Equity Foundation Podcast

Equity's Live Stream Program continues with esteemed casting director Lauren Wiley talking with Equity member Helen Dallimore about all things auditions, musicals, casting, current and past projects, the actor/casting director relationship and answering all your questions.

Lauren Wiley is one of Australia’s most accomplished Casting Directors, bringing more than two decades of experience. She is currently the Casting Director for the forthcoming Australian premiere of A Beautiful Noise – The Neil Diamond Musical (TEG Dainty/Ken Davenport). Her extensive credits include MJ The Musical (Michael Cassel Group), Gaslight (Newtheatricals/Queensland Theatre), Hamilton (International Tour) and Hamilton (Australia) (Michael Cassel Group), Come From Away (Junkyard Dog/Newtheatricals), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Michael Cassel Group), and Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel Group). Lauren also served as Consulting Casting Director for Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (TEG Dainty/Stage Entertainment) and was Casting Administrator for Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Misérables (Michael Cassel Group). Lauren began her theatrical casting career at Sydney Theatre Company in 2009, appointed Casting Coordinator to Co-Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton. She later returned to Sydney Theatre Company as in-house Casting Director under Artistic Director Kip Williams, a role she held until 2019. A graduate of Charles Sturt University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Theatre/Media), Lauren spent two years based in London, where she worked as Casting Assistant to Jina Jay on major feature films including The Lovely Bones (Dir. Peter Jackson), Body of Lies (Dir. Ridley Scott), Agora (Dir. Alejandro Amenábar), and The Adventures of Tintin (Dir. Steven Spielberg) as well as time working for London’s most established talent agencies.

Join professional voice artist Alexandra Lopez for an essential introduction to the voice over industry, designed specifically for acting graduates ready to expand their career opportunities. Represented by Scout Management and specialising in coaching beginners, Alexandra will guide you through the unique skills and techniques that set voice work apart from stage and screen acting. You'll learn who to connect with in the industry, what equipment and training you'll need to be audition-ready, and how to stay productive and sharp between jobs. Whether you're curious about voice over or ready to dive in, this session will give you the practical knowledge and insider perspective to confidently navigate this exciting avenue of your acting career.

Alexandra Lopez is the CEO of Alexandra Lopez Studios and the founder of Voice Over Collective. Represented by Scout Management, Alexandra has over 20 years of experience as a professional voice artist. She has voiced campaigns for brands including the SA Government, Shiels Jewellers, L'Oréal, Mitsubishi, Foodland, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and San Remo.

How to make money playing the role you were born to play: yourself. Or in other words: learn that the skills you have gained as an actor are of value beyond the script. A deep dive into what skills you have as a performer that can be monetized in other ways including corporate work as an MC, hosting children's shows, game shows and light entertainment with ongoing high profile warm up audience work.

Michael worked as an actor on both stage and screen for several years. 1984 was a turning point as he began an on-air career as a television presenter, hosting children’s shows, game shows and light entertainment. What followed was a decade of profile building which opened opportunities in the corporate space as host and emcee of Award Nights, conferences, product launches and the like. Work that he continues to this day. 1990 saw another sideways turn as audience warm-up for Blind Date. More shows followed and Michael soon became the go-to-guy for audience warm-up for everything from The Voice, Australia’s Got Talent, Mad As Hell and sitcoms such as Acropolis Now, and All Together Now. He continues in this role now on Tipping Point – celebrating 35 continuous years applying the performance skills he learnt as an actor, to this arena. Along the way he has worked as Breakfast Radio host and has created television programs and produced others such as The Price Is Right, Bert’s Family Feud and Comedy Slapdown. Check him out: www.michaelpope.com.au

Acclaimed acting coach Miranda Harcourt will discuss how actors can craft a journey through their material, how verbatim text can help us achieve naturalism and how our thoughts translate through the lens. As she did in her last livestream, Miranda will bring case studies and research about the ways psychology and neuroscience supports your performance. Last time she discussed how you can achieve unselfconsciousness, inner life and responsiveness by balancing your vista, connection and internal landscape. This time she will push beyond those core craft skills into new material. Miranda will spend half the time respond directly to your questions about acting and directing on stage and screen.

Globally renowned as a performance-pilot, not only does Miranda support stars at the highest level, but also guides emerging talents into stellar careers. Her clients have won and been nominated for multiple Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys, BAFTAs and AAFTAs. She has lifted up countless careers through her work at labs and schools like TIFF, NYU Tisch, London Film School, UK’s National Film and Television School and Toi Whakaari. You can read more about the startling impact of Miranda’s key tools including Connection, Internal Landscape in her on-line textbook NOTES FOR ACTORS AND DIRECTORS mirandaharcourt.substack.com

Join David John Clark, aka The Late Bloomer Actor for some insights into acting as a late bloomer. The how’s, what’s, where’s and why’s of acting in your ‘later’ years, whether it’s a new endeavour for you, or returning to fulfil your younger self’s dreams, before career, family and everything got in the way. Learn what you can do to propel yourself forward and to treat your journey as a business but maintain it as an exciting opportunity. And you don’t need to be a late bloomer either to benefit from this discussion, as we look into all the little things you need to do to keep the momentum going.

David John Clark is an actor and podcaster. He is the host of the popular podcast "The Late Bloomer Actor"'. David got his first taste of acting as an extra in the booming movie industry in Sydney during the 1990's, including a small role in Star Wars 'Attack Of The Clones' of which he personally received direction from the great George Lucas. Little did he know then, that 20 years later this would be his calling. David stepped up and began various acting training courses in Adelaide from 2013, which includes ongoing training and mentor-ship today by Greg Apps (Casting Director Sydney) as well as training with Jeff Seymour of The Real Life Actor (USA), StageMilk Online Drama and more recently the wonderful Les Chantery in Sydney. David is a well-known and respected actor in the South Australian film and television industry as a source of support, mentorship, advice and training in his delivery of various online acting sources including his monthly podcast series and regular 'Off Script' bite size info sessions. David is your Teacher, Doctor, Father Figure or Enforcer type, but can draw on his experience living in different states and working with many different people and cultures when needed. His acting style is naturalistic, drawing on life experiences for character development. David is also a competitive bodybuilder and has competed in several Australian state championships.