Our guest today is Dr. Mark Seton

https://www.actorswellbeingacademy.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcaristonseton/

Dr. Seton is an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at The University of Sydney, Australia. He also teaches actor wellbeing in several drama schools and coaches actors dealing with highly vulnerable and potentially traumatising roles.

He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to conduct a study tour of actor training healthcare practices in the UK. As a result, the Equity Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Sydney, initiated an internationally ground-breaking Actors’ Wellbeing Study in 2013.

Dr. Seton is a founding member of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare.

Our discussion with Dr. Seton or Mark (as I like to call him) started with his own journey that led to his research on actors’ mental health. Along the way he dropped some fascinating perspectives on what an actor is, including the importance of vulnerability & resilience – he even talks about the original term he coined - Resilient vulnerability – and describes its significance.  Mark doesn’t subscribe to the concept of ‘becoming the character’ his explanation humanises the acting experience.