When was it that you decided that acting is what you wanted to do?
I went to dancing, singing and drama classes from when I was really, really young. I remember my first dance class when I was three years old and I just kept doing it more and more. There wasn't a night of the week where I wasn't out doing a drama class or a dance class. Every single night after school, my mum and dad were taking me to all these different classes. So then I went to [Scottish drama school] GAMTA, which had this class where you went all day on a Saturday and three nights during the week. It felt like a part-time job, even though you were paying to get trained there, but it was very, very professional the level of training you got. Then I auditioned for Knightswood, which is a dance school in Scotland and is kind of like a fame academy. Once I got in there, I think I started taking it a lot more seriously because I think I was one of six girls that got in that year out of the 250 girls who auditioned in Scotland. So I remember thinking “maybe I could do this”, because the level was just really, really high of people that could act and sing and dance.
And then from there basically everyone auditioned for drama schools and musical theatre schools in London. Everyone was doing it so it wasn't a massive deal. If I was doing that and I was at my school in Coatbridge, that would have been crazy. I was only 16 at the time when I was auditioning for schools and they tend to not let people in until they're 18, so I just went for all the ones I could go for and then I got into the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It just kept going and going and going.
There wasn't a moment where I thought “I think I want to do acting”. I was doing it since I was three and then everything just fell into place a bit. As soon as I got into RCS, I cancelled all my other auditions in London because I knew I wanted to go to RCS. I was at RCS when I got my first professional job and then I got an internship when I was still at RCS. It has just always been what I've done and it's just not really stopped yet.
What is your favourite show that you've been in?
There's so many and there's so many different reasons for them to be favourites. My very first show with a company, Cyrano de Bergerac, I had a tiny part in it, but it was my first introduction to meet all these different people. There was a huge age range in the cast. I was the youngest, and I just loved making all these friends that were a lot older than me, I guess, older supportive women, old men in the company, and then we had a little young crew. That was amazing for so many reasons because of the people. But I think acting wise my favourite was The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan – I just love the character so much. And then one of the greatest companies I've ever been in where I've enjoyed everyone's company was when I did Macbeth at the RSC. I love big casts and I had loads of friends in that.
Do you prefer performing in plays or musicals?
Well, No Love Songs is the first musical I've ever done. I'm really used to plays and I enjoy them, but there is something about a musical. I love singing. I love singing and acting at the same time. I think it just pulls on something different in me. It's way easier for me to access emotions if there's music playing. It's like when you're watching a film, and then sad music starts and then you're crying. It's all because of the music. So I personally enjoy musicals more, but I’m not in many. I've only done one, but I would love to be in more.
Poster art for the musical No Love Songs
(Credit: Dundee Rep)
What's your favourite thing about performing in front of a live audience?
I think the audience reactions. They change every single night, each audience is so different and I love playing on that. Some nights you'll say something and everyone will roar with laughter, and then you'll do the exact same thing the next night and it's silent. I enjoy the live aspect of having to play the audience. You need to feel what they're giving you. You need to feel their vibe and then vibe off that. You can't do the same thing every night because otherwise it just won't work. But you need to feel where they're at and meet them on a level and then it's quite interesting energies, I guess.
No Love Songs went to America. How did you find that experience overall, and also did you see a difference in how UK audiences reacted to it versus American audiences?
Yeah, 100%. I mean, going to America was amazing. It's always been a dream of mine to go to America with work as an actor. I remember on that job for Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the men in it was talking about how he had worked in America and I was like: “Oh, my God, I can't believe you took a show to America from Scotland!” And he was like: “Oh, don't worry it'll happen for you too”. And I remembered that for so long because I've had so many different opportunities and auditions for things and thinking “I wonder if this is going to be the job that takes me to America”. I remember thinking “oh, it's never going to happen”. And then when it did happen, I was like: “I got told this would happen”. It feels really nice.
The audience reactions were so different. The humour mostly was different because it's kind of written like Glaswegian and Dundonian. It's a very Scottish humour, which is quite throwaway and quite straight-faced. In America, they just didn't take to that well. They thought we were being mean to each other even though, in Scotland, we were showing love. We're just taking the mick out of each other. That's love, that is a really deep-rooted love, and they just didn't get it. We did a lot of Q&A’s over there and they just thought we were being harsh. And we'd be saying “no, no, we're friends”. It was hard because for them, they're just like “I love you! You're amazing!” and that's how you show your love, it's really on the nose.
So I'd say we got a little bit more exaggerated with our acting because they liked it when we were quite obvious, sort of the slapstick of being Scottish. We had to really slow down our words so that they could understand us. I think my acting got a little more hammy because I was trying to show the audience I was being nice, so that they understood because the most important thing is for the audience to understand. So, even though I maybe didn't like my performances as much in America, it worked better for them and they loved it. They really connected to the piece. They loved that it was Scottish.
When you start a new show, what's your favourite part of that rehearsal process?
I love rehearsals. I always find that when I'm in a show, I'm excited to go to work in the morning. There's always a point in rehearsals where we go home at six and I'm like, I could stay here. I want to keep going, I want to work till nine. And that doesn't last very long because you are knackered, but it’s always at about week two or three where I just want to keep working And then it's a great feeling to get up in the morning and be excited to see everyone that day. But I love tech. I love tech rehearsals because everything's quite fresh still. You're still trying to find out how you're acting it. You're not solid in it yet, but you get your costumes and you get the lights and everyone's kind of watching each other's bits in the theatre and running around. Especially if there's a big cast, I love just being in the theatre with everyone and seeing everyone’s dressing rooms, that's fun.
Who are your influences?
I'd say my family. I don't have any favourite actors, I'd say, or celebrities that I follow. I obviously watch things, but I'm not like “oh, they're so good. They're amazing.” I tend to go off real life more. So my family has influenced me so much and, as an actor, if I can portray the emotions and the love or whatever that is through what I've learned in real life with my family, that’s what I'm kind of basing things off. It's not really how well other actors are acting. It's more like how other people are dealing with emotion.
What is your dream role?
It changes all the time but, because I've been thinking about musicals recently, I keep thinking about playing Nancy in Oliver! because I’d just love to do it. I love singing and dancing and then I love kids and there would be loads of kids in it. So the job as a whole, I would just love it. I'd also love to play Sally Bowles from Cabaret, but again, the really obvious ones to me are just big musicals, not really plays. Of course I'd love to do lots of stuff on the TV and film and things like that as well, but I think out of actual parts that I know it's Nancy from Oliver! and Sally Bowles from Cabaret. A lot of people would probably be really surprised that I've said that because I'm quite stereotypically a play actor.
What has been the highlight of your career?
I think going to America is really, really special for me. And we're going back, we're going to New York for four months. So I feel that that’s so special. I've always said I wanted to travel with work, I don't care where I go, I don't care where it is. I just want to travel with work and act while I'm travelling. So with that, I went to Venice Film Festival with a short film I starred in and that was quite surreal because it was quite a big deal and we were there. I got designer dresses given to me to wear, and you'd come in and the glam team would come in to do your hair and makeup, and then you'd walk the red carpet and it was all televised and there was so much paparazzi.
I think that was when I thought “whoa, I'm doing it, I'm really an actor”. I think I was 21/22, I was quite young to do that as well. So I think that was a real big moment for me to be like: “I'm at Venice Film Festival”. I was in the papers and stuff back home with photos of me on red carpets and that was the most surreal. I'm really, really proud of that because it's just a short film I made for three days in Glasgow and me and the director and the producer went to Venice for two weeks and got to talk to everyone. But that was the most like “Oh, my God, I’m a film star” moment I've ever had. And I think part of that was going to Venice to do it and traveling. We were on boats and things with producers and directors, and I was like: “this is crazy”.
Find out more about Anna and her previous work here.
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