I have been a professional actor since 2018, after graduating from The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. Prior to this, I had been heavily involved in acting as a teenager and spent a lot of time at my local youth theatre. As an autistic child, fitting in with my peers was a struggle, as it is for many young people on the spectrum. I also wasn’t academically motivated or gifted, but I felt inspired to act after watching Jack O’Connell on TV, who was only a little bit older than me, and boasted heaps of charisma when he was on screen. I ended up emulating his acting style whilst in youth theatre productions and pleasantly surprised my peers when they watched me in my GCSE drama assessment. My local youth theatre also cast me in the lead role of Macbeth when I was 16, which gave my confidence a real, real boost. Acting was an appropriate antidote to the social difficulties autism presented for me, as it gave me the chance to hide behind larger than life characters in contrast to my socially awkward self, as well as a script with words to say.

After leaving school, I enrolled on a prestigious performing arts course at a separate college, who were ambitious and driven for their students to earn a place at drama school. Despite my experience on this course being a challenge in regard to how I was treated by my peers and being quite weak at dance, which the course heavily emphasised, I was lucky enough to earn a place at drama school in my first year of auditioning. Drama school and college were by no means perfect as to how they handled my autism and access needs, yet at the same time, it was important that I was challenged to not overly rely on special needs type of support, which I really appreciate in hindsight, as it was successful in preparing me for the industry.

Working with Graeae Theatre Company on Romeo & Juliet was my first really prestigious acting job, and right from day one of rehearsals, I felt at home. I felt empowered to be myself and to stim whenever I felt like it and was reminded to be vocal about my access needs or anything else I may have felt uncomfortable about. There was even a quiet space for any member of the cast to escape to if they needed some space, or a calm environment to learn their lines. The way we staged this production was unorthodox and at times challenging, with the double cast of two Romeos and Juliets sometimes being required to mirror each other on stage, and early on in the process, I was skeptical as to whether it was going to work. But I trusted the process and Jenny’s artistic vision and was relieved that it overall received a positive reception amongst critics and audiences alike, many of my friends and family raving about the production.

I also cherished my time with my cast, as everyone was really supportive of one another, and we all developed genuine friendships, which is always a positive bonus on an acting job. I also have very fond memories of being in an environment where so much BSL was used, which further instilled within me the importance of inclusive communication and bridge building between languages.