Casting Dreams: Luci Lenox, International Casting Director on Navigating the Acting World
This week we are honouring previous special guest, the inspirational Luci Lenox.
This episode was recorded 2 years and holds so many gems of advice that will be relevant for many years to come.
About the episode:-
Luci is an award winning International Casting Director based in Spain. Having cast for over 100 productions; Luci´s clients include Amazon, Fox, Netflix, Lionsgate, BBC as well as many independent Spanish Producers.
So delighted and grateful for Luci to spend time so generously with us.
We chat about the importance of resilience in the acting world, the challenges actors face, and how to navigate the sometimes murky waters of auditions and self-worth. Plus, she shares some gems on community and support in the arts, emphasizing that helping each other out is what it’s all about. So grab a cuppa, get yourself cosy and join us for this enlightening conversation.
Luci offers a place for actors to share space and inspire each other at The Actors Home.
Since this episode, The Actors Home has grown exponentially. Please find more details here:-
Luci also collaborates to offer many online courses and courses at the Frank Stein Studio @frankstein5235 for actors to hone their craft. https://www.franksteinstudio.info
With huge love and gratitude to Luci for sharing so openly and compassionately.
Transcript
Foreign hello there.
Speaker A:And a warm welcome to Align with Eileen.
Speaker A:Series two, the Art of Healing.
Speaker A:I am delighted to introduce you to the wonderful Lucy Lennox.
Speaker A:Lucy is an international casting director.
Speaker A:She has cast over 100 productions.
Speaker A:She has amongst her clients, Netflix, Amazon, Lionsgate, BBC, Hulu to name but a few.
Speaker A:And she also works with independent Spanish producers.
Speaker A:And Lucy has also created a very beautiful platform called Actors Home for actors internationally to get in touch and to really hone their craft and see if it's the right world for them.
Speaker A:And she's come on today to share with us how it felt to begin her journey with being a casting director and to share some wise words of wisdom.
Speaker B:Hopefully wise it works.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker A:Sorry, I can edit out wise if you want.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker A:It means the world.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:You're very welcome.
Speaker B:And I'm very happy to be here and very happy always to chat with you and likewise.
Speaker A:So what I would like you to tell us first, please is was it always your goal to be a casting director?
Speaker A:Was that always the aim?
Speaker A:Was it a burning passion in you from a child at all?
Speaker B:Not at all.
Speaker B:One of the things I talk about quite a lot with actors and also other creative people is that there's some jobs or professions like being an actor or an artist and, and I think also a director that are vocational and casting director.
Speaker B:Being a casting director is not at all vocational.
Speaker B:I don't know anybody who at school says, oh, I want to be a casting director, unless I guess their family, their parents.
Speaker B:And I do know some people who work in casting and whose parents also worked in casting.
Speaker B:But it's a very nice job and it's a very good job and I think that we definitely recommend it as a career but it's not something that people have a burning passion to do and it's very important, I think when actors are dealing with casting directors that they remember that casting directors don't.
Speaker B:And also the industry, you know, actors have to be very careful to protect themselves because they're so keen on working that they'll work for free, that they'll undersell themselves, that they'll go to an audition for anything.
Speaker B:You know, just this week I've been helping some actors who were.
Speaker B:One actor was very concerned about her friend because she'd been approached and said if she paid she could be in this very star studded film.
Speaker B:And I'm like, it can't be true.
Speaker B:But her friend wanted to believe it so much that she angry with her friend saying no, no, no, this Is not true.
Speaker B:I helped them to investigate.
Speaker B:And of course it wasn't true because a reputable film would never ask an actor to pay to be in it.
Speaker B:But actors have that desire to believe it.
Speaker B:So no, when I was growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker B:I wanted to save the world.
Speaker B:I want.
Speaker B:I had a very strong sense of.
Speaker B:I wanted to help people less fortunate than me.
Speaker B:But I didn't realize that if you help the poor, you became poor.
Speaker B: graduated from university in: Speaker B:We didn't have Internet, we didn't have computers in the same way now.
Speaker B:And you know, I'm one of the last generation that has a lump on their writing finger, on their index finger.
Speaker B:You know, I can still feel the pain of writing my final exam.
Speaker A:Wow, that's a memory to keep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think you could tell that you can, you know, I mean, when in a million years time when they exhume our bodies for research, they'll be able to tell who was pre computer computers in terms of their studying.
Speaker B:So when I graduated, there was a recession on.
Speaker B:I'm from Ireland, but I went to university in England and in Spain.
Speaker B:But I kind of always thought I'd go home or I'd moved back to London.
Speaker B:London as well.
Speaker B:And then I suddenly discovered that the jobs that A, I wanted didn't pay enough for me to live the life that I wanted, wanted to live, which is important for my own personal happiness.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:And B, they didn't actually, you know, open me with welcome arms.
Speaker B:I thought that, you know, I was just enough of writing off, you know, dear Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith, I am available.
Speaker B:And then they would write back and say, great start on Monday.
Speaker B:I got two letters, I think which said, oh, we've had 5,000 applicants and you're on file.
Speaker B:We'll be in touch.
Speaker B:It's so weird now I'm.
Speaker B:I found one of the letters the other day because I was going through some files because of course it was all one letter then and I found letters and it was saying, oh, we'll be in touch or something like that.
Speaker B:And I just took that as a rejection, you know, I just, you know that they didn't want me.
Speaker B:Whereas now, having the confidence I have now, I'd be like, I would be chasing them, I'd be like, hey, you know, great, when can I come in?
Speaker A:Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker B:I think much more I would Be much less kind of like despondent, I think.
Speaker B:So then I moved back to Spain.
Speaker B:It's a very, very, very long story.
Speaker B:So we definitely don't have time to do it all in one podcast.
Speaker B:I went to live in Italy for a while, then I came back to Spain.
Speaker B:And then when I came back to Spain, I ran nightclubs for a very long time in the 90s in Barcelona.
Speaker B:And I was involved with very kind of a bohemian world of helping artists, helping fashion designers.
Speaker B:I produce their events, I produce all kinds of very strange things in very, very late at night.
Speaker A:Looking at that, actually, it looks amazing.
Speaker B:And then I worked with the Furel Spouse, a very well known Spanish theater company.
Speaker B:I was on tour with them and then I did some work.
Speaker B:Then I went back to London, I worked a little bit with mtv, but.
Speaker B:But I think it's very interesting when you told me about talking to me as a creative, because I actually don't really consider myself a creative.
Speaker B:I consider myself a very, very practical person.
Speaker B:And then I did a course only about two years ago with a nonverbal communicator, Sonia El Hakim, who's one of the top experts in nonverbal communication in Spain.
Speaker B:And we were doing work.
Speaker B:The people who do her courses tend to be like football coaches, estate agents.
Speaker B:It's just something I love studying.
Speaker B:And we were doing an exercise on metaphors and the man that I was working with couldn't do a metaphor.
Speaker B:You know, the metaphor had to be like this phone represents the stream of communication, something very simple.
Speaker B:And I just couldn't understand why he couldn't get it.
Speaker B:And then Sonia because you're creative, but I'm not creative.
Speaker B:And then she's oh, but you are.
Speaker B:And then we talked about it and then I realized that because I'm not as creative as the people I work with, it's a comparison thing.
Speaker B:I'm quite creative or no, I belong to the creative world, but I'm.
Speaker B:I sometimes feel like I'm the translator between the creative world and the real world because I have a very good relationship with my bank.
Speaker B:I have a very good relationship with.
Speaker B:Some of my best friends are accountants.
Speaker B:And I really like those kind of people who have a practical, organized approach to life.
Speaker B:And I love creative people and I'm very empathetic.
Speaker B:But it's not my own self belief isn't that I'm the creative, it's that I'm a conduit for creatives.
Speaker B:And it was an interesting thing.
Speaker B:And it's a part of the learning process.
Speaker B:And in the same way, I only realized this very, very recently and that I've always thought I'm a very good communicator.
Speaker B:And then I realized that it's because my family are extremely bad at communicating, so I'm the best of a bad bunch.
Speaker B:And then I realized I had to do a lot more work on communicating, which I'm doing.
Speaker B:And I think one of my messages to people is definitely to think that communication is something that you have to study and that you can get better at it.
Speaker B:Because a lot of my dairies say I'm not good at communicating.
Speaker B:Or I'm, you know, communication is a problem.
Speaker B:And I'm like, yes, but you can.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:It is something that you can improve.
Speaker B:You have to really study it.
Speaker B:Because there's lots of things in your patterns that become from your family that if you don't examine, you don't realize that you do them wrong or that they're not compatible with other people.
Speaker B:And that's something that I have to continually work on.
Speaker B:And particularly because I live in a culture where I wasn't grown up.
Speaker B:So there are things that happen in Spain where I live, the way people communicate and the way I communicate that are not actually compatible.
Speaker A:Absolutely understand that.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm in Spain as well.
Speaker A:And it is so interesting how we almost have to unlearn programs from our family or kind of ancestral patterns almost.
Speaker A:It's like the imprints of.
Speaker A:Of, you know, of how we've learned, because that's all we had to learn.
Speaker A:We just.
Speaker A:We learn from watching, don't we?
Speaker A:We learn from seeing when we're a child, when we're such a sponge.
Speaker A:So I love that.
Speaker A:I think you're an amazing communicator.
Speaker B:But I think I'm very good at communicating like we are now.
Speaker B:I'm very good at.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, I think I'm a good communicator and I think I'm a very good teacher.
Speaker B:In terms of when.
Speaker B:Because you've done a course with me.
Speaker A:I agree.
Speaker B:I think that on my personal level and with my friends and with my family, I could be a much better communicator.
Speaker B:And I've always thought that I was.
Speaker B:I think it's something about when you learn that you've always got something to learn.
Speaker B:There's things, for example, it's very easy to explain.
Speaker B:And I was studying, trying to remember the name.
Speaker B:There's another woman on communication.
Speaker B:I like people to agree with me, and I like.
Speaker B:I have a high level of enthusiasm.
Speaker B:So when I say to somebody, would you like to go to a restaurant?
Speaker B:And they go, all right.
Speaker B:The person goes, all right, Thinks that they've agreed with me, and I hear a lack of enthusiasm, so I'll go, oh, well, why don't we stay home?
Speaker B:And then they are like, but I've just agreed to go to a restaurant with you.
Speaker B:Or, you know, if I take somebody, shall we go and try that new restaurant?
Speaker B:And they go, well, if you want.
Speaker B:They think that they're giving me what I want.
Speaker B:And what I actually want is a much higher level of.
Speaker B:Of energy.
Speaker B:And it's very confusing for those people.
Speaker B:And I have a lot of friends, and it was certainly a problem in my marriage because I married an introvert and I'm an extrovert, but I'm also.
Speaker B:I have that.
Speaker B:And it comes from the way I was brought up, my culture and everything.
Speaker B:But I need a very enthusiastic response.
Speaker B:Whereas other people think that when they've just agreed to do what I do that I should just be happy with that.
Speaker B:But it's not because.
Speaker B:It's not because either of us are being difficult.
Speaker B:It's just a very different way of communication that comes from your family.
Speaker B:Or in Ireland, we have tendency to be quite.
Speaker B:We're much more polite.
Speaker B:So in Spain, I find it very difficult when people don't say please and thank you.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:But if you say the way, por favor, gracias too much, you're insane.
Speaker B:So, like, when I say por favor, and I find it very difficult, like, even at work, me, I've been exploring artificial intelligence.
Speaker B:You know, I'm using chat.
Speaker B:And I had to ask her the other day, should I be using please and thank you?
Speaker B:And they were like, well, we're not ascending and billing, but it is nice to maintain the formal speech.
Speaker B:And I'm saying, yes, exactly.
Speaker B:So I'd like even saying please and thank you to a robot where if I say, what if I want to somebody who's working for me, they take it as a very emphatic order.
Speaker B:And it feels.
Speaker B:It's very difficult for me that kind of.
Speaker B:I mean, it's all about communication.
Speaker B:Or even in Spain is a good example, it's very normal to comment on somebody's appearance here.
Speaker B:You know, say, oh, you look tired, or you look.
Speaker B:Oh, you've gained weight, or you've lost weight.
Speaker B:Whereas in my culture, you know, my best friend wouldn't say that to me unless they were really worried.
Speaker B:And then they would frame it in a totally different way.
Speaker B:Like in Ireland, if we want to tell somebody that we think that they're looking a little bit overweight.
Speaker B:If you're looking well, yes means okay.
Speaker B:When somebody said, oh, you're looking well, you think, oh, I better go on a diet.
Speaker B:But they would.
Speaker B:They say to you, oh, you've got fat.
Speaker B:And you're like, who asked you?
Speaker B:People who you don't really even know.
Speaker B:Like, you know, not even a close friend.
Speaker B:So that kind of thing is interesting.
Speaker B:So I recognize that people think I'm good at communicating in a professional level.
Speaker B:But then I do know that I have to work on it.
Speaker B:And I have to work on it because I live in a different culture and sometimes it works to my advantage.
Speaker B:It's here.
Speaker B:And I do have to work on it on a personal level, which is.
Speaker A:Yeah, because I've.
Speaker A:Because we all see.
Speaker A:Sorry for interrupting.
Speaker A:But I find it fascinating because we all see through our own stories, don't we?
Speaker A:So it's really interesting you saying that you've got a, you need a high level of response, of enthusiasm because you know that that's what you've been born into and that's what you're used to.
Speaker A:And I always say it's.
Speaker A:No, that's that old adage.
Speaker A:There's three sides to a story, what each person thinks and then what's actually happened.
Speaker A:And there's been for me as well, I hear you in Barcelona, in Spain, the culture.
Speaker A:In fact, when I go back to England, I don't know if you have this as well.
Speaker A:Sometimes I forget to say please and thank you because some people find it insulting.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's very difficult to.
Speaker B:And it doesn't feel, you know, it's just said in a different way and in the same way as.
Speaker B:And I think I said it to you when you're doing a class, it's like.
Speaker B:And it's something that you, you know, on your journey will probably find as well.
Speaker B:I like giving advice and I see very clearly what I think people should do.
Speaker B:But I've learned that non solicited advice is not welcome.
Speaker B:And I can remember when I be in the course, I would say I'm incredibly grateful to people who want to, to pay to do a course with me because it means they want my advice.
Speaker B:And when they followed my advice, they usually do pretty well.
Speaker B:And I'm so happy about that.
Speaker B:But my family and closest friends do not want my advice.
Speaker B:They don't follow it.
Speaker B:I can see very clearly in my mind what they should be doing to live better and happier lives.
Speaker B:And they've even Said it to me.
Speaker B:One of my friends said, we all know that if we did what you said, we'd be better off, but we're not going to, so leave it.
Speaker B:But in a humorous way.
Speaker B:And it's like that.
Speaker B:And so I.
Speaker B:In my 50s, I found this piece, which is great for me, in that I give advice to people now when they have entered into a deal with wanted.
Speaker B:It fills my need, you know, as.
Speaker B:And I enjoy it and I spend.
Speaker B:I take it very seriously.
Speaker B:Spend a lot of time researching things.
Speaker B:I read an awful lot, and I read a lot about psychology.
Speaker B:I read a lot about business management, all the things that I like sharing with people.
Speaker B:So I feel that I'm constantly informing myself.
Speaker B:And then I like to share that information.
Speaker B:And then with my friends and family, I just let them live their lives the way they want to live them and try as much as possible to be chilled.
Speaker B:About an observer.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Distant observance.
Speaker B:I do recognize it.
Speaker B:And I. I mean, I'm not perfect.
Speaker B:I still sometimes have to bite my tongue or should have bitten my tongue.
Speaker A:No, I. I hear you on that as well, because I.
Speaker A:Well, I'll be 47 this year, and it's been my whole kind of journey has been giving advice.
Speaker A:And it was possibly about 10 years ago, I. I heard from one of my shamanic teachers, only give advice when you're asked because that other person has to go through whatever experience they need to go through to.
Speaker A:To grow, to learn.
Speaker A:And when we're giving advice here, there.
Speaker A:And it took a lot for me as well to stop doing that.
Speaker A:And the same as you, you know, you say you have to rein yourself in.
Speaker A:I hear you.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:And it's a constant battle.
Speaker B:I still do.
Speaker B:My tendency is still to give advice.
Speaker A:I've got a little inner monologue going on.
Speaker B:Mine doesn't always stay inner.
Speaker B:I try.
Speaker A:So may I ask you.
Speaker A:Because obviously we spoke about how you came to the path of being the casting director, and you've also mentioned about being an empath, which is huge.
Speaker A:And so were there any moments when you were going along that path?
Speaker A:You know, as empaths, we feel so much we can get in, as you already mentioned, you know, with artists and your friends around you.
Speaker A:Into comparison.
Speaker A:Almost like comparison overwhelm.
Speaker A:When we're starting on a journey, is there.
Speaker A:Can you remember any moments where you just were almost engulfed in comparison?
Speaker A:Overwhelm.
Speaker A:And you nearly didn't carry on, but you said yes, and you got.
Speaker A:And you went through it.
Speaker B:I think that's.
Speaker B:Life isn't it in a way, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, I've never had any.
Speaker B:I mean I. I think going from the fact that I don't have.
Speaker B:I don't do my job because it's vocational.
Speaker B:So if I wasn't doing this I'd be doing something else.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think my motivation has normally been not to be bored.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:I'm trying to change that slightly at the moment because I'd quite like to not be broke when I retire.
Speaker B:So I've got to kind of.
Speaker B:I'm slightly skewing my life and trying to make smarter decisions moment and to do things, you know, in a slightly different way.
Speaker B:So I don't think I've ever had the feeling.
Speaker B:I mean like most people there have times when I felt slightly overwhelmed.
Speaker B:I'm trying to think of the times in my life where I felt overwhelmed is about making decisions about one career or another because offered jobs in production and cast and production of events and production in film and television.
Speaker B:So at those points is when I've had to take a path because I've known that that job will take me on a different path.
Speaker B:So I've sometimes had to take a moment to think.
Speaker B:I'm not a particularly over cautious person and I'm not particularly.
Speaker B:I don't get very easily overwhelmed.
Speaker B:Wonderful.
Speaker B:When you know people, if somebody asks me, oh well, as you just have, have you ever been?
Speaker B:I would have to really, really think about it because tend to feel when something gets really, really tough, it's almost a physical response of like, you know, biting a bit like, you know, okay, I'll just have to get through this.
Speaker B:Those kind of moments in my life where it's been very, very tough normally.
Speaker B:And I remember in my early 30s it was extremely tough because my cousin who was like my very very.
Speaker B:She was basically my best friend and like my sister and she was dying of cancer at the time.
Speaker B:And then quite a lot of other sort of things were happening but to friends and people.
Speaker B:And it felt like my brother was having his first very big bipolar incident.
Speaker B:So I spent a beginning of my 30s and then I went to therapy because I felt like I wasn't being able to live my life because I was so involved in stuff that was happening to other people that wasn't nothing to do with their mind, it was their fault.
Speaker B:But you know, I had to live that process with two of the people who were closest to me at the time.
Speaker B:And I came out of a bad breakup of a relationship as well.
Speaker B:So the beginning of my therapies were very painful in a way.
Speaker B:But I went and did some therapy about it, which was very helpful.
Speaker B:But it wasn't so much as overwhelming as a sense of like, I can't live my life because I'm having to deal with other people's Absolinini.
Speaker B:I found that quite difficult.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And also you can't really put yourself first.
Speaker B:I mean, I found it difficult to work.
Speaker B:I mean, I still have more depth.
Speaker B:How do you put yourself first when the other person's need is so great?
Speaker B:Yes, I understand.
Speaker B:I mean, I think empathy is something that's interesting.
Speaker B:I think I'm less empathetic now than I was when I was younger.
Speaker B:Now I'm much more aware and it's post pandemic as well, you know, And I don't know because I think the pandemic is interesting in the fact that it's two years out of people's lives.
Speaker B:And it depends at what stage of your life you were, how the effects would have.
Speaker B:Like, if I'd been a 12 year old, the effect would be very different to me being a 50 something year old.
Speaker B:But I think my lesson, I came out thinking, all right, okay, so when, you know, push comes to shove, I am on my own.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, I need to look after myself a lot better.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And the.
Speaker A:And you know, as you've said as well, looking after yourself so much better, that's the only way we can help others is when we look after ourselves first as well.
Speaker A:And talking of the pandemic, is that when.
Speaker A:That was when the online support really came into fruition, wasn't it?
Speaker A:That's obviously when I took a course with you, so.
Speaker A:Because that's beautiful that you're supporting and helping actors all around the world.
Speaker A:How did that come to fruition?
Speaker A:Was that boredom?
Speaker B:It was very funny because I was at home and just before the pandemic, I'd been in touch with a young filmmaker, Kristen Dania, who's a director.
Speaker B:And we were trying to do.
Speaker B:We were going to do a networking event in my studio for gallant directors and actors because I like organizing networking things and I've done it like.
Speaker B:And that was that.
Speaker B:And then when I was here, it was very early on in the pandemic.
Speaker B:I looked at the message the other day.
Speaker B:It was sort of, I mean, it was by April, and I sent a message to Kristen, who had only met once.
Speaker B:I said, hey, why don't we take that networking online.
Speaker B:And he was at home and he was studying and he, you know, he was in his mid-20s, but because of his pandemic circumstance, he was living at home with his mom.
Speaker B:So it's also had, you know, nobody in Spain for anybody who wasn't in Spain during the pandemic.
Speaker B:We weren't actually that out of our houses at all.
Speaker B:And he was doing sort of TikTok stuff.
Speaker B:So I was like, come and do this.
Speaker B:And then we just took off and then we set it up on Facebook and then we did lots of, you know, table reads and lots of zooms and people were.
Speaker B:We were giving people things to do and meeting people and talking.
Speaker B:And for a lot of people it was really important and really good.
Speaker B:And then, I mean, I didn't do any courses during the pandemic when people couldn't go out.
Speaker B:And then afterwards, then we wrote the course that you did, which was Back to business.
Speaker B:And I really like doing that.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, and I get inspired.
Speaker B:It's still on Facebook, but I'm going to probably take it down now.
Speaker B:And I've set up this new platform called the Actors Home.
Speaker B:I wanted to take it off Facebook.
Speaker B:I wanted to make it paid community because people kind of pay attention to what they paid for and I didn't want a lot of dead wood in it.
Speaker B:And there was reasons.
Speaker B:And then I found it quite exhausting being on Facebook because it.
Speaker A:You're quite a busy person.
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:Well, not that I don't mind doing, but it was just the fact that for me, I'm very anti upselling.
Speaker B:I'm like, I'm very happy to charge like for a course.
Speaker B:I don't want you to do a course.
Speaker B:And then suddenly when you.
Speaker B:You signed up for a course, then you, oh, if I have another €20, then I can have this or I have something else, then do this, I can have that.
Speaker B:And then the algorithm on Facebook keeps changing when you're not looking.
Speaker B:And then I never promoted my courses on my group.
Speaker B:You know, I. I never posted anything that people had to sell because people couldn't make money during that time.
Speaker B:And then every time I looked a way, somebody be promoting something or sell something, and then I explained to them that it wasn't about that.
Speaker B:It wasn't a support and community.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and I mean, I was happy to say, oh, there's a discount on this.
Speaker B:Or very.
Speaker B:I might have said, oh, if anybody.
Speaker B:Because people have asked, they might have done that.
Speaker B:But it was very.
Speaker B:It wasn't the.
Speaker B:The objective wasn't to make sales funnel.
Speaker B:And then when people started using my community as their sales Funnel, but just because it's a group of people who knew and people don't understand that, you know, I didn't want to make a big thing about it, so I wanted to take that off and then I wanted to have it somewhere that the data really wasn't on Facebook.
Speaker B:So it's on a private platform now, which suits me better, you know, so that was that and it was just great.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm so grateful.
Speaker B:It was such a nice feeling.
Speaker B:And it's one of the things that I'm doing with the actors home, because the actors home is very much encouraging actors to help other actors because I think you get so much joy about helping other people.
Speaker B:And I think that sometimes actors become very.
Speaker B:I don't know what the right word is, isolated, so that they forget about the joy because they feel if they're not working that they have nothing to give and they don't feel that their opinion is validated or, you know, they don't feel empowered.
Speaker B:And I think you are in the actor's home and you see that.
Speaker B:Oh, by giving an opinion, you're helping somebody choose which headshot to use.
Speaker B:You're helping somebody with their how to re edit their showreel or simply, you know, like this week, you know, there's a actress who's going to be in Germany.
Speaker B:She asked about German agencies.
Speaker B:People have given her some advice.
Speaker B:Somebody else is in la, somebody's recommended some courses or where to find them.
Speaker B:Just little by little, getting people to give each other advice when it's solicited, I think helps people to feel happy, I think.
Speaker B:And I, I.
Speaker B:And I'm very passionate about community because I believe now that as we move into this digital era, it's very difficult because you can find the answer to everything by Googling or chatgpt, but you don't really know if it's right because it's not the person you know, it's like, you know.
Speaker B:And so therefore, if you can ask advice to somebody who's real, you know, who they are, then it gives you a different perspective and, you know, and I feel like we need to be very.
Speaker B:Finding our tribes.
Speaker B:Yes, forward.
Speaker B:I think it's very difficult because the world is so big and people are so busy now.
Speaker B:You know, like before I used to meet people because I'd wander around and I'd sit at a cafe or, you know, when I used to travel a lot for work and I would always be at the airport.
Speaker B:Now you never meet anybody because they're always on their phone and they're very connected with their own people, isn't it, then?
Speaker B:So the rest of the time.
Speaker B:So I think that trying to find your tribe who have the same interests as you and the same fears as you, and you're on, you know, I think together we really do.
Speaker B:Right, yeah.
Speaker A:That's such a beautiful incentive because you can't brainstorm with a Bugle, you can't run lines with Google.
Speaker A:That's gorgeous.
Speaker A:Really lovely.
Speaker A:And also because when actors go online to do your courses, then there's also a kind of an element.
Speaker A:Lucy Lennox and.
Speaker A:But you're.
Speaker A:I remember you're very, very inclusive and asking people's opinions.
Speaker A:That's gorgeous.
Speaker A:So to allow people on the platform to.
Speaker A:To get in touch with each other and I imagine role play together, I.
Speaker B:Guess as well, they can do all kinds of things, whatever they want.
Speaker A:I'll put all the information for people to get in touch.
Speaker A:That's gorgeous.
Speaker A:So there's a new incentive coming, which is basics to bookings.
Speaker A:Because one of my questions to you was if there's somebody who.
Speaker A:Or many people who've had, you know, such a.
Speaker A:Always really enjoyed the theater, always really enjoyed arts and.
Speaker A:But have never quite dipped their toe in.
Speaker A:And it's really interesting because I asked you the question a couple of days ago and now you've created basics to booking.
Speaker A:So this is for people.
Speaker A:This is for everybody, I imagine, is it?
Speaker B:It's particularly for people who want to work as an actor or who've got that, you know, feeling that they really do, because a lot of those people have applied to do.
Speaker B:The reason we have designed this course is because a lot of people are applying to do the other courses at my studio Barcelona, because we do a scene study class where you don't have to have any formal training, but unfortunately not unfortunately, but it's.
Speaker B:It's for actors.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And so there were a lot of people who weren't actors and we take them sometimes.
Speaker B:I had a really good, you know, student who was a poker champion and he.
Speaker B:He just wanted to improve his acting skills and he was.
Speaker B:But then, because it's become quite well known the course, then more and more people are reaching out and then they've been saying, oh, but we do need to do some training as an actor.
Speaker B:And I'm like, yes, you know, acting does require some training.
Speaker B:And we thought, well, why don't we design a course just for those people, for the people who are, you know, because after the pandemic as well, a lot of people and I think going Forward.
Speaker B:You know, people can make their money much quicker ways than before.
Speaker B:So then they have more free time to live their dreams.
Speaker B:People are also much more aware that, that, you know, you should be doing what you love.
Speaker B:So this is a course for people who want to follow their heart and they want to, you know, they're, they're adults, so they don't necessarily want to go to a full time drama training.
Speaker B:And then it will give them some information.
Speaker B:Obviously it's only a week, but then they can decide whether they want to go on to do some training.
Speaker B:They want work in commercials and it will give them a basis to begin with.
Speaker B:So it's the basics to booking.
Speaker B:We'll be talking about the career.
Speaker B:It's about, it's, you know, a bit of improvisation, being with like minded people and you know, and it's also for people who are models who haven't had any acting training but like some more acting training or sports people, a lot of people who want to get into acting and they have a wider.
Speaker B:I kind of worked out what it really is and what it would entail.
Speaker A:Brilliant.
Speaker A:That's what a gorgeous incentive.
Speaker A:That's really, really lovely.
Speaker A:And also talking of other gorgeous incentives because like you, you, you support so many, you support diversity, you support acceptance of all, which is absolutely wonderful.
Speaker A:And the world's changing so much.
Speaker A:You know, we're, we're going so much towards the Divine feminine, which is so much more heart based.
Speaker A:And also you support actors, Actors Without Borders.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, I think all of those things.
Speaker B:Support, I'm just part of them.
Speaker B:It's just one of those things.
Speaker B:It's like, you know, I mean, when we talk about diversity and inclusion in casting.
Speaker B:I was, we were talking about it a lot when I was at the Cannes Festival this year.
Speaker B:And I really think we should just call it accuracy because that's the world, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Accuracy in casting.
Speaker B:That we are representing the global majority.
Speaker A:In a much better way that accuracy.
Speaker A:Instead of.
Speaker A:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:Instead of honing in on.
Speaker A:Because it, there's no, there's no separation.
Speaker B:No separation.
Speaker B:And I don't feel, I don't, I'm.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm on lots of inclusion and diversity committees saying the same thing because I don't feel like I'm including people.
Speaker B:I feel like we are all included and we are all diverse.
Speaker B:Yes, it's very important to keep saying that and to be aware of that because it's not like, you know, and I'm, I am very much the global minority, not the Global majority.
Speaker B:I am a red headed white person, which means I. I'm one of the very, very, very specific minorities, but who will get burnt in Spain if I go out in the summer sun.
Speaker B:But it's just like.
Speaker B:But it's very complicated and it's very complicated there.
Speaker B:You know, we have to be aware of history and we have to be aware of the narratives that we get involved as artists, as creators, as actors.
Speaker B:You know, we're very much limited in our narratives at the moment.
Speaker B:And even I was really disappointed to, you know, read that Netflix in the UK had been supporting diverse narratives and they've decided that they're not going to make any of these projects that they've been supporting because they're not ready in some way.
Speaker B:And I'm not giving you the exact.
Speaker B:Okay, yeah, because I don't know them.
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:But it's on the ground.
Speaker B:But we had a scheme that was to get new narratives, new writers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then they've decided they want to go back to this sort of boring commercial stuff.
Speaker B:And it's like, it's very difficult, you know, because we are in the world where the lowest common denominator wins.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So people will watch a Marvel Studio picture because it's being promoted so heavily that we feel like we have to watch it.
Speaker B:Also, it's very easy to watch in today's attention deficit world because there's so little text that you can look at your phone, then you can go back to it, then you can do this, then you can do that.
Speaker B:Whereas if you're watching a complicated narrative about, you know, Assyrian historical story, you have to actually pay attention and really immerse yourself.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That's such a shame.
Speaker A:Netflix has done that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, it was just one small program that they had and it was just, it was just.
Speaker B:I read about it in the news.
Speaker B:I'm saying, yeah, the world, we have to keep fighting, but we also have to fight with our feet.
Speaker B:Like, we have to go and see this.
Speaker B:These projects have to make sure that we're watching stuff that is a little bit more challenging, a little bit more flawed than the perfect.
Speaker B:It's a bit like, I mean, it's the same as with your diet.
Speaker B:It's like, you know, eating organic vegetables requires more effort and they don't look quite as shiny as that perfect, you know, strawberry.
Speaker A:I like that analogy.
Speaker A:That's fabulous.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:If there's been anybody who has experienced, you know, not a very nice situation for whatever reason, for whether the way they looked or just there was some judgment there and they were in an audition process or equally they got some information that was absolutely wrong and they pay some money out towards a company who said, we're going to put you in this, but you have to pay us.
Speaker A:Basically, they've been stung, they've been.
Speaker A:They've been burnt.
Speaker A:Um, in, in.
Speaker A:In whatever way that feels.
Speaker A:And they feel that they just want to hide and go back into their shell and, and not follow their hearts because that happened.
Speaker A:What would you.
Speaker A:What would your words be?
Speaker A:I'm not saying of wisdom words be.
Speaker A:What would your advice be to.
Speaker A:To anybody in.
Speaker A:In that situation?
Speaker B:It's very difficult.
Speaker B:The advice, I mean my.
Speaker B:I think that resilience, something that we have to learn.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:It's very complicated.
Speaker B:Like it would depend on the person, but it's, you know, don't let anybody kind of rain on your parade.
Speaker B:Love that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I mean, you know, another of the, you know, it's a meme really, but it's, you know, I always use it.
Speaker B:It's like love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe.
Speaker B:You know, it's one of those things that I think that people should be very aware that it's not easy.
Speaker B:Life's not easy.
Speaker B:You know, people will criticize you for how you look like.
Speaker B:I mean, even this week in my office, you know, we made a mistake because I wanted to do a commercial.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:For commercial we're doing.
Speaker B:We needed somebody who was.
Speaker B:Who had to look in a very certain way.
Speaker B:Okay, Har being style.
Speaker B:But it's because of the world.
Speaker B:There's lots of diversity in the thing.
Speaker B:And then one of my sisters said, oh, let's put this up on social media because we're looking for somebody.
Speaker B:And they said, woman who has been, you know, had her lips done and had her tits done.
Speaker B:Let's not put that.
Speaker B:I said somebody.
Speaker B:Nobody will identify with that.
Speaker B:So let's put very good looking with big lips and Barbie style.
Speaker B:So we'd like her.
Speaker B:So then we posted that and then lots of people complained, including people who work for me.
Speaker B:You can't say very good looking because then we're saying that that's the style.
Speaker B:That's very good looking.
Speaker B:And I was.
Speaker B:And I hadn't even thought of it because I think everybody's beautiful.
Speaker B:So just saying very good looking with big lips and a Barbie style I thought was covering it.
Speaker B:It's not being exclusive.
Speaker B:But then it's a canon of beauty that the people who don't espouse to that criticize but all the people, all the ladies who applied for the job were perfect.
Speaker B:They got.
Speaker B:One of them said, and I've got pink Audi if you need one, just like Barbie, because that's what they like.
Speaker B:And I'm not going to criticize them either.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:You have to be very careful.
Speaker B:Is something I really believe on is like self esteem.
Speaker A:Self.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And work on that.
Speaker B:And it's so difficult.
Speaker B:One of the things I do with actors, I say, look at your work, think about what you do.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:First, I also think that people should have their own personal projects.
Speaker B:So if you're an actor, find a tribe, find people, and always have something that you're working on.
Speaker B:On your.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:I don't mean a B plan, that's fine as well.
Speaker B:I think people should have different streams of income and it's very important.
Speaker B:I think you shouldn't.
Speaker B:There was a narrative before, you know, oh, you shouldn't have a plan B if you want to be an actor.
Speaker B:I think you should have streams of income in today's world that mean that you never feel uncomfortable financially so that you're never going to audition thinking, if I don't get this, I won't eat.
Speaker B:I don't think desperation helps actors.
Speaker B:I don't think poverty helps actors.
Speaker B:I think feeling safe does.
Speaker B:So whatever you.
Speaker B:To make yourself feel safe and also have talk to yourself, kindly have a good inner voice.
Speaker B:So that if you have an inner voice that's saying you're not good enough, you're not beautiful enough, try to do some therapy, whatever that means.
Speaker B:It might be self therapy, it might be self healing, it might be, you know, whatever works for you.
Speaker B:But make sure that you are talking to yourself in a kind and supportive manner and make sure that you are looking at what you're doing as an artist and thinking what's right about it, what's good about it?
Speaker B:What am I strong at?
Speaker B:Because so often what happens as actors go forward in their career, there's so much rejection inherent in an actor's career that they keep adding, what am I doing wrong?
Speaker B:What am I doing wrong?
Speaker B:And I didn't do this right.
Speaker B:I didn't do this right.
Speaker B:And this creates insecurity.
Speaker B:Insecurity creates anxiety, anxiety and depression.
Speaker B:And anxiety is also one of the things that detracts people when somebody's anxious.
Speaker B:And it's very difficult.
Speaker B:You know, it's been a big problem in the last couple of years from the pandemic which locked up the anxiety of people, is there's something about anxiety that irritates other people, you know, or detracts them.
Speaker B:It's not an attractive.
Speaker B:Nobody's ever said, oh, I really want to go and hang out with a load of anxious people.
Speaker B:Or, oh, I'd like to employ somebody who's anxious.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I mean, and it's weird because depression, which is awful, can create great art.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But anxiety can't, I think.
Speaker B:Anyway, that's my thing.
Speaker B:So if we're working on that, then, you know, and just finding things as well that give you joy.
Speaker A:Being your own best friend.
Speaker B:Being your own best friend is very important.
Speaker B:Then as an actor, if you go and do something that makes you feel good about your acting, Go and do a play.
Speaker B:Go and do a.
Speaker B:Go and do something.
Speaker B:Make a skit for YouTube or evil TikTok or whatever it is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do something that makes you feel empowered, happy, and that you're enjoying your life.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker A:So just have fun as well.
Speaker A:Because that's like.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's one.
Speaker A:One of the.
Speaker A:The questions and it's just.
Speaker A:Yes, I know.
Speaker A:Is how important is it to have fun in the.
Speaker A:You know, in the.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Without.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The most important.
Speaker B:I mean, and it's going to be more important as you go forward.
Speaker B:It's like, try to find the people who make you laugh, you know, or even.
Speaker B:I was watching a really weird thing yesterday.
Speaker B:It's got.
Speaker B:It has got to do with it, but it was something for Cannes Lion.
Speaker B:Cannes Lions is on at the moment, which is the big advertising festival.
Speaker B:And I was watching a talk from it from one of the top people there, and they're talking about humor.
Speaker B:They're saying, you know, I mean, it's a very evil advertising tool.
Speaker B:They're saying people want brands to be funny.
Speaker B:Like, we even want our ads to be fun and they sell better.
Speaker B:So, I mean, fun is something that we need to be bringing back in a huge amount, I would have thought.
Speaker A:Yeah, hugely.
Speaker A:Not take ourselves so seriously and just enjoy life because we're all here for an experience anyway.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Brilliant.
Speaker A:So this is kind.
Speaker A:I mean, obviously we've spoken about actors and you've already covered it, which is.
Speaker A:Is great in terms of, you know, it's good to have a plan B.
Speaker A:But also, what about people, would you say if they don't necessarily want to go down that route forever, but it's something they would like to just have a little play with or experience?
Speaker A:Would you encourage that or.
Speaker A:Not really.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:For example, in Ireland, we have a lot of Amateur dramatics and does it.
Speaker B:My dad's been in place.
Speaker B:My dad's been in film.
Speaker B:I love going to amateur dramatics, like in Ireland, in my town, because it's.
Speaker B:It's a different kind of art form.
Speaker B:It's something like.
Speaker B:I think that stand up is very big at the moment.
Speaker B:A lot of people doing stand up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Improv going to be there.
Speaker B:Anything that can get you moving.
Speaker B:Connecting and communicating and going back to.
Speaker B:And having fun.
Speaker B:Perfect.
Speaker B:Like, the more that people could do that, the better, you know, And I think that, you know, you don't.
Speaker B:I think there's a big thing that I'm hoping has changed since Pandemic and that we don't just let back into it.
Speaker B:I was talking about with a friend of mine who's an artist and a Steiner.
Speaker B:She teaches Steiner art.
Speaker B: s is a conversation we had in: Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You're going to sell your paintings, you act because you're going to have a career.
Speaker B:You cook because you're going to do this.
Speaker B:And there's this kind of, you know, we should be doing things just because we love doing them.
Speaker B:Dolce far niente makes the world a much lighter place.
Speaker B:You know, the pleasure of doing things or the pleasure of doing something for no reason other than the pleasure.
Speaker B:And I think that's something that needs to be brought back, particularly as we move into this kind of digital era.
Speaker B:Should be, you know, reading a book just because we like reading, not reading a book because we're going to learn something.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And you should act just because you like acting and you should, you know, and it's something to do in your free time, because otherwise we're all going to become couch potatoes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And social media addicts.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And I think the more you act for love, for fun, the better.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the more you just do things, whether it's singing or painting, anything that's cultural.
Speaker B:There's a very strong reason why we have culture and why we have storytelling.
Speaker B:And it's not to do with becoming a Hollywood star.
Speaker B:It's to do with sharing a narrative.
Speaker B:It's like even things like charades that we used to play, you know, with kids and my grandparents nowadays, it's very difficult to get a child off.
Speaker B:And the more you do those kind of things, the more likely is that you'll be resilient.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I mean, I think they're the things that people forget how important they are.
Speaker A:No, I, I completely agree.
Speaker A:And you mentioned my favorite charades.
Speaker A:We, we were brought up from a really young age with charades and, and my niece and nephew, my nephew just turned 21.
Speaker A:My niece will be 19.
Speaker A:They had that, you know, they had fun and they played.
Speaker A:Yes, they had that, whatever they're called, iPads and all the rest of it.
Speaker A:But, you know, they.
Speaker A:They immerse themselves.
Speaker A:And I completely agree with what you're saying about.
Speaker A:And it's one of the things I talk about a lot as well as is just immerse yourself in something without judgment.
Speaker A:You know, draw, paint, sing, act and just have.
Speaker A:Yeah, just let yourself go free and no judgment.
Speaker A:Just enjoy the moment.
Speaker A:That's fabulous.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker A:So thank you so, so much for being here.
Speaker A:I hugely appreciate it.
Speaker B:Very welcome and lovely as always chatting to you.
Speaker B:Spirit, great questions and good luck with your second edition of the podcast.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Well, you don't need luck, but I wish you all the blessings, all the luck, all the world.
Speaker A:Thank you for all and lots of.
Speaker B:Funny for both of us.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker B:Lots of fun.
Speaker A:Loads of fun for both of us.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:All right then, well, thank you very much.
Speaker B:Bye.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker A:A huge thank you to Lucy for her incredible generosity.
Speaker A:And I will pop all the information about the actors home in the information for you to get in touch and to learn more about Lucy's work.
Speaker A:And also if you would like to be involved in any of the courses at Frank Stein Studio Online Actors Home, all of that will be there sending you all the love and we'll see you on the next episode.
