Meet Julie Wee. She’s been involved in acting since young; you might remember her from shows like “Light Years” and “@ Moulmein High”.  She was also a part of ACSian Theatre, Anglo-Chinese Junior College’s theatre troupe. A graduate of the Victoria College of the Arts in Melbourne, she is currently a full-time actress.

We thought it would be interesting to give our readers (yes, that’s you) a peek into an occupation that you might consider… less ‘mainstream’. The idea that most teens have is that an actor’s life is full of glitz and glamour, just like what you see on ‘Entourage’. But as we’ll soon find out, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

According to Julie, there are two possible scenarios for ‘a day in the life of an actor’:

Scenario 1

“I wake up really early in the morning and head to my shoot for the day. It may be for a television commercial, a drama, or a hosting job. I arrive on set and get my hair, make up and costuming sorted, then wait around for ages till the crew is ready for the actors to start. Quite often on a shoot, there is more waiting than actual work to be done, so I always go prepared with my  iPod and a good book, or I spend the time learning my lines.

Sometimes there are several locations, so we are shuttled in a van/bus to various places around the island. If we’re lucky, we end up indoors, where we don’t have to worry about the weather or noisy traffic. Otherwise we are relegated to suffering under the hot hot Singapore Sun… not fun.

If I am rehearsing for a play at the time, once I finish the shoot, I will go to the theatre for rehearsals. Rehearsals take from 3-10 hours a day, depending on the show, and there is usually at least a month of rehearsals. Theatre tends to be more active and process-based, so you can spend time exploring the character and the story in rehearsals, as opposed to the ‘just do it on the day ‘ nature of TV.

Tonight (19/02/09), is the opening night of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Buds Theatre, in which I play Gwendolyn. So tonight I will go into the theatre at 6pm for hair and makeup, and then get into my huge, puffed-sleeved dress. I will have to do a good vocal warm up beforehand so that I can handle the tongue-twistery text and also have a good resonant voice for the audience. Then, on the stage I go!”

Scenario 2

“I sit at home and do nothing. The unemployed actor.

This is not always a bad thing, as you have a lot of time to yourself, to play and develop your own ideas.

So it is a balance of busy busy busy till your brains pop out, and slacking off.”

For those of you who are interested in finding out more about pursuing a diploma/degree in acting or theatre, here are some links you can check out. They’ll give you a rough idea of the education options that are available if you decide that this is what you want to do.

LASALLE College of the Arts – Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Acting

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts – Diploma in Theatre

School of the Arts (SOTA) – Pre-tertiary Arts School for Youths (Age 13-18)

Tisch School of the Arts, New York University – Department of Drama