Opening Credits

Acting. Supposedly one of the toughest professions to be in. When you tell people you're an actor they get over the initial excitement when they realise you've never been in EastEnders/Casualty/Hollyoaks and then go on to sympatheticaly say how they understand that it's one of the trickiest careers to be in. It's not. Not really. There are far tougher jobs out there. Acting has its pitfalls but it will never be as challenging as working with abused children, as mentally draining as trying to come up with a cure for cancer or as unforgiving as whatever the correct term is for people who clean up after crime scenes.

When growing up I wanted to be either a pathologist or a vet (there was also a brief period where I wanted to be a highflying lawyer but this had more to do with Ally McBeal than wanting to bring Boston based crims to justice.) However, it soon ocurred to me that although you got to appear in the spotlight of the operating theatre, neither job would allow me to be the centre of attention. So the decision to thrust myself into the world of thespianism was hardly a difficult one to make. While the rest of the world is out there saving lives/designing things to save lives/making things to save lives (I tend to think everyone else bar me is saving lives) I get to indulge in glorious lie-ins, days off and then bask in the glory of congratulations when I land an expenses-only paid job.

So here I am, battling my way through one of the most over-subscribed professions in the land. I've recently taken out two years to earn some money and, with hindsight, my decision to take a break was oddly ill-timed. I was just starting to earn a decent amount of money from acting but I was offered the chance to earn more money working in an office and I grabbed the opportunity with my grubby, greedy  hands. So I'm now the twit who is at the front of the supermarket queue and foolishly leaves to get pesto (forgetting that I have enough pesto squirrelled away in the fridge already.) And after a long debate over whether to go for the fresh version or the one in the jar, I've returned to join a much longer queue and now there are less tills open. Or something like that.

This blog should now be the beginning of a long and painful tale of endless auditions as I desperately try to claw my way back. But that's not the case. I'm sorry to disappoint but geting back into it was all rather simple. In the space of a few weeks I had landed myself a couple of roles in Edinburgh shows, I'd handed my notice in and was getting ready to appear in two kids' shows for a whole month. I'll save the rehearsal process for a quieter day but for now just sit back and wait for me to remember to add to this damn thing again...