Actors Making It

Joy Hopwood packed her bags and left her hometown of Perth to pursue her dreams of becoming a working actor. What spurred this dream? Well as a Chinese Australia, Joy never saw herself represented on screen and when a couple of her drama students felt the same way, Joy decided if she couldn’t see herself represented then she would be the representation that was needed in Australian Media. Now, 30 years later Joy is a founding member of the MEEA diversity committee, founded the Joy House Film festival that targets diverse short films that bring joy and is an advocate of “giving people a chance” A lot of todays conversation is around diversity in the industry and about being tenacious if you really wanna make it. You can follow Joy on Twitter - @JoyHopwood or her Website

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

Patrick had huge dreams of making in big in Hollywood after discovering the joy of acting at a young age. Performing in the school plays and landing an agent early on in his career, he thought he was set.   

Fast forward to quitting drama school, giving in to the pressures of fitting in and letting toxic friendships crush his spirit, Patrick threw in the towel for many years as the pressures and impact on his mental health all became too much.   

Years later, he's reignited his passion and landed his first three TV Credits while living in Europe and he's relocated home to England to follow his dreams.   

In this weeks conversation we talk about body dysmorphia, mental health struggles and juggling full time employment while trying to Make It.  

You can follow Patrick on Twitter or Instagram @trickfrees

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

Inspired by Bruce Lee movies, Miguel has big dreams of making it big as an action star.

In this weeks conversation we talk about how Miguel deals with racial stereotyping and how this isn’t something he can control, he prefers focus. on the things he can such as doing the work and honing the craft. Though he has felt the shift over the last 3 years and is pleased to see the representation in what he is watching.

Grinding for over a decade, he has performed on stage at the Opera House as well as many screen gigs throughout the years and when it comes to keeping motivated its all down to proactivity – the more proactive he is the better he feels.

You can follow Miguels journey through is website www.miguelsebastian.com

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

With everything she's achieved, you'd be forgiven for being surprised to learn that Kate's only been at this acting game for 4 years.

Kate's a fighter, she fought for her first lead role in the play "Gaslight," she's fought again battles of self confidence and she's fought to keep motivated during the seasons of less work.

If there is anything to know about Kate that her faith helps her keep her faith in the industry.

In this weeks conversation, Kate and I talk about how quitting permanent teaching and taking roles as crew has helped shape her as an actress but also as a writer-producer.

I'm introducing questions for the audience this week. If you are on listening on Spotify you can answer in the app though if you are listening on apple podcasts, you can always leave a review and answer the question. This weeks question is “How do you keep motivated to keep on your journey to making it?”

You can follow Kate on her social media profiles katejirelle or her website.

For now, join me as we explore Kates journey to making it.

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

This weeks conversation is with US Born, Australian and openly proud gay actor Matt Young. Following in his older siblings footsteps, as was usually the case as a kid, Matts first experience of treading the boards was in the year 6 school play… after that he was hooked. Unlike the rest of the brood, acting stuck. Moving to NYC to study at New York University when he was 18 Matt landed his first role on Broadway within 3 months.   Today we talk about stereotypes, what it was like signing an agent as an openly gay man and how he brings a little “Queer” to every character.   

You can check Matt out on his website or follow him on social media at – mattyoungactor

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

Growing up backstage on the West End and heckling his father while on stage in Oliver, Sam Have has been in and around performance since he was but a wee boy.  He has come a long way, training at NIDA and finding the joy of teaching in his third year of study, Sam is one of the leading acting coaches in Sydney with Sydney Actors Association.   In this weeks conversation, we talk about mental health struggles, that what Sam always wanted to do was "The work and do it well."  Join us through on Sam's journey as an Actor Making It.

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

Ever the funny man, Jesse is well on his way to making it. 7 years of hard graft he is racking up the IMDb credits and has already lived his dream of becoming a cowboy.   You can follow Jesse on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter @jessedingo or follow @arcproductions.aus on YouTube and Insta.

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

Gaining success early in his life Harry has been forging his career for years. Starring alongside Geena Davis in Accidents Happen was his big break in the industry. We discuss what it's like trying to Make It as a gay actor and his dreams of one day becoming Julia Roberts.

You can follow harry on Instagram @harryjcook Twitter @harrycook TikTok @harryjcook

You can also follow the host, Danny Barton on instagram @dannyjbarton or the @actormakingit instagram

This weeks conversation with Steve Khoury is a look into the other side of the camera. Steve is a director, cinemaphotographer and editor. 

We have a chat about how he tried to fit too much into his first project, Bimbalo, working in retail and finding balance in working for clients, working with friends and also working on stuff that isn't creatively inspiring to pay the rent. 

You can follow Steves instagram or check out his work on his company website, Day One Productions.