical and emotional truth is not only applicable to Shakespeare, but to all forms of screen and stage acting. In particular, this process will support my work in naturalistic performance, as it strengthens my ability to fully understand and internalise a script before bringing it to stage. It also gives me greater confidence when approaching auditions, especially when faced with unfamiliar or text-heavy material. Overall, this experience has allowed me to reframe my relationship with Shakespeare, transforming it from something intimidating into a valuable tool for developing clarity, depth, and versatility as an actor.

Our Town (Dir. Beth Knight)

Our Town was my first experience working on a project that felt professionally structured, both in its rehearsal process and performance expectations. Working under Beth Knight, a director who is actively working within the industry, was particularly valuable and gave me a clear insight into the standards required of an actor beyond training. The process highlighted not only how work is developed in a rehearsal room, but also the level of discipline, preparation, and professionalism expected. This experience has shaped my understanding of rehearsal etiquette and reinforced the importance of consistency, focus, and openness when collaborating within a professional environment.

I approached Our Town as an opportunity to actively test and develop my character-building techniques. The play itself provided an ideal framework for this, as it centres on characters who are grounded, emotionally truthful, and reflective of everyday life. I was cast as Doctor Gibbs, which challenged me significantly as it fell outside of my usual casting type. As an older character—a father, husband, and respected member of the community—he required a level of maturity and authority that I had not previously explored in my work. I began to view him as a dependable and thoughtful figure, someone with a strong sense of responsibility and a utilitarian mindset. His dialogue often felt considered and deliberate, as though each thought had been processed before being spoken. Interestingly, I recognised aspects of this in my own behaviour, particularly in how I sometimes pre-plan conversations in real life. Identifying this connection allowed me to build a more personal and authentic relationship with the character.

The technique that stood out to me was actioning. This is something that I had previously worked on but hadn’t found massively useful. These were categorised into nurturing, using and damaging. Using the actioning app, these categories gave us a list of words that fit into a ‘i___you’ format. We noted down every verb that felt connected with our characters core beliefs and then whittled it down to a few that felt most identified. 

We then had our scenes read to us cold with these action words in mind. My previous thoughts on actioning had been that these words needed to be specific to certain lines, which hadn’t worked for me. However, in this session we focused on letting these actions grow throughout our scene. I feel this helped me stay in the thought process of Doctor Gibbs; when putting this into practice my feedback was massively positive from our director and I had felt like I made a significant breakthrough with my scene. 

Moving forward, I intend to carry this approach into my professional practice. Actioning has become a valuable tool for maintaining clarity and intention, particularly when working with text-heavy or emotionally complex material. It supports my ability to stay connected to the character’s objectives while allowing space for spontaneity and genuine reaction. More broadly, this experience has reinforced the importance of being open to re-evaluating techniques that may not have worked for me previously, and adapting them in ways that suit my process. As I enter the industry, I will continue to apply these skills in both rehearsal and audition settings, using them to support truthful, consistent, and engaging performances across a range of roles.

Conclusion

Overall I have found this portfolio and our Established Repertoire exercises leading up to it to be massively helpful. It’s given me a great insight into what to expect from the industry and how to find ways to proactively ready myself. I know that this coming summer leading up to the third year that there are steps I need to take in order to put the right foot forward for myself.

Bibliography

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