Case study: Michael Colgan, actor

 Michael Colgan is an actor with a dozen years’ professional experience working on stage, on film and television.

He has worked all over the country, including at the RSC and in productions at the Royal Exchange, the Abbey Theatre, the Lyric Belfast, the Liverpool Everyman, the Young Vic and the Tricycle. He is currently appearing at the Young Vic in Rupert Goold’s critically acclaimed production of King Lear, starring Pete Postlethwaite.

What is your job role?

Actor.

Can you explain what you do?

Essentially, pretend to be someone I’m not. I’m given a script, may or may not have some rehearsal time with a director and other actors, and I have to come up with a character and a performance for the public to watch. Or some people prefer to nudge the character they’re playing as close to themselves as possible.

Describe a typical working day.

If I’m rehearsing, it’ll be from 10 or 10.30 till 5.30 or 6, with an hour for lunch, Monday to Friday. Occasionally you will rehearse in the evening, or on a Saturday. Rarely are you in every scene, so often you’ll have a few hours or even a couple of days off. Before the show opens you’ll have a few days of technical rehearsal, where you’ll be in the theatre for 12 hours a day sorting out the lights and sound; and then for the first few performances, which are known as previews, you’ll will often rehearse in the afternoons and perform in the evenings.

When you’re performing on stage, you have to be in the theatre 35 minutes before the performance starts, which is usually 7.30, but I like to get there before that. If you have a matinee too that means about lunchtime. There is no such thing as calling in sick or taking a day off; in 12 years of professional acting I have only once had an understudy.

Occasionally you will be rehearsing one show in the day and performing another in the evening, which is very hard work. But if they’re for different companies, you will get two salaries!

If you’re filming, you’ll be picked up from home, probably about 6 am, in a car and taken to the studio or location to get into costume and make-up. Food is provided for you, as well as a tiny portacabin to get changed in and hang around, which is what you inevitably spend most of the day doing. Then you are called to the set to walk through your scene, you go away for half an hour or so while they light it, then come back and film it, maybe only once or twice.

If you’re in lots of scenes and filming every day, this can be very hard work, as often you don’t get home till 9 or 10 in the evening. But the pay is usually much better than theatre.

Career journey

What did you do before this?

Nothing, apart from school and university. I taught English for a bit while I was training as an actor in Paris, but I’ve never had a ‘proper job’.

What training/education did you go through, and do you consider it to have helped you in your career? If so, how? How did you learn your trade/craft? Who helped you?

I went to the Jacques Lecoq Theatre School in Paris, after having done lots of student theatre at university.

In my experience, drama schools are mostly important for how they can help you get started, by giving students a showcase at the end of the course and helping them get an agent, which is by far the biggest factor separating working actors from struggling actors.

Most of what I have learned, I have learned from watching other, more experienced actors at work. That said, I did learn another approach to making theatre at the Lecoq school, but it so happens I haven’t used it very much in the work I have done so far.

What has been your proudest achievement?

Probably playing the lead role in a low-budget feature film called This Is Not A Love Song. I was lucky enough to have a lot of input into development of the script too, which is very rare.

Looking back over your career, what (if anything) would you have done differently?

Lots of things! I probably would have gone to one of the London drama schools, been more aggressive in trying to sell myself to agents and casting directors when I was starting out, and there are a few jobs I wish I hadn’t turned down, including a year’s work at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

But equally there are a few jobs I wish I hadn’t done. Perhaps I also would have made an effort to generate my own work, when things were slow.

Professional development

Have you taken any useful training or personal development that has helped your career?

Nothing formal, though often you end up learning certain skills for particular roles. For example, I’m a better cook for having played a chef. Things like driving, swimming and horse riding are all useful skills to have already.

Advice to others

What advice would you give somebody interested in getting into your industry?

Be realistic and even cynical about what roles you will be suitable for; looks are more important than any of us admit. And if you can’t find work doing the kind of thing you’d hoped for, make it yourself.

Even famous actors are rarely rich; if you want a comfortable lifestyle, do something else.

Why do you think so many struggle to get into your industry?

There is not nearly enough work to support the number of people who want to do it. People who are prepared to make their own work early on do better later.

If you could offer one piece of crucial advice for people wanting to progress further in your industry, what would it be?

When you find yourself with older, more experienced people from the business, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. And always be nice about everybody – it’s a very small industry and you never know who is whose best friend!

The industry

What do you think are the issues affecting your industry at the moment?

Those in positions of power second-guessing what an audience wants instead of taking risks.

What do you think needs to be done to tackle these issues?

One of the few powers an actor has is the power to say no. If you can afford to, turn down any work you know you will not be proud of.

The future...

What do you see for your future? Where would you like to be in five years' time and what do you think you will need (training, skills, contacts, networks) to get there?

I would like to think I’d have a bit more experience in film and TV, and be able to be more selective in the roles I take. The only thing I would change about where I am now is the lack of financial stability – so perhaps I need some training in auditions for TV adverts, which can be very well paid but I always do badly in!