I was 10, and I played Jim Hawkins in 'Treasure Island' at school, and this great Liverpudlian actor called Andrew Schofield - he was Johnny Rotten in 'Sid And Nancy' - came to watch it, and he had a word with my mum and dad afterwards and told them I should have a go at the Everyman youth theatre. I've never looked back.
My sister started acting professionally when she was twelve, but I wanted to go to college first.
I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. But then a lady at the youth theatre asked me if I'd ever thought of going to drama school.
I love working with talented young performers.
The first time I came to London on my own, I was 15. I was absolutely oblivious to so many things. I had no expectations, no fears. I just came to do a National Youth Theatre season one summer. It was just brilliant.
Youth theatre isn't just about a precocious child that wants to sing and dance in front of people. It's for everyone; it's about a community, it's about being supported by your peer group. You learn skills - not just acting but all the other sides - working in the TV, film, and theatre industry.
The acting was first. As a teenager I was an actress; and then I came back as a singer.
I took up drama and did so much extracurricular work, like the National Youth Theatre and Guildhall's Saturday school. Acting is where I felt most comfortable and how I wanted to express myself.
My daughter did this production of 'Romeo & Juliet' when she was younger, and this agent said she should work, and I said, 'You know what? I'd rather just have her go to school.'
I was in the National Youth Theatre, too, but there was no dancing there. I was doing plays like 'Julius Caesar' and playing the lute very badly.
After making my stage debut aged nine as Macduff's small son in 'Macbeth,' I had played a number of parts, from 'Twelfth Night's Viola to 'The Merchant Of Venice's Portia'.
Our high school offered a comprehensive drama department where I was doing 'Angels in America' at 14.
One of my best memories is with a really good group of people in the Canberra Youth Theatre. We did a play about the seven deadly sins, and we had to dress up in costume and perform in Garema Place like the drama freaks we were. Great fun.
I haven't done any 'Fringe' shows since I was about 17. Then I performed with my youth theatre in a show where we all had this old-fashioned make-up on and giggled through our lines.
I got involved in the Surrey Country youth theatre which led me to go to drama school where I realised that this was going to have to be my career, and I was really lucky to get big breaks early on.
I had a very nice, cozy childhood. I did lots of plays at school and worked with the National Youth Theatre as a teenager.
Fortunately, I never had to do the waiter thing. When I got out of college, I immediately started to teach acting. One of the first jobs I had was in a federally-funded program where I taught drama to young people.
Growing up in Seattle, I had the opportunity to take classes since I was 7 years old. I did theatre. I auditioned for film, television, commercials, and built up not just a resume but also some confidence. I learned how to master my craft before arriving in Los Angeles.
I had done quite a bit of stage when I was younger, local stuff, musicals. Then I started professionally, I suppose, when I was 11, in London, in the West End, which was already huge for me.
When I first started acting, I was actually working with the National Youth Theatre in London doing anti-knife crime workshops, so I was listening to a lot of music that was around us all the time, around the guys I was working with, and the kids - lots of young grime artists from London.
I always loved drama at school. We had a great drama teacher at my secondary school, and she made drama feel cool. She inspired me, and then I did the National Youth Theatre in London.
I was always far more into anything creative that called for a bit of active participation, like reading aloud in class. Then, having left school shortly after my GCSEs, I auditioned for the National Youth Theatre of Wales and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain as well as the Welsh National Youth Opera. I ended up getting into all three.
My family moved out of London's East End to a tiny village. The school I went to was supposed to be mixed gender, but there were hardly any boys born that year. So, yes, joining a youth theatre was a fun way to meet the opposite sex!
I went to the Glasgow Youth Theatre and they just let me in. But I was so shy that I was there for about six weeks without actually introducing myself.
It was in New York, and I've always wanted to film in New York. And the writer was a teenage friend of mine. We did youth theatre together when we were 16 and always had a dream of making a film together. And ten years later, we've done it. So it's great.
