Rebecca Strom

is not waiting for the phone to ring.

Education:
Theatre Program, 2008

Career goals: :
To successfully run a theatre company; to teach theatre to young children; to find a role that really scares me and DO it.

Personal goals:
To finish writing a full-length play; to not let the rejection of this business destroy me; and to never give up on my dreams, even if it means waitressing for the rest of my life. If I'm performing, I'll be happy.

Favourite play:
Closer by Patrick Marber, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. There are so many others - I can't choose just one!

When I hang out with my friends we:
start most conversations with "Wouldn't it be great if we did ______ onstage?" We brainstorm a lot. We laugh even more.

My must-visit web site is:
www.vancouveractorsguide.com

Theatre or film?

My heart will always be in the theatre, but as of recently, I've discovered a newfound fascination with film. Theatre is my main focus though. I love the magic of it. There are more limitations in a play and I love trying to find innovative ways around them. I think you can be more creative on the stage and I think the audience is willing to suspend their belief a lot more than if they watch a film - there's more imagination involved.

Any pre-stage rituals or superstitions?

I don't like to eat before I go onstage. It's gotten better in the last few years, but it used to be to the point where I couldn't eat up to six hours before a show because I would be too nervous. That's changed, luckily. Now, I always make it a point to warm up, to relax and focus my mind and to give myself a goal for the night's performance - what I'd like to focus on and accomplish in that particular show.

The hardest thing about college?

The long hours. There were times when I spent more time at the school than I did at home.

The best thing about college?

The lifelong friendships. I met some of the best friends of my life while at Douglas. I moved away from my home in Prince George to attend this program and I would get really homesick. The people I met here became my second family.

Outstanding moments?

On the last day of classes, I sat there and compared myself to the person I was coming in to the program and I realized how much I'd grown not only as an actor, but as a human being. It was a pretty surreal realization.

The best instructor?

All of the instructors in the Theatre Department are so fantastic - they're all so passionate about what they're teaching and it really shows. It's amazing to have teachers who really care about what they're doing, because it makes learning what they're teaching that much easier. And they truly care about their students which makes for a wonderful classroom environment. I can't say enough good things about all of the faculty.

The most important thing you learned in class?

The one thing that really stuck with me is something Allan Lysell, coordinator of the Theatre Program, once said to me: "Don't be the type of actor who sits by the phone and waits for it to ring. Be the type of actor who goes out there and creates their own opportunities." That's what I intend to do.

How about on stage?

To trust myself as an actor - that if something goes wrong onstage, whether it be a line flub or a missed entrance, I can fix it while staying true to the character and the story. It was something they always told us in school - to trust ourselves - but it didn't ever really click with me until I experienced it for myself. Now, if something goes wrong onstage, I take a deep breath and I fix it.

Related Links

Information Sessions
Theatre Program
Vancouver Actor's Guide
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