On this episode of Second Act Actors, I talk with Lara, an Toronto-based actress who’s passionate about acting training and building communities of skilled actors. Lara felt pressured by her parents to pursue a ‘traditional’ career and had a job in social work but couldn’t let go of her dream to act and sing. She eventually switched into acting and is excited about the possibilities of developing her career in the industry.

Lara breaks down the many reasons that acting training is so important and why she’ll never stop developing herself. She tells me why “How do I get in the room?” is the wrong question to ask, and why continuously learning and growing your skills is a healthier approach to furthering your acting career. She then talks about drilling down on the reasons why you want to be an actor and how that’ll show up in your performance. You’ll also hear us discussing how having a first act outside of acting gives you a much more solid foundation than starting out acting without having any real life experience.

If you learnt something from this interview or if it inspired you to develop your own acting skills, please subscribe or follow the Second Act Actors podcast.

Timestamps

[1:38] How the Care Bears inspired Lara to get into acting

[3:00] “The arts kept on finding me”: Lara’s first act in college and beyond

[7:23] Lara’s passion for music

[9:45] Being a person of colour in the industry

[11:03] “I don’t believe in being a starving artist unless I have to be”: Lara on the creativity and resourcefulness of actors

[14:20] How Lara’s social work background has helped her to become a better actor

[16:25] You need to know why you want to act

[18:25] The advantage of coming to acting from a totally different career

[21:25] Why “How do I get in the room?” isn’t the right question to ask

[23:15] It’s all about the clan!

[24:50] Lara’s advice on how to make the most out of your time on set

[26:20] What second act actors bring to a film set

[28:54] The online improv community

[32:50] Building up a supportive, talented community

[34:07] Lara’s experience dancing on a music video set with Nelly Furtado

[37:12] Why acting training is important for more reasons than you think

[40:20] Relationships build certainty in an uncertain industry

[42:05] Paddle boarding and training: What Lara’s looking forward to this year

[43:17] A first act career is a foundation

[45:40] Not everybody in the industry is intimidating

[47:17] “You’ve got to be worthy to get paid that amount”

[49:49] Lara talks about auditioning from the casting director’s point of view

Links

Second Act Actors website

Second Act Actors on Instagram

Second Act Actors on Facebook

Second Act Actors on YouTube

Janet McMordie website

Janet McMordie on Instagram

Janet McMordie on LinkedIn

Janet McMordie on Twitter

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