information about it or how to get involved in it then click Minute Monologue in my website menu bar at the top!

​I'm really happy because yesterday we had our first live Q&A on Instagram with the awesome platform that is WeAudition! We talked all things casting and discussed what things might be like and how the casting process may change after lockdown because of Covid19. We also chatted about what each of our platforms do to help actors. It was fantastic to engage with both of our communities and to be able to answer some of their questions. I'm grateful to Darren for joining me to talk. The video is on the IGTV section of the @MinuteMonologue Instagram proflie if you'd like to watch it later.

I'm hoping that we will be able to do lots more live chats on Instagram and keep growing a friendly and pro-active acting community on there, as well as sharing advice, opportunities, casting calls and workshops! It's so awesome to see casting directors, agents and directors starting to join in and follow the feed, I really do hope that the initiative will help people to achieve their goals and get work in this industry. ​

Despite filming, and production all coming to a stop. Despite theatres closing and everyone being stuck at home on lockdown. Despite a drastic reduction in casting calls and all of us self employed people freaking out about our finances.... The acting world has never been more open. Never before have we had the combination of agents and casting director having extra time on their hands, combined with the beauty that is the internet! We can communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world from a device in our hand. And people are really communicating right now.

The acting world can often seem like an industry with closed doors, with the constant frustration of needing to be known to get roles/but needing the roles to become known. Granted this had been changing with casting directors and directors much more open and excited about finding new talent, but there's still a massive over saturation of actors and not enough roles for us all. I myself have spent years working hard to gain film and theatre credits through networking and getting recommended to others by word of mouth, but still to date have never been in an audition room with a casting director. But this could all change after lockdown...

Lots of amazing and generous casting directors and agents are taking the time to reach out to actors, or let actors reach out to them, while we all have this spare time. And it's absolutely invaluable. We would never normally have the opportunity to speak with these people, especially in a casual chat or Q&A session, as normally the first time you would meet them would be at an audition (or possibly a workshop). There are livestream chats and live Q&A's happening multiple times a day over on Instagram, more on Zoom too. We have Spotlight offering 1-2-1 chats with agents and casting directors in 15 minute slots (you can only book one of these mind, but it's still definitely something that actors should be trying to do). We also have lots of casting directors and agents doing general chats on WeAudition.com which was an initiative started by Sophie Holland Casting (The Witcher) with the hashtag #CastingCrushesCorona. And it's all for free. Yes FREE.

So why is this so important? Well for casting directors it gives them a chance to find new talent and meet people that they otherwise would not have met, plus they can get to know us a bit and find out what we're like as people. It's important to be easy to get along with if they may potentially cast you in a series that could run for years! For agents it gives them the chance to take on new clients, especially if they currently have spaces in their books. And for us actors...there are so many benefits!

Firstly it is really nice to be able to get to know the people behind the names. We all know the names of casting directors and agents, we all know who they are. But at the same time we actually don't. We don't know them as people, at least not yet. This is something that I'm really enjoying as everyone that I've spoken to has been so friendly and really helpful with their advice. They're also super encouraging which is lovely. Secondly for someone like me who has never auditioned for a casting director, it gives me a great chance to meet and get to know some of them! And also for them to get to know me a little, which will hopefully increase my chances of being called in to audition later if I suit a part that they're casting. It will also be nicer if and when I do get called in to audition for them as we will already know each other a little, so will be more relaxed in the casting room.

Also I have really liked the people that I've spoken to, so I will look forward to getting to meet them again one day, and not just because they could give me a job but because I'd like to talk to them more. Don't forget that we're all people who share a love of this industry! The last benefit that I'm going to write about is that this also gives us a chance to be productive, and proactive with our careers. I fully intend to come out of this lockdown with my career in a better place than it was in when it all started. Just because we're all stuck at home, doesn't mean that we can't do anything, learn anything, meet anyone new, or even just get more ready to get going again.

I want to take this moment to say a huge thank you to all of the people who are giving up their time to meet, help, encourage, educate and connect with actors during this time. I personally could not appreciate it more (and I know the same can be said of many other actors out there) that you are giving up your time to do this. Thank you!

If any actors reading would like to keep up to date with everything that's going on then head over to instagram and follow @MinuteMonologue (or click here) as they are sharing everything they can find in their story highlights. Any why not join in and do a monologue while you're there!

So some of you who've been following my work and vlogs for a while (thank you so much, you are awesome!) may have noticed that I didn't do a lot of acting in 2019... There is actually a reason for this! From May I kind of took 6 months away from acting. I say "kind of" because I didn't actively look for work, go to festivals, or attend networking events. But I did take any acting jobs that just came up. This was so that I could throw myself into working as many "normal" job shifts as I could find, including working 7 shifts in 3 days at 3 different locations around the south of England (and no, it was not 1 location per day) which was probably a bit too much it I'm honest. Won't be doing that again if I can help it! However it has all paid off as I succeeded in my goal to save up enough for the deposit to buy a flat! Which I'll hopefully be doing next year!

I'm so SO excited I can't actually express it in writing, so just imagine me doing a bouncy little happy dance. It has been very hard to make the sacrifice of not getting to act for most of this year because I really really missed it and it's something that I have been doing and chasing since I was only 6 years old. I've felt pretty isolated from the industry and my industry friends at points, and I've felt very frustrated at not being able to move my career forward. Felt stuck even. But I am happy to have achieved what I set out to do and hit my flat deposit goal. It is a really big deal for me, especially in a career full of uncertainty and instability.

Next year will be the first time that I'll be able to really knuckle down and go after my goals with my acting career. It'll be the first time that I'll actually be able to afford to go to the casting director workshops and film festivals. To go to classes to work on new skills and get better at the ones I already have. To take time off for auditions and workshops without worrying how the time off (because there's no holiday pay when you're self employed) will affect my ability to pay my rent.  In this crazy creative world I will have something that I wasn't sure I would ever have... some financial stability. And the freedom that comes with it to actually move my life and career forwards.

I'm so so happy and excited about this, so although it was tough to pull back on the acting this year, in the long run it is an investment in my career and in my life. I'm really looking forward to 2020 and the opportunities it will bring. I also want to take this moment to say thank you to those of you who support me and my work, it really does mean the world to me and I'm very grateful for it. I hope to bring you many characters that you will hopefully enjoy!

I know it’s only November but for me Christmas has started already. For the last few years I’ve worked performing shows for immersive grottos and brought their magical, fantastical and sometimes wacky characters to life. This year it’s Professor Freeze in her magical snow laboratory as well as her assistant Anti-Freeze! We have a crazy bubble filled lab, Santa’s Snow Nog, and making magic snow fuel.

It’s a lot of fun but it can also be quite a challenge. We perform a show every 20 minutes to about 100 people at a time (especially when it’s sold out in December) and the show is 15 minutes long! So yes, it can be hard work and high stress. Especially when you get a grumpy, stressed out or rude parent... But it is all worth it for the looks of pure wonder there you get from a lot of the children as they enjoy the experience and feel the Christmas spirit.

Then there’s the people that you work with - they are amazing! I’ve honestly had the best of times with these people (especially playing games of Muggles Against Humanity in our down time, and racing to fold endless amounts of flat packed boxes while creating more new harmonies for the annoyingly catchy jingle that we made up).

It takes a special (and patient) kind of person to do Christmas work with kids, but it is rewarding and enjoyable to keep the magic alive for them. Plus you can really go to town with these larger than life characters! It’s good exercise for you improvisation skills too because even though it’s scripted, whenever small children are involved it will inevitably not always go to plan. Although these often result in some of the funniest shows of the season!

There’s also the things that happen that leave us all in either utter disbelief or fits of laughter once the audience leaves the room. We’ve only been performing for 2 weeks so far this year and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the number of parents who don’t know how to use a funnel!

The rest of the season should be a lot of fun. We will have our ups and downs, but I will get to share it all with the most fantastic group of people. When it’s all over and done with on Christmas Eve then I’ll enjoy my hard earned and well deserved holiday until January! If you would like to meet the characters that I play or see some of the fun that we get up to then be sure to check out my vlog series The Reel Road over on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/lydiakay

Audition nerves are something that pretty much every actor has to deal with, and I actually think that they are a good thing - stay with me here. If you're nervous about something then it just means that you care about it. It's also a good way to keep your ego in check. So yes, I think being nervous about auditions is a good thing. That being said you don't want to let your nerves take over, turn you into a complete wreck and ruin the audition. Nobody wants that, and we've probably all been there at least once. So how do I beat these nerves, or rather keep them under control?

There's a few ways that I find work well, and they all work together too. The first thing is to embrace them, to accept that it's ok to be nervous and to know that everybody else feels it as well (even if they don't look like they do). Learn to see it as a sign that you care about your work and be proud of that. Secondly you need to change your perspective on auditions themselves. You need to learn to enjoy them and have fun. We should look forward to auditions, not dread doing them. If you're having fun instead of worrying about how you're doing then you'll definitely give a better performance.

Which brings me to the next, and probably the most important piece of advice. This is how you re-wire your brain so-to-speak. The audition IS the job. It is not the thing that you have to do, or some test you have to pass to get the job. Don't focus on trying to get the part. You already have it, for the time that you're in the audition room. For the time that you are in there the role is yours. That is your time to become that character. That is your time to show them who you've created from those words on the paper. That is your time to perform. Yours. So don't screw it up by not being there in the moment because you're nervous about whether you'll get the part or not. You have the opportunity to play that part RIGHT NOW. The audition IS the job, everything and anything that may come after is a bonus.

This is how I managed to get my audition nerves under control, so that now I can appreciate their presence as passion and actually enjoy the auditioning process. And it has honestly changed my world just by adjusting my mindset. I love my job! Oh and once you leave the audition room - forget about that job. You played the part, you did you work, and now it's time to look for the next opportunity. Get straight back to work and look forward, if you get a callback or the role then it will be a wonderful surprise! If you've been lucky enough to get offered two jobs while working hard like this then you'll be one of the few in demand actors who's able to choose which you'd like to do more. I really hope this helps any of you who struggle with nerves like I used to, and break-a-leg in your future auditions!

Dying is actually really good fun, well fake-dying for a movie is. Real dying not so much. Thankfully I only do the former. I've been strangled, stabbed in the head, half-zombified, beaten to death, and had my throat ripped out. Yes, all that in THREE films! But it is good fun, you really get to play with the intensity of the moment and as mine were all rather gory deaths I got to wear the most disgustingly awesome makeup too!

Fake-dying is a messy job, I'm not kidding! I've left showers looking like a scene from 'Psycho', I've had so much fake blood in my mouth that I've had to hold my breath for fear of drowning in it before the director said "Action" and I could spit it out in a spectacularly dramatic fashion, and I've had a bone sticking out of my leg that was so realistic looking it freaked out the rest of the cast and crew! (Especially when I ran at them with it. I couldn't help myself.)

It's a fun challenge dying convincingly, but the real challenge comes when trying to get the makeup OFF at the end! And that stuff does not want to come off! The blood stains, your hair will be so sticky that you just try not to think about it, removing black eye makeup brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "panda eyes", you'll keep finding little bits of liquid latex on yourself for days to come, and you'll wonder if your nails will ever look clean again.

But you know what? I love it all! When we were kids we loved the chance to get really messy and it's great to be able to do it for work now as an adult! It can definitely be hard work sometimes but for me that's part of the fun and I'm happy to give it my all when filming these scenes, when filming all scenes. While there are some issues with dying all the time - like never being in the sequel - if Sean Bean can win an Oscar from doing it then I'm quite happy to continue enjoying my death scenes. Although it would would be good to start surviving a few in the future!