Chantal's Hollywood Adventures

Hello my lovelies,  So today I'm going to my top ten little on recording monologues. Whether it's for your showreel, video audition or just to upload to You Tube there's a few things you should and shouldn't do.  When I first found out I would be doing a video audition for The American Academy of Dramatic Arts as I was unable to attend the London auditions because I was teaching drama in India, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Although auditioning via video means you can keep changing it until your happy, it also means you have to put in extra effort as you will be competing with face to face auditions.  As I hadn't  done much screen work or any recording in a while, I decided that it would be a good idea to get in contact with an acting coach. After searching for a while I found this fantastic coach Claire Storey . Claire really encouraged me and gave me some great advice for filming monologues. After getting in ...

Hello Amigos, Today I'm going to be discussing different acting techniques by famous theatre practitioners Bertolt Brecht and Constantin Stanislavski .  I will be comparing the ideas, whilst mainly focusing on my personal favorites and how these have helped me in developing my character.  Every actor is different and will have their own methods of acting. This process is what makes all actors unique and original. Although being a drama school student may influence your idea of acting, it is up to y ou as a n actor to find your own style.  Which method is the best?  This question has been the topic of so many debates I've seen at Drama School, but the answer is simple. There is n’t one. Every actor is their own person and their experiences will all be different depending on each individual. The techniques that we choose make us who we are, what may work for one person may not work for another.  From the moment I started acting, I knew what...

So recently I've been super excited and nervous about the fact I'm moving to Los Angeles and going to the American Academy of Dramatic arts in July. I know it's still eight months away but having so much to prepare for, I can't help but think about it.  I have bought myself a little preparation notebook, which I've labelled 'Chantal's Hollywood Plans'. I know it may be a little silly, but it's the only way I can keep everything organised and work out what needs to be done. I have so much to do that I feel almost like I'm preparing for a wedding or something. I have visa's, driving licence's, apartments, fundraising and so much more to sort out all before May. I've never really been one of those people to leave everything until the last minute, in fact I love to organise things way in advance, as you can probably tell.  This is a big deal and I guess it's not as easy as booking holiday, it's way more complicated to sort ou...

Hey there my lovely readers, I'm going to be talking about something a little different today. Unless you've been living under a tree in the middle of nowhere for the last few months, I'm sure you're all aware of this whole stint with so called comedian and Viner 'Dapper Laughs', real name Daniel O'Reilly. Please don't feel offended by anything I write it's just my personal opinion and I do understand and welcome other ideas on the subject.  At first I didn't quite understand the whole excitement and hype about vines and quite frankly, after watching a few clips I was a little annoyed with the fact that some of these Viners are becoming 'stars' from these silly homemade videos. Lots of them now even have their own merchandise and clothing lines out, displaying their famous tag lines or slogans. I think its utterly ridiculous if you ask me, especially as actor's like myself bust our ass's off in drama school to be noticed f...

Hey guys, so on Sunday evening I attended the Starlight Celebrity Gala at the Garrick Theatre in support of the UK's children's charity Starlight . The Show was a compilation of different performances from music to comedy. The acts included upcoming British pop group EverYoung, Lucy and Libby as Eden duo, illusionist Jamie Allan, also know as the iMagician and the ventriloquist and finalist from Britain's Got Talent Steve Hewlett.  Walking into the packed Theatre, I wasn't really sure what to expect. There were a range of different age groups, from OAP's to children and young couples. It was really nice to see so many different people coming together to support a great cause.  The show started with the opening act EverYoung singing their own version of popular song 'All about that bass' by Meghan Trainor. I have to admit I'm normally quite critical when it comes to covers, but this version was extremely good. One of the male band members from EverYou...

In 2009 I had the amazing opportunity to appear as the role of Hannah in the UK's biggest Argos Christmas commercial. Whilst sitting in the reception room waiting to go into my audition I became quite nervous. Looking round the room to see so many different types of girls I really couldn't imagine what sort of person they were looking for. Normally when I go into go an audition there is a specific type of look, however, this time there was such a different mix of people that I really had no idea. I walked into my audition with confidence and introduced myself and my agency to both of the casting directors. They were extremely friendly and asked me to improvise a short scene with an older man. The scene was a little bit of a struggle as I found that the man that I was acting with didn't seem to interested in scene. I continued anyways regardless of this.  As I was leaving the room I overheard one of the casting director's saying 'oh I like really liked ...