Bill Bailey — Bring the Drama ‘doesn’t sugar coat’ a career in TV acting

“It’s an intriguing idea, inviting people who’ve never had any professional acting experience to be coached and mentored, I’ve not seen anything quite like it. Not only does it go behind the scenes of shows like EastEnders and Casualty, you find out about the real nuts and bolts process of acting itself. It’s a tough racket to have a career in and this show doesn’t sugar coat it.”

“We follow our eight amateur actors as they film famous scenes from some of our best-loved TV programmes. Each week they have to audition for the main roles, which are then filmed with a full TV crew, edited and screened to the cast. Whoever has impressed Kelly will be named Actor of the Week and eventually she selects three people to go through to a final showcase and the chance to get a top agent and pursue their screen career.”

“Yes, it’s a brilliant range of people and a huge cross section. They’ve all wanted to act but, for whatever reason, it hasn't happened. But this desire that they’ve had since they were kids is still burning inside them. It’s terrific, it shows that it’s never too late to make a career change.”

“One of the things I said in the very beginning was ‘learn your lines’. It seems obvious but it’s so important. When you're on a set, people are waiting for you to deliver at the right time on the right mark, you have to be prepared and put the hours in. There's no luxury of time, particularly with soaps.”

“Yes, definitely and not only are our actors gaining a huge amount out of it but, from a viewers’ perspective, it's a fascinating insight into the business of TV acting. You might not have seen this level of detail and examination into how shows are made.”

“A couple of times we were really knocked out by someone. Delasi, for example, you see him blossom over the weeks and become this immensely charismatic performer. Chris is a terrific actor too, he's got immense physicality. He's got this amazing life as a top golfer in the deaf golf world. In fact all of them, they all surprised us. Everyone improves over the weeks and you really start rooting for them.” 

“You have to be resilient and able to take the knocks on the chin. You're going to go to a lot of auditions where they just say ‘No’ so you have to have the mental resilience to pick yourself up, keep going. Don't get too downhearted when things don’t go your way. It's a difficult job but it’s very exciting and rewarding!”

“Once I was auditioning for the role of a small-time drug dealer in Saving Grace and I was asked to roll a joint on camera. I thought it was going really badly but as I was doing it, they phoned the producer and said ‘We’ve got our bloke.’ I hadn’t even said a word! It just so happened they were looking for someone, I fit the bill, and ended up on a film set with Brenda Blethyn. That's how your life can change in a phone call!

“Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. I remember doing a standup show in the West End and film director Susannah White came in and said, ‘We're looking for someone to be in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, would you be interested?’ I read for it and the next minute I'm Farmer Macreadie on set with Emma Thompson”