Two Sides of the Foreign Coin

Hello, my name is Michal, I’m Polish. I’m an actor.

I speak English fairly well, but with a distinctive accent. With passion, hard work, sweat and time spent to nail those stresses and vowels, I may be able to lose a great deal of it. I probably will never lose it entirely, however. I will also not change my looks and my personality, but let’s focus on the language. English is my second, it will always be, because I wasn’t born or raised in the English speaking world.

What does it mean for me as an actor? I live in Glasgow, a place where many distinct nationalities mingle, but it is primarily a place full of Scots, and other Brits. There are some Americans, some Aussies, some South Africans. Point at every English speaking country in the world, we have them here. This is an English speaking world. If you want to achieve success, in anything, you need to speak English, and speak English well. The acting industry is even more specific: you need to speak English with a specific accent, specific flair, grammar, regionalism. In short, to be eligible for most opportunities in Scotland, you must speak like a Scot. Of course, there are some opportunities for the English, the Irish, the American, and so on. And once in a while, there’s even a spot for a foreigner with English as their second language.

As a foreigner, I don’t stand a chance in auditions for characters who are Scottish, English, etc. I am doomed to failure because of the sheer number of local actors who represent those nationalities. In fact, I wouldn’t even be considered. The competition among them is staggering, and nobody in casting needs some foreign fake to waste their time. This is the 99%, or even 99.9% of roles offered in Scotland.

What’s left open for me are the parts aimed at Europeans, Poles first, but also Eastern Europeans, Russians, Germans and Austrians. That is the range I can do quite comfortably, as I have learnt some German and Russian at schools, and can adjust my accent accordingly. I would not fool a genuine Russian or German perhaps, but that is not necessary. The productions made here are in English, for an English speaking audience. Audiences outside that zone do not pose a concern to this industry, unless the work is specifically aimed to be viewed by them. That’s why on many occasions the foreigner parts are still taken by native English speaking actors. The first example that springs to my mind is Brian Cox in RED. He’s a brilliant Scottish actor, but the character he plays in the movie is Russian. This is the utilization of a known name, a brand, a bow towards British audiences and the actor’s fans. But even in smaller productions, where no big names appear, casting will often try to hire English-speaking actors who can do that foreign accent, because it widens their spectrum of candidates. From a casting director’s point of view, it’s better to have a hundred candidates than only ten of them. The probability of finding the right person for the job is ten times bigger, and somebody needs to land the spot, or casting won’t earn their commission for filling the part.

Still, there are the instances, when the director insists on a genuine European to play a European. I do not know how many such opportunities arise in Scotland. I don’t think anybody’s counting them, make any sort of statistic. It is a very specific circle of interest, with a limited number of actors fitting the bill. The competition is far smaller than in the remaining 99.9% It may mean that when a foreign actor comes to audition for a part that suits him, he has a better chance of landing that part, signing a contract, earning a credit, finding a gateway into Equity (the UK’s performing artists union) in the case of a beginning professional. However, they only get a chance in that remaining 1 or 0.1 percent of casting opportunities. So it is a very narrow window of opportunity. The window I have to squeeze through.

Take care, and do care.

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