'It took 10 years to get here!' Stefan Boateng on getting his first TV credit! | Your Cinema
Yourcinemafilms.com | Actor Stefan Boateng discusses his continuous work ethic and taking 10 years to get his first TV credit!
’Welcome to Your Cinema'
Follow us on socials:
Tiktok: @yourcinemafilms
Instagram: @yourcinemafilms
Twitter: @yourcinemafilms
’Welcome to Your Cinema'
Follow us on socials:
Tiktok: @yourcinemafilms
Instagram: @yourcinemafilms
Twitter: @yourcinemafilms
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 What's going on guys, we are here for another episode of Industry Notes, where we really
00:11 look at people who are doing things in the industry and succeeding and yeah we really
00:18 just want to get their behind the scenes notes on how that success and how their journeys
00:25 are actually taking place so that everyone can take note and also help them on their
00:31 journey. We always have amazing guests and today is no exception. We've got someone who
00:40 has really continued to act despite life. I think that's the way I'm going to summarise
00:48 it and I believe the interview will shed more light on it. But yeah, he's been acting for
01:04 some time and I think what I love about our guest is now he's in that space of like, okay
01:13 cool, we're not doing, you know, it's not only the indie shorts or, you know, the self-made
01:25 student projects or things like that. We're now looking at like mainstream projects and
01:30 that is wonderful to see. So I introduce none other than Stephan Boateng. What's going on
01:38 my bro? How are you?
01:39 Yeah, I'm good bro. I'm good man. I'm good. I can't complain my guy.
01:44 Good, good. Well, I'll jump straight into it. How did you first start acting? How did
01:53 you get into it and how did you first start?
01:56 So it's not a long story but when I was younger I had no intention of being an actor. I wanted
02:03 to be a footballer. I had no, literally, I didn't do drama in secondary school, drama
02:09 in A-level, drama in nothing. I didn't do nothing. And then I was trying to pursue being
02:15 a footballer and then when I was 19 I got diagnosed with a condition called pulmonary
02:21 embolism. Now that condition is like blood clotting of the lungs. Serena Williams had
02:26 it years ago but you usually get that when you're like 60, 65. I got it when I was 19.
02:34 So the medication that I was on was like blood thinner. So it's like if I was to get, have
02:40 an injury which involved like internal, external bleeding, you'll bleed at twice the rate of
02:45 a normal human being. So it was like you can risk it, play football and then, you know,
02:52 potentially die or just stop. So I ended up stopping and then maybe like six months later
02:59 Top Boy came on. It's like 2011. Top Boy came on. I was like, "Right, I want to do that.
03:04 I want to do that. How do I get into it?" I had no idea what anything was, etc. And then
03:09 another six months after that I started working at a cinema in Trocadero, Senor Trocadero.
03:15 And I was working on the early shift and then an actor walked in. I was thinking, "Right,
03:20 I know that guy." I didn't know who it was. I knew who he was, I knew who that actor was.
03:24 But I was like, "I don't want to be a beg and be like, 'Oh, I'm a big fan.'" But I just
03:29 thought to myself, "If you don't say nothing, you'll never see him again." So that actor
03:33 happened to be Daniel Kaluuya. This is like Johnny English two times. So I was just like,
03:40 "Bro, I'm a big fan of your work. I want to become an actor. How do I do it?" He asked
03:45 me, "Have you been to drama school, like RADA, Lambda?" Now these times I didn't know what
03:48 Lambda or RADA was. I'm like, "No, I've never been. I don't even know what they are." He's
03:53 like, "All right, cool. My friend goes to a drama school. It's called Identity." So
04:00 from Identity, I went to Identity, started studying there for two years, did a couple
04:04 of short films, nothing really banged. And then I went to university to study business,
04:09 just to kind of please my mum. And then, yeah, from there I just kind of went on the journey
04:14 of finding out the ins and outs of the industry, but not really knowing for sure. And then
04:19 2017, my friend Wale Shou, who owns MacTop Theatre Group, him and my friend Jaz Hutchins,
04:27 they were doing a play. And I ended up doing that play, just like, I just thought, "You
04:32 know what? I might as well do the play." Because I was working in a dead-end job. I quit my
04:36 job to do that play. I did well. And then from there I got signed, and then I've just
04:40 been, yeah, from there I've just been grafting and grinding, bro, for the past five years.
04:46 - Wow. - Yeah, man. It's been a journey. It's been
04:50 like a 10-year journey to get on TV, really and truly. It's been like that from start
04:56 to finish. I've been doing this on and off 10 years, and I'm only just now breaking into
05:03 the TV and film industry, yeah. So it's been a long, long graft, but I just kind of kept
05:08 at it. - I love that.
05:10 - Yeah, man. - That's what it's all about. You know what?
05:15 Even the story about Daniel is profound. So I guess, yeah, you were working in the cinema,
05:22 innit? So you would have probably been in film. Yeah, yeah, that's so funny.
05:28 - Yeah, man. - You know, when did you first get an agent?
05:31 You know when you did that theatre show, right?
05:33 - Yeah. - Was that like, and you got signed, was that
05:36 your first agent? - That was my first ever agent. Yeah, but
05:40 that was like a commercial agent. So that was only on commercials. So I'm getting McDonald's,
05:45 all these other things, but my real passion was to get into TV and film. But I just couldn't
05:51 get signed. Nobody wanted to take me on to do TV and film. It was just literally commercials.
05:57 And then I don't know what happened, but I ended up emailing another agent, and then
06:00 they signed me for TV and film. But yeah, that's a whole 'nother story that we can get
06:04 into after. But yeah, it's been a long, long journey, bro. It's been a long journey.
06:09 - Well, let's get into that now. Talk to me about the TV and film side of things. Like,
06:16 yeah, how did that happen? Especially not knowing as well.
06:20 - Yeah, so literally everything was new to me. I didn't know how the industry worked
06:25 in terms of like auditions, self-taping, preparation, all that stuff. But when you go to like Identity,
06:31 they kind of prep you for like theatre and film, or like really America. But I didn't
06:36 know how the industry worked as a whole. I didn't know how to like prep for auditions,
06:42 self-tape, all that stuff. So then when I got my agent, I was getting up for like musicals,
06:49 TV and film, all that stuff, doing well. And then in 2019, I booked a gig on "Killing
06:58 Eve" season three. So that was in August 2019.
07:02 - I remember you telling me that.
07:04 - Yeah, I booked that. That was like my first gig. So I booked that, I'm on the set with
07:08 like Sandra Oh, and I was like, "Right, this is what I want to do. Whatever, whatever,
07:13 we've done the scenes, cool." And I'm telling everyone, I'm watching, I'm like, "Yo, like,
07:18 I'm going to be on TV, the new 'Killing Eve,' whatever, whatever." So now obviously this
07:23 is 2019. January 2020 comes, I get a call from my agent saying, "Listen, I'm sorry,
07:29 but 'Killing Eve' have called, they've had to cancel, they've had to cut your scenes."
07:33 So then I was devastated. I was like, "Bro, I've told everyone I'm going to be on TV,
07:37 it's not happening, cool." And then obviously March 2020 hits, we all know what happened
07:42 in March 2020, we get hit with COVID. But also sidebar from that, from August 2019,
07:48 I did not have an audition from when I booked "Killing Eve" up until March 2020. Now you
07:56 can imagine, no commercials, no TV, no film, I didn't have one audition, no corporate,
08:02 no nothing. So from, what's that, about seven, eight months I didn't have an audition, COVID
08:06 hits, the whole industry shuts down, I don't have an audition, another eight months. So
08:11 that really put my morale down. I was like, to the point where I wanted to stop acting
08:16 because nothing was going right. I was just like, nothing was going right. And then I
08:21 ended up talking to one of my friends, David Amordio, and he was just like, "Bro, you can't
08:25 quit, you've just got to keep on going." And I just started to look for other agents and
08:29 I got signed to my current agent. And then once that started, it's just been on the up
08:35 and up since, bro. So yeah, you name it, I've been through it, bro. I've been through the
08:40 highs, the complete lows. I've had to battle auditioning around work, family bereavements,
08:47 but I've always had that singular focus of like, "Bro, it's going to happen. I've come
08:53 too far to stop." You know what I'm saying? Literally, I've just come way too far to stop.
08:59 So it's been like I said, a long, long journey, bro. Long, long journey.
09:05 So you know what, right? And well done, man, for pushing through. With all these different
09:13 agents and people that you were seeking representation from, right? How did you approach those meetings?
09:22 So it was more so, I guess, at that particular time, then it was more so out of desperation.
09:30 Because you never want, well, I didn't want to feel like I'm missing opportunities, come
09:35 by me. So you always wanted to be in the mix. But then I realized it's not necessarily about
09:41 what agent or agency you signed to. It's about what the agent thinks of you and how they
09:46 can kind of market you in a sense, right? And if they believe in you, and you kind of
09:51 want to have that partnership, in a sense. I just started sending out emails. I was getting
09:57 hard. When I would come back from work, I would just go on my laptop, find the list
10:01 of agents, go on IMDB Pro, look at their profiles, look at their client lists, figure out who's
10:07 doing what, what kind of clients they had, what kind of stuff they was doing as well,
10:13 and just shoot an email. I was relentless. I was hungry. I was relentless, bro. I was
10:18 relentless, like nothing and nobody was going to stop me. You know what I'm saying? I was
10:22 just relentless every day I was at it until I finally booked my agent. And then once I
10:27 got that, and like literally a couple months after that, I just started booking. So I've
10:32 just been, I've just been doing it ever since. Yeah, bro.
10:36 - So you know, in terms of, in securing your good agent now, right? Is there anything in
10:46 particular that helped? Was it like some of the other projects that you've done, having
10:50 a showreel? Is it more like, you know, your headshot? And how do you know they were the
10:56 right fit for you? Or did it not matter because you were at a point of like desperation where
11:01 it's like, I just needed something?
11:03 - But you know what? I think it all kind of fits. Cause like, I think having a showreel
11:08 that kind of shows your diversity, diversity in terms of an actor is really key. You don't
11:15 want to have a show which really showcases like you doing the same roles over and over
11:19 again. And I was kind of blessed with that in terms of like doing the indie short films,
11:23 but picking short films that showcase me as an actor, rather than just doing a bunch of
11:28 indie short films. You know what I'm saying? So like there was a different range of them
11:32 as well, especially being black. It's very hard to find in these that are really doing
11:38 like a lot of short films. Like there's so many directors out there like RM Moses, Thomas
11:42 Adepeju, you know, obviously now Kobe's doing his thing now, but like those kind of directors
11:47 are the people that are kind of like, look at them like, yo, they're doing stuff that's
11:52 hella diverse. So if you get with them, there's going to be some depth to the character and
11:57 it's going to be a great piece of work. You know what I'm saying? So those are the kind
12:00 of guys that I looked at, was like, okay, cool. I have a talent, they've got a talent.
12:04 If we can kind of connect on a level and make something special happen, you know, anything
12:09 can happen.
12:10 So, yeah, I was just like, because I was, I was more so like, bro, people get to a certain
12:15 point and they think, okay, I'm going to stop doing short films. I still do short films
12:18 to this day. If it's good enough and the script is good and the production is good, why not
12:25 do it bro? Like I want to act, I'll act in anything, like acting is my passion. So yeah,
12:30 if it's good, I want to do it, you know?
12:33 I love that. I love that. I love that. What have been some of the hardest times for you?
12:40 Definitely COVID for sure. That was when like I lost all desire, like all desire to want
12:48 to act. Like things will come through during COVID. I was like, do I even want to do this?
12:53 Like I didn't really, like acting didn't excite me anymore. Literally, like I just, nothing
12:59 was really coming in. So I just thought, you know what, like, if I don't get a call from
13:04 my agent today, I don't really care. Like I just, I became really disillusioned with
13:09 acting and the industry. Cause I just, I felt like I didn't fit and no one really looked
13:15 at me and like, well, cause I wasn't getting no calls for nothing, bro. Not even like corporate
13:20 stuff or commercials. I'm like, if I can't get an audition for corporate or even a commercial,
13:26 then maybe this industry isn't necessarily for me. You know what I mean? I didn't know
13:30 people like I'm not a script writer. I didn't know people in production and stuff and everything
13:35 kind of shut down. So I didn't really know how to maneuver. It's just all still new to
13:39 me. So I'm like, okay, I don't know. I don't know what to do. Industry shut down. People
13:43 are telling me it's not shut down. People are saying that it is shut down. You just
13:47 don't know. You know? So it was just one of those things, bro. Like I just, I was like,
13:51 if it comes, it comes. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I wasn't too fussed. But luckily I had like
13:55 a good support group of friends around me that encouraged me and then uplifted me to
13:59 be like, bro, keep going, keep going, keep going. So you have to have that support group
14:04 around you as well, man. You know what I mean?
14:08 - You know, that can't have been easy, man. I didn't realize this year, but I thought
14:22 it was maybe one or two episodes, but I didn't realize you've been in like 10 episodes of
14:26 Coronation Street.
14:27 - Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
14:29 - I wanted to know, like, what was that like? I mean, everyone's grown up watching Coronation
14:35 Street, whether it's against their will or not. Like it's one of the ones, you know what
14:41 I mean? It's Coronation Street, there's Holyoke, there's a few soaps. It's like soaps for different
14:47 people in it. But Coronation Street is up there. Like what was that like? Black Barrister.
14:54 - Yeah. So during that time when I got the call, I was in the running for that and another
15:03 job, but I was thinking I don't fit a barrister. I don't know how I'm going to... So I wasn't
15:08 thinking I was going to get a call for that. I was thinking it was going to be for something
15:11 else. So my agent called me and she was like, yeah, we've got an offer for you to play the
15:16 barrister. And like, it kind of all lined up in a sense. I didn't think it, but I thought,
15:21 you know what, maybe this is written in the start. Because my name is Stephan Asante-Boateng.
15:27 The character's name is Kofi Boateng. I don't know. So when I got the call, I was like,
15:33 okay, cool. But she was like, because you know agents, they think of like, obviously
15:36 financial and what it's going to do. But I just wanted to showcase myself on TV. I just
15:40 wanted to have that credit. Whether they paid me £10, £10,000, it wasn't going to matter.
15:44 I just wanted to get on TV and show what I can do on screen. Because it's hard for cast
15:49 and directors to believe in you if they ain't seen you in nothing. You know what I'm saying?
15:54 Because like, yeah, this guy's good, but he hasn't got any TV experience. That's all I
15:58 was hearing was TV experience, TV experience. All the time, TV experience, TV experience.
16:04 And like, how are you going to get experience in TV if no one puts you on TV? You know what
16:09 I'm saying? So I was just kind of working through that and understanding, okay, cool.
16:14 Once I book my first TV credit, then there's no excuse. And then we just keep going. But
16:18 then at the same time, preparing like it's my last, like, I wouldn't go out during that
16:24 time when I was there. I was there for like two months. I didn't go out. I would go do
16:28 my scenes and then come back to my hotel room and make sure I left my lines for the next
16:32 thing. Because like you see with soaps, it's relentless, isn't it? Because you get like
16:35 one or two takes. So there's no, because they move really fast. So they put episodes out
16:41 every day, basically. So it's, you got to be, you got to know your stuff. So I was a
16:46 guest, I had a guest spot. I wasn't like a series regular. So I can't come there and
16:50 mess up. I have to be on my P's and Q's. You know what I'm saying? So I was putting there,
16:55 went back to my hotel and just let my lines get ready for the next day. And it was like,
16:59 you're starting at like eight in the morning, waking up at six. So it's like every day you
17:04 go home, sleep, learn your lines a bit, wake up the next day, just like that. It's like
17:08 turnaround is really quick. So I just had to make sure I was ready.
17:13 What was that first day like for you? And, and, oh, because you had done Killing Eve,
17:20 but you hadn't, it didn't come out. So it's like, that doesn't even count now.
17:23 It don't even count. It don't count.
17:27 So what was, so what was the first day of Coronation Street like then?
17:32 I was nervous because I was thinking, bro, I'm like, I'm like, how am I going to be on
17:37 TV? Cause I'm like, I had a bad experience on Killing Eve. I just made sure like, if,
17:42 if I'm, if I'm going to be on this, I have to just make sure I'm good. I have to come
17:46 with it every day. I have to make sure that my action is good. The RP is good. You know
17:51 what I mean? Like I was just thinking, bro, just don't mess this up. Come ready. I don't
17:56 have the luxury of being of a series regular. I don't have that luxury.
18:02 So with that, right. Because I feel like there's a fine balance between working hard, preparing
18:11 very, very well, cause this is serious. Right. But then did that ever tip into being too
18:19 much pressure on yourself? Like how did you?
18:24 I kind of, I kind of welcomed it, you know, I kind of welcomed the pressure cause then
18:29 it, I don't know, for me, it just makes me kind of work a bit harder. Like making sure
18:34 I knew my lines and making sure that I'm on my game. Cause you like, you never want to
18:39 come on set and think, bro, I don't know my lines. You know what I'm saying? Cause then
18:44 it's like, why did we hire this guy? He's not serious. You know what I'm saying? You
18:48 never want to feel like that. And sometimes maybe I over prepare. Cause I just want to
18:52 make sure I know my lines. It's key for me. I'm like, I have to know it. I have to drill
18:58 it, drill it, drill it. Even with like accents and stuff. I have to just keep going and drilling
19:01 and drilling and drilling it. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, I had to make sure cause
19:05 like it was going to be my first time on like a major TV show for a sustained amount of
19:10 time to make sure I do well. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, bro.
19:16 - I love that. How was it different to what you expected or was it even different or were
19:23 you even, did you even care about that?
19:25 - No, it was definitely different because my experience in Killing Eve was quite relaxed.
19:29 But like with Soap, obviously because they're churning out, cause like you've got different
19:33 blocks in it. So everyone's filming at the same time and you can only film from nine
19:37 till five. So you've got to do like eight scenes in like eight hours with a lunch break
19:43 as well. So everything is like really rigorous and quick. You know what I'm saying? So it
19:48 was like, and plus it was hot. We were filming in Bolton at the time. It was a lot. It was
19:53 a lot. So it was like, we need to just be on it. You know what I mean? So it was definitely
19:56 like the timeframe of not, and not having that luxury of like having a lot of time on
20:01 one scene. It's like, bro, we need to do eight scenes today and we don't have a lot of time.
20:06 You know what I'm saying? So it was different cause they have like maybe like four or five
20:09 cameras on at the same time from different angles and different shots all at the same
20:13 time. So it's definitely a different experience for real.
20:15 - I love that no rehearsal.
20:17 - You don't get broke. I've never been on a TV show where you've had a rehearsal. I've
20:23 never had a rehearsal. It's like straight in, boom, know your lines, action, know yourself.
20:28 You got to know what's going on. You just got to know, you got to know your stuff.
20:34 - That's amazing. And I guess, you know what, that's part of being a professional, isn't
20:39 it? I guess it's probably nice to be able to build up, I guess in theatre you have that
20:44 rehearsal time and you can build up that personal relationship, but I guess maybe it's, maybe
20:51 it comes down to the money at the end of the day in terms of how much is being spent per
20:56 day. So every day, if you're rehearsing, it's like, yo, do that in your own time. Cause
21:00 yeah. Okay. So, right. Cool. You're done, Corey. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us about your new
21:13 show, This Town. This, this, I was really happy to hear. Yeah. Talk to me. Talk to me.
21:21 - Yeah. So This Town is the first show from the creator of Peaky Blinders, Stephen Knight.
21:30 It's basically like a common of age story of like four friends centered around one particular
21:35 character. It's like, it kind of brings together all different races. So like white, black,
21:42 Asian, and it's all set in Birmingham. It kind of gives you a deep dive into like what
21:48 it was like in the eighties of Birmingham as well, in terms of like the criminal underworld,
21:54 what it was like in terms of like normal street life in Birmingham. And yeah. How can I even
22:00 explain it? Like giving away everything. Yeah. You know what, when I first read the script
22:04 and I was auditioning for the role, I was like, bro, whoever gets this is, it's going
22:09 to be good. Cause like, I've never been in a position where I've read a script or like
22:13 an audition script and I've read every single script. I was like, bro, like this is amazing
22:18 writing. I'm not saying every single script. What'd you mean? So like before the audition,
22:22 they give you like sides and you get like the full scripts. Right. So I got three scripts
22:28 kind of prep and I read every single one. I didn't just read the script. Am I missing
22:33 something? Yeah. So like they'll give you like sides, obviously like the audition sides
22:38 and it'll give you like the episode scripts and a background of the character. So I read
22:45 those, those scripts and I was like, bro, whoever gets this role, like this is a peach story. Like
22:50 it's a great story. It's great writing. And like whoever gets this, if it's not me, whoever gets
22:54 this, bro, I think the show is going to be good. I'm not just saying that because I'm in it. Cause
22:59 like I read the script, but yeah, like, um, it's like, I can't explain it about giving away the
23:05 whole story, but it's a great story. We've got some amazing actors in it. We've got Nicholas
23:10 Pinnock in it. Yes. Um, one of my idols, bro, Jordan Bolger's in it. Um, we've got a new upcoming
23:18 actor in it as well. Um, there's so much, bro. There's so many heavy hitters in this, man. It's
23:23 just like, I'm happy to be a part of it, man. And I can't wait for it. I can't wait for people to
23:29 see the show, man. We're really creating something special right now on set, man. You know what I
23:32 mean? It's been, it's been tough. Yeah, man. Yeah. We're creating something really, really special,
23:37 bro. I love that. So what was it like? Um, because you know, Jordan and Nicholas heavy
23:44 hits. Yeah, man. For sure. What, what was that like? Um, I guess just what, or what has it been
23:52 like working with them, me in them? Um, especially like, you know, you referenced like looking up to
23:58 Nicholas, um, any tips or advice that he gave you anything that you saw from the way that he worked
24:04 and prepped. Yeah. So I haven't met Nicholas yet because we're still filming. We're still filming
24:11 the show. Yeah. But like Jordan bro, like on day one, me and him, we had scenes together and he's
24:18 just been a down to earth guy, man. Gave me like nothing but respect everything, bro. Like, um,
24:24 yeah, but it's been, it's been, it's been good, bro. Like it's been, it's been, it's been a good
24:28 journey, bro. Like so far that everyone's been cool, bro. Cause like you have an idea of like,
24:32 raw, they're going to be Hollywood. Are they not? And then you meet them, bro. And it's just like,
24:36 they're just normal people. Like you, bro. You know what I mean? That are just really good at
24:39 what they do. You know what I'm saying? And we've got David Dawson as well. David Dawson was on,
24:44 um, he did my policeman with, um, Harry Stiles, amazing actor. When you watch the show and you
24:51 see what this guy is doing, bro, he's out of here, bro. I'm telling you right now, I'm not saying it,
24:56 but bro phenomenal actor as well. Phenomenal, phenomenal. I love that. I love that. Yeah, man.
25:02 Um, how did you, so you mentioned something, um, to me, right. In terms of like voice work. Yeah.
25:11 And you know, there are certain aspects of the industry that people don't really know about.
25:18 Um, or they kind of, they're acutely aware, but it's still not quite blatant in terms of how to
25:24 get into it. Talk to me about like voice work and what your experience has been with it, how you got
25:30 into it, et cetera. Yeah. So, um, I only, I've been doing voice for about a year and a bit now,
25:37 and I was pretty much like you, like unaware of it. I didn't really know how to get into it.
25:42 And I would always get complimented about my voice. Like, Oh, you've got a voice. I love your
25:46 voice, whatever, whatever. So I kept hearing that. I was like, okay, maybe I need to do something
25:51 about it. And one of my good friends, which you, you know, call me Augustine. Yes. He's heavy.
25:57 He's heavy into voice, like heavy. So I had a conversation with him. I was like, bro, like,
26:01 how do I kind of get into voice? What's the avenues to take? And he was like, yeah, man,
26:06 just like get a voice, real, a good voice, real, which is kind of expensive, but I think everything
26:11 in this industry, nothing is cheap. If you want quality, you go off. Unfortunately you have to
26:16 fork out. Right. And that's the tough part about the industry, whether it's headshots, voice reels,
26:20 show reels, acting workshops, it all costs money. Yeah. So I've got my real done and he gave me like
26:26 a list of agents to just hit up. This must've been in like December of like 2021 maybe. And then I
26:36 didn't get no responses until six months later. No one gave me not even a no, yes, no, nothing,
26:43 no response until six months later. And then my agency now they said, yeah, you still looking for
26:49 an agent? Like, yeah. Okay. Cool. And we had a meeting and then they signed me. And then from
26:54 there, I didn't get nothing until six months later. And then recently I've just been doing
26:59 like a campaign for British gas. So I've been doing that. So if you see a British gas commercial,
27:04 commercial about boilers, that is my voice. I love that. Yeah. I love that. Are there any,
27:14 are there any, do you know what? I love how honest and transparent you are in terms of like
27:20 the learning aspects. And that's, that's amazing to see. Right. Because, you know, we have like
27:29 a variety of different guests with various experience, et cetera, et cetera. But I wanted
27:34 to know, right. Are there any other parts of the industry that like people don't really know about
27:39 that you've like been like coming across or stumbling across? I'll speak for myself. I
27:44 didn't know what casting director was. I didn't know how to sell tape. That was one of the biggest
27:51 ones, like knowing how to, especially like in today's industry, knowing how to self tape is
27:57 vitally important. So I would like self tape from that up here, like really close up to here. I
28:03 didn't know how to do it. And so my agent was like, bro, like you don't have to sell tape.
28:06 It's like, no, not really. And then she showed me the guidelines of how to sell, like self tape,
28:11 like lighting, all that stuff. No, it's all important. It's all important, bro. It's all
28:17 important. So I didn't really know much, but like spotlight do like very good courses on like the
28:22 industry and like how to learn. They've got brilliant videos online about like face headshots,
28:27 self taping, cast the directors, what they do, what they look for. I was just learning on the
28:33 fly. I didn't know nothing. So whatever kind of free information I would get, I would learn even
28:37 like accents. I would learn accents on YouTube. Like I just learned them, even my character now
28:43 on this town, I've got a Birmingham accent. I had to learn how to do a Birmingham accent for my
28:47 audition for YouTube. And then luckily when I bought the role, I got a dialect coach.
28:51 But yeah, like I had to learn all that stuff. I didn't have the money to pay for this stuff, bro.
28:56 Like I didn't have the money. I don't have money to spend 400 headshots. I didn't know, bro.
29:02 You know what I mean? Like there's just, you don't realize how expensive this industry is until
29:06 you're properly in it. - I like that. You said properly.
29:10 - Yeah, bro. Yeah, man. Like if you want to get to that level, bro, you have to, you got to make
29:16 them sacrifices, bro. There were so many times I've been in my account and I had like 500 pound
29:21 in my account and I knew that my headshot session was going to be like 350. So I have to like live
29:27 off 150 for like a month. But I just knew in the long run, I would get that money back. Don't know
29:32 when it will be, but I'll get that money back. You know what I mean? I'll definitely get that
29:36 money back. And it will lead to like auditions. You might not get them, but like it's going to
29:43 come. Even like before I got this role, I had so, bro, what I mean, I went, I had so many auditions
29:49 where I got to like the last two or the last three, but like some people can get disheartened
29:53 from that. But I just lose that as like, bro, it's a blessing to even be in that position.
29:57 Because two years ago I wasn't getting nothing. But to get down to the last two is a blessing,
30:03 bro. You know what I mean? I'm a big believer in God and I understand that. Every opportunity that
30:08 you get in this industry is a blessing, bro. You know what I mean? So from going from no one
30:12 calling my phone at all to getting to the last two and having like chemistry with actors on big shows
30:19 and then not getting it, I was never, ever disheartened. Because I'm this close, it's
30:24 going to come. You know what I mean? And then luckily towards the end of this year, it came.
30:28 You know what I mean? So just go to, I'm living testament of like, bro, if you keep going,
30:34 it's going to come. Living testament, bro. You know what I mean? Literally.
30:39 - I love that.
30:41 - Yeah, man.
30:42 - Bro, thank you so much, man.
30:45 - Every time, man.
30:47 - That's been a really good, this has been a really good episode.
30:52 - Love, man.
30:53 - Yeah. We're going to catch up soon. We're looking forward to it.
30:56 - Yes, bro. We got to talk, we got to talk, man. We got to talk.
30:58 - Yes.
30:58 - Once I finish filming, bro, we got to talk.
31:00 - Yes. 100%. 100%. All right. Cool. Well, that's it. Industry notes.