Taunton School Main Building at Dusk

Actor Edward Bluemel gives masterclass to Taunton School pupils

Posted: 16th October 2017

 

Rising star Edward Bluemel went ‘back to school’ to give pupils an insight into the world of a working actor on Saturday, 14th October.

Edward Bluemel, 24, who landed a leading role in this year’s ITV war drama ‘The Halcyon’, and who has a film ‘Access all Areas’ releasing on Friday (20th October), spent the day at Taunton School, sharing his experiences with pupils from the Prep and Senior School. He talked about his experiences at the hundreds of auditions he has undertaken enlightening pupils about the demanding process: “You usually get around 10 minutes to learn a script for an audition,” he said. “For my role as Toby Hamilton in ITV’s The Halcyon I was required to do two auditions. However, theatre is completely different. You get around four weeks to learn a script but they expect you to know it after 2 and a half! In theatre, different directors work in very different ways, so you have to be prepared for anything.”

Edward talked about his first job working on film ‘Access all Areas’ about a group of teenagers who are running away from their dysfunctional families ending up at an island music festival. “It was super fun making this film,” he said. “We filmed at Bestival for the first few days which as you can imagine was quite stressful then we created our own music festival.”

Abigail Casson, a sixth former, from Nether Stowey, added: “Edward was incredibly charming and informative, being open to any of the questions that we asked. What he has achieved is incredible, and it is affirming to know that he was once in our shoes – hard work and perseverance go a long way.”

Life for a jobbing actor is notoriously tough, but Edward is lucky enough to have had five high profile jobs since leaving full time education in 2015. So what does the future hold for Edward? “I’m currently working with Sky One filming ‘A Discovery of Witches’. It’s based on a series of books about vampires. I’m playing a vampire and I spent last week sucking someone’s neck. There is tons of fake blood. It’s not out for a while, but it was great fun to make.”

Sixth form student Rumbidzai Nyamukapa, a boarder from Middlesex, who met Edward said: “It was nice to have a real, honest insight into the world of acting and from such a lovely person who was easy to talk to.”

Vittoria Carloni, a Year 13 student, from Italy, said “I am glad I’ve had the opportunity to meet someone so successful, who started from where we are now. It was really interesting to hear all his unique anecdotes and how the choices he made have led him to be successful.”

Edward attended Taunton School from Pre-prep right through to the Senior School in 2011 (and is the son of Martin Bluemel, Head of Chemistry and IB, and Jane Bluemel, Teacher of Physics). He attended a RADA Foundation Course in Acting after leaving school, then achieved a BA Hons in Acting in the summer of 2015 from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Edward said: “I started to take acting seriously in Year 10 or 11 and finding out more about it. Before then I’d always loved it but hadn’t thought about taking it further.”

Edward added: “It is nice to come back and experience the changes the School has been through, to see how it’s grown over time and how the drama department is flourishing. My Drama teacher Meryl Smart had a massive impact on me and Jayne Hornsby in the Prep School. My advice to those aspiring to be actors is good luck, always try to have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously. It is the most amazing job but it is also pretty testing.”

Categories: News Nursery Pre-Prep Preparatory Senior Sixth Form
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