Meet Harriet Bridgwater

 

We recently connected with Harriet Bridgwater and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Harriet, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

What turned out to be my purpose started as a refuge, reading stories and watching films is magical as a kid. Being very energetic but initially shy, I needed a place to channel my energy.
Growing up we’d always play “make belief” which was one of my favourite things to do. Building a love for acting through plays at school, it was a way I felt very confident and I loved losing myself in characters. Every time I read a book I would start to behave like them, it wasn’t until I did my first play I really understood what acting was and it blew my mind.

My purpose as an actress isn’t to tell the audience how to feel, or to get them to like the character I’m playing, but simply to accurately represent my characters, to make an audience be lost in the world of the play / film, and see people from their everyday life, they recognise in my performances. On screen there is the privilege of every micro-expression being captured in a performance, such a nuanced medium allows an audience have an extremely intimate look into the character’s onscreen.

Selfishly, acting was something solely I had a passion for and left me fulfilled, and continues to be today. However, I’ve also seen the impact art can have in inspiring others and enabling people to connect and be seen. This drives my performances and storytelling now and I feel a responsibility to do my job well to accurately portray my characters as individuals . As I continued to grow and evolve my ideas in the world, this passion followed me and my thirst for it grew . The allure of acting for me is bringing to life people from literature I love and stories that need to be told, the pleasure of creating them from paper to live in the flesh.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m an actress from the UK, I act in indie movie projects, short films, I work with a range of directors from film to creators within the Youtube space. I also have my own production company, where I have written and directed short films alongside a great team of creatives across the world. I was recently invited to Brazil to act in a series of commercials, and was honoured to connect with creatives over there.

Working with theatre companies, in immersive theatre, theatre festivals and charity events, I have a grounding in theatrical training in the UK, within Performing and Production Arts as well as classical Acting training.

In all the roles I’ve played there’s been an element of myself that’s intrinsically linked and that makes me secure that character I’m inhabiting is grounded in reality. Even if the character is fantastically different from me. Such as when I played the very intimidating role, of feminist icon and militant leader Emmeline Pankhurst in “Ladylike” a solo show directed by Jane Fleiss. It was a daunting task at first, but burying myself in research and finding the humanity within her, as a person and more than merely a figure, helped me to play a complex three-dimensional person.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important factors in my development as a creative has been;

1. Curiosity; staying curious about the world is the fuel as a creative, wanting to know as much as you can about your character and that joy in discovering is what makes a performance exciting because it’s detailed, and it gives it that “Spark” of aliveness.

2. Hard Work; It’s true that if you don’t fee truly prepared before you walk onto set, it can be the stuff of nightmares, like going into school in your underwear. I am serious about my work as an actress because I want to do the best performance I possibly can.

3. Patience; It can be a disheartening career and to not take things personally is a really important skill for mental health and longevity. An element of stoicism is required to trust that the projects that rightly fit, you will book.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed I like to run outside, it gets rid of the excess energy in my body. If I feel trapped in a rut, it can be easy to spiral if all the energy is building and building up – sometimes I just need to get out of my own head. I like to put on a playlist, relating to the mood I’m in and run down a route, I love going places I’ve never been before. (It’s highly dramatic and easy to feel like you’re in a music video) but I love to run down running trails in the woods, because it feels so secluded.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Hullisbeautiful – Instagram

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