Drama School Dropout

This week on Drama School Dropout we're doing something a little bit different. As we countdown to episode 200 we're taking a look back on some of my favourite Stage Right or Stage Shite stories. On stage proposals, danger wankers, insurance fraud, fisting, catching teachers wanking, chastity belts, Queen Camilla and wafflestomping. Stage Right or Stage Shite? has it all. Submit your story...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Lorna Calder. We chat about that very first mental showing of This Is Where We Get Off, acting on zoom, in person auditions, first jobs being with companies in LA, not knowing what a tech rehearsal is, not being a fan of drama in school, starring in a BBC feature film, struggling with the industry, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Fes...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Scott Folan. We chat about rejection, auditions, quitting theatre, the current lack of theatre etiquette, England shutting down at 4PM on a Sunday, joining the National Theatre at thirteen years old, alcoholic nuns, being forced to method act, professional lives interfering with personal lives, self confidence, Macbeth with Catherine Ta...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Daphne Maxwell Reid. We chat about the SAG AFTRA strike, working at a news station, unions, the price of Spotlight, being the first black woman to be on the cover of Glamour Magazine, acting on camera, being a trailblazing woman, replacing Janet Hubert as Aunt Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and how she originally passed on the ro...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Niamh Currie. We chat about Flatmates, going back to Drama School, Niamh’s first time at Drama School being over Zoom during the pandemic, losing our Fringe virginities together, learning more about our own history through acting, joining shows a week before opening night, having to learn to act while standing up, Zoom Drama School stud...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Lauren Drummond. We chat about Waterloo Road, Holby City, parenting, keeping secrets, hoarding scripts, auditioning for Drama School, studying at Yale, near death experiences, UKIP campaigning classmates, learning to be free and open, knock off Nuts magazines stealing production shots, Sarah Lancashire, being part of a trailblazing show...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Lee Lomas. We chat about the work/life balance of a freelance creative, teaching, living with chronic pain, finding confidence, leaving the industry, preparing to be ignored, nepotism, being a hand mixer, Lee’s school - The Working Actor’s Studio, Brian Cox, Shameless, only being able to do one episode of your favourite TV show, the lin...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Zachary James. We chat about Hadestown, winning a Grammy, how I’ve finally signed with an agent, an unconventional approach to Drama School auditions, being awarded “performer of the decade”, my journey to winning a Grammy, sophomore streak, finding your acting process, crying on command, Marisha Wallace on Celebrity Big Brother, vegeta...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Lauren Kelston McMillin. We chat about Orange Is The New Black, avoiding social events because of COVID, transitioning from athletics to acting, toxic masculinity, Yoga For Alex, mental health, The Cherry Orchard, supporting local theatres, studying at LAMDA, big pink swords, divas, not meeting the actor who is playing the older version...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing Zak Sutcliffe. We chat about Waterloo Road, not paying attention to the government, the time I almost shaved my head, Lord of the Rings, lightsaber colours, playing a donkey in school, getting to play Peter Pan, the era of chinos and vans, sword fighting with Stanley Tucci, Shakespeare, auditioning for Waterloo Road for multiple differen...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing Jonny Weldon. We chat about One Day, London Marathon training, the SAG strike, streaming, The Traitors, being a child actor on the West End, studying at the Sylvia Young theatre school, flirting with Rita Ora, pantomimes, being the original TikTok sketch artist, working in the art department, Celia Imrie, hanging out with the cast of Ted...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing Christina Moore. We chat about 90210, Ingram’s overuse of the royal “we”, having permission to fuck the fuck off, the SAG-AFTRA strikes, walking the picket lines, interim agreements, cancel culture, being the obligatory plus one, Christina getting her SAG card on the original 90210, the golden era of television, the lost generation of ac...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing Nicholas Webber. We chat about Orange Is The New Black, therapy, writing, Susan Nickson, This Is Where We Get Off, teaching, growing up around religion, the devil’s semen, The Future Forest, playing Elvis, scientology, understanding language, parental guilt, working with Jenji Kohan, Possey’s death (sorry! Spoiler!), how Orange Is The Ne...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing Hannah Mary Taylor. We chat about £1 Megabus tickets, Flatmates, Hannah's hatred for the Virgin Mary, Flatmates, the time Hannah flashed her entire year of Drama School, learning to let go and not care, rehearsing in working men's clubs, zoom drama school, your first time on stage being your BA Acting showcase, Gillian Anderson, working...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, the Tony Award Winner, Wilson J. Heredia. We chat about Rent, becoming a parent for the first time, the injury that started his acting career, living so close to Broadway during the pandemic, British TV, Facebook doctors, latin representation, working with Jonathan Larson, Rent being Wilson's first musical, that first preview after...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Josh Knowles. We chat about our old episode. This Is Where We Get Off, doing the fringe, the implications of COVID, going on stage without props, rehearsal room snacks, big willies, stealing, the very first This Is Where We Get Off turning into Bongo's Bingo, Steve Carrell, Ed McVey, creating comedy roles, being told to sit in a bin...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, James Baxter. We chat about Waterloo Road, James being a home town hero, McDonalds, growing up in the North East, the pressures of growing up in a working class town but wanting to pursue the arts, my new play “Flatmates”, the joy of working with other actors, doing the twenty-four hour plays at the Bristol Old Vic and forgetting lines,...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Oli Higginson. We chat about meeting at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the SAG strike, Fringe after parties, my new play Flatmates, having your first kiss on stage, Shakespeare, Karen Fishwick in Romeo and Juliet, seeing local representation, being asked to passionately defend Brexit, lessons learnt, finding your own version of a charac...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Lewis Gillon. We chat about Flatmates, creating content, Still Game, finding out your lecturer was in Still Game, halloween parties gone wrong, football, college auditions gone wrong, taking over a role last minutes, piss kinks, bonding with casts, being naked on stage, online perverts, the monarchy, nerves, self confidence, having a wa...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Rivkah Reyes. We chat about School of Rock, sitcoms, Gillian Anderson, finding career freedom during the pandemic, psychic mediums, changing your professional name once you already have an established career, choosing our battles, having Joan Cusack as your real life neighbour, frozen capri-suns, having to learn to play the guitar stand...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Anthony Flanagan. We chat about Shameless, being busier than ever, losing out to James McAvoy, being expelled from Drama Class at thirteen, acting never being the dream, studying at Oldham College, breaking into the industry with The Royal Shakespeare Company, lessons learnt, learning that the appreciation of your craft is subjective, m...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Anthony Lewis. We chat about Emmerdale, Ackley Bridge, The Full Monty, raising a toddler throughout the pandemic, the boom of podcasts, time passing so fast, how major world events impact TV shows, acting, becoming a family affair, being on heartbeat at nine years old, being Mr CITV for a while, skipping Drama School to join Emmerdale,...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Tony Jayawardena. We chat about the Christmas season, traditions, internet dating, going to see shows in the West End as a child, dealing with your inner monologue, the nothingness, being ignored, Dame Judi Dench's viral performance of Shakespeare's sonnets, the Crown, trying to be the nice guy, studying Chekov for eleven weeks...

This week on Drama School Dropout I am joined by the amazing, Nikki Runeckles. We chat about Bad Education, Layton Williams, Strictly Come Dancing, studying at Italia Conti, being an extra in a Morrisons advert, missing your first Drama School show because of appendicitis, learning to lose yourself, working in a nursing home, how Nikki came to play Chantelle, the Bad Education reunion, stealing, t...

This week on Drama School Dropout it's our third birthday! I am joined by the amazing, Samantha Siddall. We chat about three years of Drama School Dropout, Shameless, lockdown, nativity stories, missing out on the part of Mary, the hierarchy of secondary school drama departments, back up plans, going to Drama School, flatmates using your crockery as underwear, the only creative limit being mon...