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Graduate Profile: Joanna Vanderham

31 October 2013

Filed Under:

Acting

Since graduating Joanna has appeared on stage and screen including in Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge, ITV’s Above Suspicion, Young James Herriot and the film What Maisie Knew. She was nominated for an International Emmy for her leading role in Sky One’s The Runaway, which she filmed while still at College and is currently playing the lead role of Denise in the second series of BBC 1’s The Paradise.  Joanna took time out from the intrigue and romance of minding the shop to tell us about her experiences at the College…

How did your training at RWCMD expose you to the industry and how did that help you get your first role?

RWCMD has great contacts with industry professionals – arranging workshops and masterclasses. This was invaluable for me as it was through one of these workshops that I met Emma Style, who then auditioned me for my first role in The Runaway.

How did your training prepare you for acting for television, theatre and film – all of which you’re done since graduating. Do you find you use different elements of your training for television or do the same key rules apply?

The voice training and accent technique at RWCMD has been one of the most useful parts of my training, since graduating I have only used my own accent in two projects – one of them is What Maisie Knew with Steve Coogan, and Julianne Moore, who both speak with their natural accents too.   If I hadn’t been prepared to learn new accents I would have struggled.

Joanna in RWCMD's production of Hitchcock Blonde

Joanna in RWCMD’s production of Hitchcock Blonde

 

Are there any elements you miss now you’re a professional actor?

Of course there are elements of college that you miss once you’ve graduated; the support network, the familiarity, the schedule. But RWCMD prepared me for not having those things, so trust me, you get by!

What did you enjoy or find most useful about your training at the College?

When I was first auditioning the one thing I was repeatedly told by Casting Directors was that when they met a student from RWCMD they approached the industry like they were ready for hard work, not as if it was a guarantee or a right.

Do you have any words of advice for our acting third years, embarking on their final year and looking forward to entering the big stage out there?

Make the most of every opportunity going, and work for it. The best advice I’ve been given is to go into an audition like it’s your first day of rehearsals. Show them what you can do, don’t ask for a job.

Joanna in the title role of  Mary Stuart at RWCMD

Joanna in the title role of Mary Stuart at RWCMD