← The Audiobook Club with John York
The Audiobook Club with John York
BenjamiinC | Actor & Quinn Creator
00:47:49
Uncertainty, Advice & Running
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Transcript119 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:13]
B
Hello and welcome to the Audiobook Club. In this week's episode, we're so lucky to be joined by actor and Quinn creator Benjamin See. Hello, mate, how are you? Thank you so much for joining me on the show.
- [00:26]
A
You got my name right the first time. I mean, we did spend a few days. I saw the Devil of Dublin. I emailed the Devil of Dublin and he put Benjamin with one eye and then just put a C in the, like completely in the other way. I was like, what is going on with you? Yeah, all good.
- [00:45]
B
Well, I think I did. On the, on the first. On the morning that we met, I think I did confess to you that I thought it was Benjamin. Yeah, yeah.
- [00:54]
A
I mean, a lot of people think it's like Benj. Some people say Benjamin Ink. I'm like, where are you getting the extra ink from? And I'll give you. I mean, I know that I've told you already, but I'll give your, your listeners a brief kind of understanding of where it came from. Basically, I had. Well, when you, when you try to get a username on Instagram, usually you put in your normal name and you can't do it, so you have to put an underscore in or a full stop in somewhere or like a slash or something. And I just thought, why not just put another eye in there? So I just put Benjamin with another I and then a C at the end, just. Just because it worked. But now I've put everything. Is that like Instagram, tick tock, YouTube. Yeah, all of it is I, I, N, C. And then everyone just goes, Ben. It's literally Benjamin Inc. But I'm like, where did it. My accountant said Benjamin Inc. I was like, what?
- [01:47]
B
Well, does it. To be fair, he. Yeah, because it's like Benjamin Incorporated, isn't it? I guess. Yeah, yeah.
- [01:52]
A
But then there's an LTD at the end. So what? Benjamin Incorporated ltd. It just doesn't make sense.
- [01:57]
B
Anyway, you're Incorporated, limited Corporation. Yeah, but that's really funny, though. And I think also as soon as, like, so, like, for instance, because I. Because I'd only seen it written down, I was really. I've been familiar with your work and a fan of your work for ages. Right. But I'd only ever seen the name written down. But then as soon as you realize that it's Benjamin City, it's like, oh, you have courses. Like, what was I thinking? Like, you know, the fault is purely on my door. But anyway, before we get into all of that, I would love to ask you a little bit More about your background. I know a few things that we chatted about, you know, in real life, but I'm really interested to know your background because I know the sports involved. I know obviously there's performance and acting involved. And then I know that Quinn came out, you know, Quinn comes into all of this. So if it's not too much of a big question to ask, please, I'd love to. I'd love to hear.
- [02:50]
A
Yeah, well, I'll give a quick rundown. Where do I start? I don't even know where to start. Well, we'll start at university, because that's quite a good point to start. I was. Well, we started just before it. I was fairly academic, always kind of wanted to go to university and study something like finance or economics or banking or something like that, purely because I was like. I just. I saw that, I don't know, there's loads of money in finance. I was like, I want to feel secure, right? It wasn't about materialistic things, it was just about feeling a level of certainty with. With life. So I went to university. I went to Bath University, which is a fairly good university in the uk, if you don't know the uk. I went this originally wanted to do economics, but I got in for biology.
- [03:41]
B
Oh, nice.
- [03:42]
A
Right. So I went there doing biology. I spent a week in the labs and I thought, you know what? No, this is not for me. We were, like, looking at plants and like, botany and I was like, this is not the one. So then I decided, how can I switch within the same university? Because I love Bath. And then I switched to international development with economics. I did that for a year, but then there was way too much like African politics, and I was just not very well versed in politics at all, let alone African politics. It was like third world countries in development and I wasn't mature enough to do it at the time. I had no idea about it. So then I thought, you know what? At the time, my brother was joining the Marines and I was training with him, like in Christmas time, in Easter, in summer, so, like, running a lot, going to the gym a lot. And I was like, you know, I actually really like health. I've always been pretty healthy. I go to the gym and everything. I play a lot of sport, rugby, tennis. So I thought that, like, surely there's a course at Bath that might do health. And there was. There was a course called Health and Exercise Science, which is basically human biology. So I thought, sweet, it's not biology, it's not plants, but it's Human biology. And it's everything to do with human and anatomy and physiology. Great. So I switched courses. I did that for four years. I did a placement year was terrible. I worked in a professional rugby team. Two professional rugby teams. One as a strength and conditioning coach, the other as a sports nutritionist. And I was like, this is rubbish. There's not really much money in it. You're not the player as well, so you don't get treated that well. You're just like someone in the background. So. And then I saw Wonka being filmed in Bath, right? Wonka. Like, Timothy Chalamet. So I saw Timothy Chalamet in Bath, and I was like, whoa. Like, the set was crazy. They had fake snow everywhere. And I used to live in the very center of Bath, so it was literally my flat. Looked over the set, and I was like, they had all these, like, old cars and things. And, like, if you have. You've seen. Have you seen Wonka?
- [05:52]
B
Yeah, I've seen it and I've been to Bath. Yeah, I really like Bath as well. It's gorgeous.
- [05:56]
A
Yeah. So I was like, how cool would it be to be on a set? And then I just tried to figure out how I could get on a set. And luckily, my neighbors, who were also students, they usually come around all the time because our flats were, like, joined together. He knew someone that was part of this, like, extras agency, like, being a supporting artist, which is basically the fancy word of, you're an extra, you're just an extra. So I became an extra for, like, a year. I was joining all these different casting extras agencies. There was, like, five different ones. So I became an extra for a bit. And then whilst being an extra, I was on Boys in the Boat, which is a George Clooney movie.
- [06:41]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [06:43]
A
And some guy was like, he was. He was a. What was. He was. He was a lawyer. He went to law. He studied law at King's College London. So very academic person. And I think he was about 27. And he was like, yeah, I'm gonna sack it all off and try become an actor. And I was like, whoa. So then two days go by, we're still back on. We're like. We're back on set, and I see him and he goes, yeah, I'm an actor now. I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, I quit my job. Now I'm an actor. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, fair. Like, okay. And then the more I spent on that set, the more I could see how the actors were treated compared to how the extras were treat, treated and like they had all these like dry robes on and like they attack like their cars, like driven them home and stuff. And I was like, you know what? Like I don't want to be on this side anymore. I was just there for the money originally because I was a student. But then I thought actually actors, acting is quite a cool job. You know, it's not, not like a sit down office job or like not a 9 to 5 job. Like your day has changed, you're on location, you're in the studio, you might just be in for a hair, makeup or like a fitting or something. So it really is very bearable. Found someone else that said, oh, this acting school in London's like, I'm part of it. It's quite good. If you audition for it, you have to pay and then you get to go for however many terms it was, it was like four terms. So I thought, yeah, let's just do that. And then whilst I was there doing, I did this audition. I took it so seriously and really it wasn't that serious because they pretty much let anyone in because you have to pay, right? And they're like, they want numbers. So it was okay. I just did it really to kind of get a feel of what it was like to first of all act, be in front of a camera. And then whilst doing it I realized so at the end of it they say you have an audition in front of our agency, so our like sister agent which is attached to the academy, that's how they get you in. And I go and I was like, sweet, great. This is my only way in. Because becoming an actor or professional actor or being represented by an agent is so difficult. It's such a gray area. It's not like wanting to get a job within finance, right? You go to university, you might do a finance degree of business, marketing, whatever it might be accountancy, then you go do, then you become an intern and then you become a placement student and then you get a job within it and then you do your, whatever they're called, your ACAAS or whatever. You know with acting it's so like you don't know what to do. So then that's when I turned to TikTok. I was like, got halfway through my acting academy thing in London whilst living in Bath and I was like, there's no guarantee that I'm going to get this agent. There's no guarantee of getting any agent. It's so difficult. Let me try and promote myself on TikTok. So that's what I did. I just posted cringy monologues of me acting and doing all sorts of rubbish that clearly works like it. I was doing all these like monologues of like Bridgeton and very quintessentially British. And then I, I gained like a lot of followers. And then I think they tagged Quinn in my stuff or they tagged me in Quinn stuff. And then that's how Quinn found me. And then Quinn reached out to me and I was quite skeptical. I was like, what is this? Like gotta make sure everything's sweet and everything. And then I did my first audio and I wrote this really long thing. I've probably still got it actually my drawers here. I definitely, I won't get it now, but I definitely still have it. I wrote this really long Bridgeton esque story and it was like third person so it wasn't first person. And then yeah, I just recorded this thing and I had to make sure that everything was silent. My microphone, I had this audio Technica like 99 pound microphone which is like it was okay, but it was so sensitive and I was like, I don't know why, it's like you could hear every little thing in the room, outside the room, any creek. And my first audio think it's called like first holiday or like Morning holiday or something.
- [10:55]
B
Yeah.
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A
And the reason I did it was because there were seagulls outside, outside my, my window. And my microphone was so sensitive I had no denoises and I was like, let's just, let's just go with it so you could hear like in the background. I was like, it's gonna have to be a holiday. It's gonna have to be by the coast. So I just did that and then they liked it. I submitted it and it came out February, around my birthday. Like February 21st ish. Around then. Yeah, nearly two years ago. So crazy.
- [11:25]
B
You were the first British creator, weren't you?
- [11:28]
A
I think so. I think there might, I can't, don't quote me on that. But I think I was because I saw like just so many American people and I was like, surely they're going to get some British people. And that was kind of my like my thing that was. I was the only British creator. Now there's so many, like there's so many people on that.
- [11:46]
B
With you creating content so consistently for two years and with it being a very sort of specific type of content, you having to do like a lot of soul searching and things like that, do you think that you. It's affected you As a person, like, away from the Micah in any sort of.
- [12:02]
A
With Quinn.
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B
Yeah.
- [12:04]
A
Only recently, I thought it's affected me more technically. So I've streamlined the process. Like I told you in la, like having now I have an editor and now I have writers that it streamlines the process. When I was posting eight times a week, eight times a month, and I was editing them, I was writing them, and a lot of them were improv. And sometimes I maybe say the same thing or. Like, there's only so many spicy words you can have in your brain. Right. So many spicy things that you can have that you can repeat and regurgitate. So then it becomes a bit repetitive. And there was one time where I was recording three audios per day because I was going traveling and I wanted to get all my audios done. So I recorded three audios for, like two audios, maybe for like two weeks. Right. So it was a lot of audios at that point it became a bit repetitive. But now it's more, like, streamlined and I can actually focus on the words that I'm saying and more the acting perspective of it rather than having to think of what I'm gonna say. And I don't have to focus too much on the editing. I can just say I can put in, like, I can make it as good as I want it to be because I know that I'm not editing it. Yeah, right. I know that I can send it to someone who's better than me to edit it. And all I have to focus on is the words and the actual overall process of it, which is really helpful. You know, whatever space you're in, whether you're in voice acting or music or even acting. Right. When you start out at the bottom, you do everything, like, for music, for example. Like, you're doing the writing. You're doing the. The. You're writing the music, the lyrics. You're then trying to record it and then produce it. You're doing all of it. Same with acting like short films. You're trying to find funding. You're getting the camera, you're the director. You're also the actor. You're everything. So I think just being able to finally streamline it and maybe delegate these different roles to other people to allow me to do the. The actual main role that.
- [14:16]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I 100% get that. Did you find it difficult? I'm only saying this because I'm a little bit. I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm a little bit of a control freak. With things. So I'm wondering if. Did you find it difficult to sort of hand over that part of the responsibility to somebody else without having to, like, micromanage everything? Or am I just egotistical?
- [14:39]
A
It depends if you think you're better than them.
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B
Yeah, I don't think it's that.
- [14:44]
A
Like, I don't find it difficult to hand over when I. Like, for instance, the writers that I have are females.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And they have a way better perspective of what a female may like in the bedroom. Right. In terms of talk and foreplay and whatever it might be. And. Well, I. I shouldn't generalize, but potentially that's, I think, with me, you know, I look at their writing and go, God, like, that is way better than what I could have written.
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B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [15:13]
A
And my editor as well. Like, I think there are times when obviously they send it back and you have to go, no. And you change the music and do this and do that. But, yeah, I don't mind. It's just. It's just managing, isn't it? Like now. Managing what? All these things. That's the hard bit. Now it's managing it. But it's easier than having to do it yourself takes. It takes less time than having to do it yourself, which means you can do. Spend more time getting the audio is actually done and then sending them off. And, I mean, it just makes it easier.
- [15:42]
B
Yeah, I totally appreciate that. I've just set. I've setting up some. I'm launching some merch, which will be out, by the way, by the time this episode comes out. So. Lincoln bio. But I'm just saying it, but I'm doing it. I don't know enough about this world to do all myself. So for the first time, I'm working with a team. And I must admit, like, going through, like, the logistics and the sort of admin side of it, and then hearing the words, I'll take care of that, and you're like, really? That's just saved me so much time and hurt. Yeah.
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A
What's the merch? Is it like clothing?
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B
Yeah. I'll send you. I said send you a link. I'm really proud of it, if I do say so.
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A
Everyone's bringing up merch.
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B
I know.
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A
It's just got his merch out.
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B
I know, I know. He's gonna. He's gonna think I'm copying him.
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A
Yeah, yeah. 100. I've actually. I haven't got merch out, but I've got skincare line coming out.
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B
No.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Talk me through your routine. Like What? Because I, I don't do any skincare at the moment.
- [16:42]
A
I, I've actually cut back quite a lot. I've actually thrown away loads of stuff. So my skincare routine just consists of like a cleanser when I'm showering actually. So it was on my last acting job that they. This I said I have like red redness here and it's called keratosis Polaris.
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B
Right.
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A
Some people call it chicken skin, which is like my, my Chinese family called a chicken skin. All of my Chinese family have it. And I was like, how do I get rid of it? And I was like trying all these different creams, but it's CeraVe which is like this cleanser. CeraVe cleanser, which I use now and then also there's this thing that you can only buy in the States. You can only get it in the, in the, in the states. It's CeraVe. Both CeraVe. It's like this rough and bumpy lotion. Okay. It's so good. And then I just use like a Nivea moisturizer for my, for the rest of my body. But yeah, releasing a skincare thing that, A skincare product because I saw like a lot of people were putting loads of things on their faces, like everything, everything under the sun as well as a lot of people are looking at getting Botox as well, even at my age and younger and they were concerned about like wrinkles on their forehead and things. And I was like, oh. So I was looking to set up the skincare thing, skincare brand. And I thought there's no point in me putting a moisturizer out because there's so many moisturizers out there. There's so many good ones, there's so many better ones than I could ever do. But so I brought out this really niche product and it's a Botox light peptide anti wrinkle serum and it's all natural, it's all vegan, it's all like cruelty free. And the company's called Thirsty Skin.
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B
That's amazing. What a good name.
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A
Yeah, I trademarked that as well. I got trademark, yeah. I've created it. I just need to. Building the website now actually. And then I've hired someone to promote it for me to like tick tock, like doing the tick tocks and stuff. So I don't have to do that. I'm just, I'm at the point in time, I'm just like delegating it to everyone. I, I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. You do it. And then. And then. Yeah, we'll see.
- [19:02]
B
Well, I appreciate that because there's only so many hours in the day as well. So it's, you know, and it does make for being able. For somebody to be able to spend the time necessary on that task. It's, you know, it's. It. But that's insane, man. That's so cool now talking about social media and stuff, because I'm guessing, like, this is social media with it being like, such like a powerful tool for, you know, kickstarting careers, you know, elevating to the next level. Obviously, when you think you bring out things like Merchant, just a way for people to support you. But then we've spoken, you know, we spoke about, in the past about the sort of negative sides of, like, social media and, and the sort of intenseness that can come with it. And I know that you've had some experiences that sort of highlight that, you know, intensity and such. Like, I want to know, with somebody who has a platform of the size that, you know, such as yourself has, how do you sort of cope with that? Are you sort of arm's length with Instagram now? Is it something that you've had to battle through, like, talk. Talk me through where you're at with that?
- [20:04]
A
Yeah, it's. It's such a difficult one because when, like, so obviously I started on social media, so as much as I discredit it, because it's quite to. It's a toxic place, right? Like, you have people liking your stuff, people not liking your stuff, people commenting, bad stuff, good stuff, messaging you, all these different things. And then like, you, when you start out, you're like, I'm not going to be that person that gets like, obsessed with the engagement and things. But then the more you do it and you go, oh, that, that did well. And they go. And then you see the ones that did really badly, like, why did that do you so badly? And then you kind of obsess over, like, why. Why is it done so badly? How can I change it? And I think when social media is. When you don't have a clear cut, this is what I'm doing with it, right? So at the start, it was very clear and cut. Like, I knew what I was doing. I was doing acting, I was doing monologues, I was doing poetry. That was it, Right? And I was gaining a lot of followers at the time because of it. Because it was like, oh, what is Benjamin C. Known for? He's known for acting. He's known for monologues. And known for poetry and he's that sad boy, whatever it might be. Right. But actually, just quickly, I'd like to say that doing all those monologues and all the, like, the algorithm definitely leaned you down a certain route. So the sadder the monologue, the better it would do. Right. Because it was. Yeah, because it was relatable to, to people. No one, no one in this world wants to see you happy. Like, it's true. Like, they're genuinely. A lot of people just envy you if you are doing well and you are successful. So the things that did well were like when I was talking about heartbreak. Because it's relatable, right? Like someone might have gone through a heartbreak. They watched my thing, they relate to it. It kind of makes sense with that. If you're really happy about something and someone's sad, they're like, you, like, why are you so happy and I'm over here sad? So, yeah, it was affecting my mental health in that stage because I was like, well, I need to be sad. When I got to the point where I wasn't sad, I was like, why am I still doing this to myself? Because I started doing it when I went through a breakup originally and I was actually genuinely sad about that. So all of the monologues at the time made a lot of sense when they're all sad. And then I kind of like left the relationship and was, was. Was getting happier with not being in it and everything was sweet and it was difficult to make those, make those videos.
- [22:42]
B
Yeah.
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A
But I think when you have a clear cut view of what you're doing and no one can change that, then social media is fine, you know. But when I was like very easily guided to do skincare stuff or to do, oh, you should do, like when you have a. At the time last year, I had a social media manager, an agent, right. That would get you brand deals and stuff, like skin care or clothing or get you to events and stuff like that. And I was like, oh, it's so cool. Like, I'd love to go to an event and I'd love to get brand deals and earn loads of money from these brand deals. And how do people do it? You look at all these influences on like Love island and stuff. So I had an agent, they said do skincare. I had another agent, they said, do like get ready with me and stuff, like, what am I wearing today? And all these different things. And then agents would say like, what do you love doing? I was like, I love not posting. I love not Doing, you know, I don't want to do it. It's not. I don't do it because I love it. I do it because it's a business and I try to promote myself. That's the truth of it. Like, I remember Ed Sheeran, right? He has Instagram. He doesn't follow. I don't think it doesn't. Doesn't follow anyone. Ed Sheeran has Instagram to promote his music. So I was using it to promote my acting, and then it became very kind of discombobulated because I was now using it to promote myself and get me brand deals, which had never worked. Like, it never worked. And then I realized that when you obsess over social media, it's just so toxic. Like, now I thought I had a clear idea. I made this backdrop for. To make, like, more poetry stuff and acting stuff. And then I'm like, what do people even like me for on Instagram? I don't even know. So some people follow me because of my acting. Some people follow me because of the runs that I do, and I just like, video the run or something. Some people follow me because I post stuff about food or my traveling or whatever it might be. So, yeah, I'm in a difficult place right now with it. Like, I don't really know where to go with it, what people like, what people don't like. And then I think the common question is, well, what do I like? Like I said, I just rather not do it. Like, when I. When I was on the previous. When I did the movie that was on, obviously you know about that, but I'll give a bit of context. I recently just done a. My first feature film, which is Paramount, which is like a big deal, and it was really cool to be on. But I think when I spent time on it, I actually realized I had more of a purpose. Like, doing the social media stuff is really kind. It lacks a lot of purpose. Unless the stuff that you're doing on social media is like, philanthropy. Like, it's helping someone out. Like, I was. I was sat in my room acting sad or. Or going on a run or whatever it might be, or doing my skincare. Like, just doing this movie kind of added another purpose and it made social media less important. You know, when you have one thing, you think it's so important and it's like, everything to you, and you have to make it work. And with social media, a lot of it isn't to do with you. Like, a lot of it's out of your control. It's the Algorithm. It's what other people like.
- [26:03]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [26:04]
A
You can only do your best in. In putting something out there. So it just gave me a different purpose, and then it just made me realize that social media isn't everything. But it's so conflicting because I'm like, well, social media kind of got me to this place that I need to carry on doing it anyway. That answer is really, really long.
- [26:24]
B
No, it's. I. I totally get you, though, because it is like that necessary evil, isn't it? Especially if you're doing things that, you know, if you're. If you're using it to promote the things that you love to do and the things that you, you know, you're passionate about and things. It's that necessary evil that you've got to tell people about it. But then that leaves you just by nature of the thing, it leaves you susceptible to all of the. I mean, because it's that difference of. It sounds like to me, from an outside perspective, and please do correct me if I'm wrong, that it was like you using as this advertising tool, and then it almost came a job in itself, and then you sort of got wrapped up in that. And it's like, how I'm gonna second now I'm doing this? This is like my thing. Whereas before it was just, you know.
- [27:02]
A
With that switch, I think I probably made it a job. You know, I mean, some people love posting on Instagram and they love creating videos and stuff, but when I was trying to be an actor and trying to do Quinn as well, and it became a job when I realized that I potentially could be earning money, and I was like, why am I not earning money?
- [27:21]
B
Yeah.
- [27:21]
A
You know, I was like, how can I. How can I monetize this more? And then it became like a bit of a slog, and I was just like, why do people not. Why do brands not like me? You know, the whole thing was just about trying to get brands to see you, brands to like you. And it's like, all of it's out of your control. A lot of it's out of your control. I don't want to be the influencer. I want to be the actor.
- [27:46]
B
Yeah.
- [27:46]
A
Or isn't it? So a lot of influencers try to become, like, YouTubers and stuff because they realize that Instagram and TikTok isn't the long game.
- [27:55]
B
So it's that thing of, like, if. If a path gets, like, laid in front of you, like this has for you, it's that sort of like you have a question to say of like. Well, like the, the sort of immediate sort of thing is, oh well, I've got to walk down it because I've had this opportunity, I can do it. But then I think, I think it's really smart of asking yourself, is it even. Is it the right path for me? Even though it has, it has made itself available, is it the right sort of thing? And I think it's a really tricky one. But I think it's great that you're asking it though. You said at the start, talking about your background is that you originally, when you originally going down the academic route, you mentioned security and the idea of feeling secure in things. Obviously the things that you're doing now is quite far away from security because there's lots of, you know, there's. Whether it's on, you know, short term, like sort of audit, working on audios, which is of course we don't know how long we're going to be able to do this crazy thing for. It's amazing. But we have, you know, this. We sort of don't really know the long term effect game, you know, all of like social media and stuff. It's so sort of flippant and it can be amazing. But again, there's no sort of job route to go down. It's all new. It's like, how are you sort of coping with that? Have you gotten better at that or is this, do you think?
- [29:14]
A
I think I struggled with it for a long time. I feel like I still do struggle with it. It's just been really, it's been really tough. Like the uncertainty within this industry is. It's horrible. But then I get again, like, it's the risk that I'm taking because of the reward that may be right. Like with acting you could be on a job for like, for eight weeks, like I was and you get paid pretty decent and I, and I love the free time. Like right now. What is it? It's nearly 2:00 and we're chilling on a podcast. Like that doesn't happen in the, in a quote unquote like normal person's life, right? They have a lunch break at 12 to 1. They have to be in the office. Well, maybe they don't have to be because it's now like a lot of. It's like work from home. But yeah, I can go. Like we went to la, I was able to stay longer. I'm going skiing. Like it's just giving me a lot of freedom, which is really great. But then that is at an expense of like feeling stressed all the time about. About multiple things and like, like for yourself. You obviously do, Quinn, but then you also have your audio books, you know, so it's kind of like not having your eggs all in one basket, but trying to limit the eggs to be in one category. Do you know what I mean?
- [30:41]
B
Yeah, I know exactly.
- [30:42]
A
It's like not having like loads and loads of baskets. Just maybe have like two or three and they will have to be within the same. Same in same industry.
- [30:52]
B
Yeah. As we go into just the last part of the show, do you mind if I ask you some questions from my gorgeous Patreon community that have been specifically engineered for yourself? Is that okay?
- [31:03]
A
Yeah, let's do it.
- [31:05]
B
So first of all, we have K. And K wants to know of all the places you've traveled to, which is. Which has your favorite food?
- [31:14]
A
Oh, my God. That's such a hard question. Well, last year I traveled around Asia, so I went to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia and Bali. I love Japanese food. Like sushi is. I love sushi. But what I would say is I actually had. I didn't go to the right places in Japan for sushi because it was so busy. It was like prime time in summer. And like all of the little Michelin star restaurants that you could potentially go into only have like six seats and they're always booked out for ages. I did go to a place in. In. Where was it in Kyoto, Maybe Osaka, which had like the longest conveyor belt sushi. It was like four stories. Right. So it go. It was crazy. But the best, the best place for food, probably Thailand. I went to Bangkok. And I don't mean like the fancy stuff. I was like in a supermarket, right? And these supermarkets are insane. Like I went in, went in there and there was like people making fresh sushi. I was like, this is crazy. So that was probably the best place. Bangkok, Thailand.
- [32:31]
B
Okay, that's me. I'm hoping to go next year. So I will definitely go.
- [32:36]
A
Definitely.
- [32:38]
B
Next question. Comes from a life of obscurity. Who asks any advice for a fellow runner when you just can't seem to motivate yourself to go out for that run?
- [32:48]
A
Motivates to run or that's tough. The things that motivate me to run are if I have an audition coming up or if I have something where, like, I need to look. That sounds so bad. That sounds so bad. But it's true. It's like I love food so much and I know this is unhealthy. I know, I know it's Unhealthy. But I love food so much. I eat so much. I've got lunch waiting downstairs. Give you some context. I eat one meal a day when I'm at home. And the meal that I eat is ridiculously big. Like, so calorific that I need to run. I'm just like, I. I have to run. If I don't run, like, I'm just gonna get really, really fat or just like, put on those away. And I can't do that if I have a. Have a role. Right?
- [33:31]
B
Yeah.
- [33:32]
A
And the last role I had was I was topless in the pool and I didn't know about it, so I was like, I need to lose the weight for this topless scene. But obviously I understand that not everyone is an actor or has to lose weight for a particular role, but I think just do it for your health. Isn't it like, the minimum I do is I try to get my steps in. So maybe not even run. If you don't run, maybe just try walk. Go for a long walk. And it's not even just for your health. Walking. I walk, like most mornings saying that, like, after la, I haven't been walking that much at all. But it just clears your mind. Don't listen to anything. No podcasts. Actually, that's really bad. Promo only. Listen to this podcast. Thank you.
- [34:16]
B
Thank you.
- [34:17]
A
When I. When I walk. Sometimes when I walk, I don't listen to anything. No music, no podcasts or anything. Just so I can, like, think about stuff. I haven't been doing that recently. I've been listening to podcasts, which has not been that good for me because I haven't had time just to think. So balance it. Have time to think whether it's a walk or run. Running just hurts. And it's just. You just suffer. Like, it's horrible. But it's good that you grow. When you, when you suffer, like, that changes.
- [34:47]
B
Yeah.
- [34:48]
A
So, yeah, that's. That's.
- [34:49]
B
That's fair. I couldn't agree more. I don't run as often as I should, but I couldn't agree more with a long walk, though, in silence. Yeah, definitely. So Helen asks, have you noticed. This is an interesting one. Have you noticed being on the younger side of creators, Especially when starting out, if your age resulted in you being perceived a certain way, either by a listener or a voice, another voice actor.
- [35:11]
A
When obviously there was tick tocks on Quinn's thing of, like, how of us. Right. And they. They were like, he looks so young. Like, I'm 24. I'm not that, like, I'm fairly young, but I'm not, like, really young. I mean, when I started, I was 22, which is obviously young for a creator. There's definitely multiple sides to Quinn and the creators on there. Right. Like, Devon of Dublin. He's a man. You know what I mean? He's a man like me. I don't look like a man. What's going on? But I'm 24. Like, yeah, some people perceive me as really young, and maybe that helps. Maybe that helps to some extent. Like, I can play roles where, like, I don't know, like, boyfriend roles. Right. But then so can Devil of Dublin, but he's more like daddy role. Josh.
- [36:06]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the guy who takes. Takes the girl away.
- [36:09]
A
Yeah, exactly. So, like, yeah, boyfriend roles and stuff like that. It definitely is quite harder to play roles where like a more mature role. But I guess that's the point of an actor is that they should be able to act whatever age.
- [36:26]
B
Yeah, 100%. And, you know, you can play off to the advantage with the skincare thing as well, because you say that that's. That's it. Great routine.
- [36:34]
A
You look young.
- [36:39]
B
So. Next question comes from Chris. What's the most absurd piece of advice you've ever received? And did you follow it?
- [36:47]
A
Oh, my God. That's such a good question. Absurd piece of advice. One of the most annoying pieces of advices was from Simon Cowell. I did this audition in front of Simon Cowell, and he said, you're really good looking, you're handsome, you should be an actor. And this is when I had an audition to sing in front of him, and I was like, it's kind of a compliment, but also not really a compliment because you're then slating my. My singing.
- [37:19]
B
Yeah.
- [37:20]
A
And I obviously, at the time, I was like, oh, I already am an actor. I didn't say that, but when I did. So I kind of did take it, but also didn't take it. It was kind of like, maybe you should stick to acting. He tried to say that in a polite way. Right. But I've got a song out. I've got another song coming out. So, yeah, I took it on board, but didn't take it fully on board.
- [37:42]
B
Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Good. You showed him a dick.
- [37:46]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolute dickhead. Let me ask you a question. What's. That's a really good question, but what's a piece of advice that you've had that you've either taken or not taken?
- [38:00]
B
Oh, I get, you know, I Have a really supportive. I think we spoke a little bit about this in la, but I have, I have a really supportive family who are constantly giving, offering ideas and advice. And the amount of like waffle that comes my way from vet from the people that I love most in this world is quite astounding. So I'd say that any. I've been given like a lot of professional advice that I've really taken to heart and things. But I think absurd advice comes from like my dad going like, oh, you need to, like, you need to start making train. You know, watch like that Francis guy on TikTok who makes like train stuff.
- [38:38]
A
I saw him on the Tube.
- [38:39]
B
Did you?
- [38:40]
A
I sat opposite him on the Tube, yeah. I didn't say anything, but I did see him. Yeah.
- [38:44]
B
That's cool. Well, my dad would be off the charts. Cause he really likes him and he was like, oh, you need to start getting down to like King's Cross Station and making train videos. And he's like, I'm not gonna. Like, my heart's not in it. So. Yeah, that's the most absurd. Best piece of professional advice though is that I did an audiobook and an author rang me afterwards and said, you need to like. Because I, you know, you send in your rates like before and they get cleared and you don't know what anyone else is, you know, doing that thing. And the most helpful thing that she did to me, she rang me and said, oh, you need to up it by like this amount to be on par with everybody else. And I would have never have known that, like without. Without her saying that. So I owe her a lot.
- [39:30]
A
One of my. I had another bit of advice I saw online. It wasn't directed to me, it was just like. It was Ian McCall is his name Ian McKennan? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. His actors advice. It's probably the best advice, probably because I'm biased now because I don't have like training. He was never trained. He never, never trained properly. I don't think his advice was like, if you want to be an actor and you want to act, go to a cafe and just watch how people go about their normal day. Because they're all to some extent acting, right? They're acting whether they're being their authentic self or whether they're being really extra nice because they're in an interview or whatever it might be. Yeah, that's quite a good bit of advice. That's good advice. Yeah. Because like, so many people have like proper, proper training and I don't have any proper Training. Like, real proper training. But I just think acting is just like. It's your experiences that you've had in the past, the people that you've seen, like how you can use that. Right. So I'm sure when you've done an audio, whether it's about, I don't even know, like a teacher or whatever, it might be a professor or. Or like a. A boyfriend who's an absolute dick. I don't think you play that many like that character though, do you?
- [40:48]
B
Not yet. I'm waiting on it.
- [40:52]
A
Like, I'm sure the characters that maybe you play, you have some. There's. There's someone in mind or there's. There's an amalgamation of people that you've maybe maybe met or seen on TV or seen somewhere that you take. And that's literally it. It's just like taking different people and you utilizing that 100%.
- [41:13]
B
Yeah, I totally get that. I think that's. It's a really good sort of thing to like, keep in mind, I think, as well, because I think one of the things that I struggled with, like, being. Being in the booth is that I saw the microphone and not the person that I was supposedly talking to. So I would. Over everything, you know, because it was like a performance thing rather than, like, now I try and picture the person and forget. And then it's just like, even just the simple of, like, you just talk more naturally and you say things more naturally. And that was like a big thing for me.
- [41:42]
A
Tom's very good at that. Tom is really good at just like very conversational.
- [41:47]
B
Yes. I've got two final questions for you, if that's okay.
- [41:50]
A
Yeah.
- [41:51]
B
Yeah. So Smudge asks. I'm running the London Marathon, 2025. That's amazing for a start. Smudge, are there any tips? Sorry? Any tips? As I am yet to find this runner's high everyone's telling me about. Is it like Narnia only exists in fairy tales?
- [42:10]
A
Have my run of videos like they've clearly done. All right, there you go. I don't know. Maybe that's a thing. Yeah. This is a sign. Oh, God. Ronnie, you can use Chat GPT to give you a plan. So if you type in Marathon 22, I'm running the London Marathon 2025. I want to run three to four times a week. Plan me a schedule. Write me a schedule so I could. So I can run this marathon at this particular date. That's quite a good way. And it will do it, like, really well. Like, it will make sure that you're not over running. It'll make sure that you're like one day you might do a 3k, the next day you might do a 10k. You might do a fast paced one and slow paced one. So that'll help. Yeah, I think that probably use chat cpt use AI to help you. Like my runs I just, I just like run a 3k run a 5k run a 10k. If I'm tired I'm like this is horrible and I'll just like run slower. So just, just. Yeah. Don't, don't suffer too much within your run unless you want to.
- [43:22]
B
Do you think that it's like that the satisfaction for you comes like after you finished it? Is that where. Yeah, like getting through that sort of.
- [43:30]
A
Yeah, there's. You know, some people like love actual running like whilst they're running. I don't love it like it just hurts every time. Which maybe I'm clearly doing something wrong. Like I need to take, I need to go a bit slower and that's why I also bought the garment. It's because it, it tracks my heart rate which I can obviously see it straight away. So then I know like, oh, I'm going too fast and I won't, I won't like look at the pace. I'll just look at my heart rate and be like, well I need to go slower to get that down so to feel more comfortable on the run. So yeah, but yeah, run is high. Runners high comes from when you're like completely and utterly exhausted from, from but like pushing yourself. So maybe you need to push yourself even harder. Who knows?
- [44:16]
B
It's that like euphoric kind of. I can't. Yeah, it's like, like out of, out of body experience. So I'm sorry, I think I've only, I've only had it once properly and it was the, the first and dare I say this, I'm horrified to admit this. It was the first and only time I've ran 10k and I genuinely felt like I could walk on water afterwards. Yeah, it felt amazing.
- [44:39]
A
Music helps with that as well.
- [44:42]
B
Yeah, 100%. And finally our last question of today comes from Midnight Sulphur who asks if you have any, if you have any new projects coming up that you can tell us about.
- [44:55]
A
Any new projects? Got a few collaborations potentially coming up which is cool. I don't really, like I said before, like, I don't know when they'll happen. They're kind of in the making. But organizing collaborations is quite difficult because obviously you have to have a Script already or, like, in the making as well. There might potentially be do. I might be doing, like, this art project which I'm doing the voiceover for. It's being. It's in Germany, I think, like, someone got in contact with me and said, can you do the voiceover for my artwork? So I don't really quite understand how it's going to work, but who knows? So that might be. I might be doing that in January time, but my agent is actually. This is a bit of advice. Sometimes actors get roles where they kind of, like, they intertwine. So say my previous role was for eight weeks. One of the actresses on it had a. Had another role for, like, two days. She was already shooting this ITV thing and she needed to go in on these days. And obviously that's a logistical nightmare for the studio. Right. They're renting the studio space. They've already got her scenes on those days. And my agent, he was like, I love it when that happens because even though it's a logistical nightmare, like, that's like. I don't know why he loves it, but he loves it. And, like, just like, trying to piece things together and, like, be busy and stuff. And, like, something that I took away from it was like, if. Even if you are really busy, you should love that you're busy and you should love that you have to piece things together, you know, like.
- [46:30]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [46:30]
A
And you're doing an audiobook, but you now you have a few days to do this Quinn stuff and it's like, it might be a bit stressful, but you'll get it done.
- [46:37]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd rather that than not nothing.
- [46:42]
A
Yeah, yeah, exactly. There is. There is a tipping point when it. Where it becomes too much.
- [46:45]
B
But, yeah, I think that's all about, like, trying to not get too carried away with, like, you like to sort of in your own head about things because, like, when you're first starting out, you sort of looking at it on a platform and then you find yourself inside it and then. But it's still your own head and it's still you in there. And then you can sort of freak out. So I think it's. It's quite healthy to step back and, you know, sort of think, actually, I'm doing the thing that I wanted to do. Yeah, like it's happening.
- [47:12]
A
That's true.
- [47:14]
B
That's an interesting one. Well, that just about does it for this episode of the Audiobook Club. Links to exciting things can be found in the show notes, the socials and everything, such as that, as well as more information on Amplify audiobooks, who very kindly sponsor this podcast. Mate, seriously, it's been such a pleasure getting to chat with you again. Thank you so much for coming on.
- [47:39]
A
I feel like. Am I too honest with things? I feel like I'm just. I just say everything, don't I?
- [47:44]
B
That perfect?
- [47:46]
A
Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate being on the show. It was cool.