How a Radio Interview Became an ACTING Breakthrough | Exclusive with Actress Quinn | Ajay Tambe

[00:00:00] Till I had this serendipitous meeting with an author, I was already at this radio interview talking about music because as you said I've had more of a musical background. Something about this interview just resonated with both of us and clicked.

[00:00:15] And the following week she was having a book launch and inviting me along for that. And it was at the book launch that she said, would you like to be a part of my film? I think you could play me as my younger self.

[00:00:27] The universe certainly prepared me for this role as well. And I discovered within myself that I naturally gravitate more towards method acting or a little bit of Stanislawski acting. So I've gone on to be a bit more since then, but I really was fully in character.

[00:00:45] So if you believe in something within yourself no matter what your external world says or what people say around you, if you don't have access and resources just keep believing. I think even the actor Anthony Hopkins says that as well.

[00:00:58] Believe, believe, believe, believe and even when you don't believe keep on believing. And I think as an artist you have to have that type of stamina to be able to make it. Hey everyone, I am Ajay Tambe the host and producer of Crete Audio starting podcast

[00:01:18] and today I have with me a very special guest. Her name is Gwyn and she's from Australia. Important thing is she is multi-talented. She is involved in a lot of different field including music, filmmaking, acting, writing and she's doing a lot of stuff including art.

[00:01:41] The important thing that we are doing this podcast is for her film, Say My Name which won a lot of awards. Her character won a lot of awards critically, won a lot of reviews, won a lot of hearts of critics also at the same time.

[00:01:57] So she is very talented. She is involved in a lot of different fields. So I got confused when I was reading her website and her bio that hey, this is a lot of stuff. What should I focus on?

[00:02:09] So now we then she said, hey, thanks for letting me know. I'd like to focus on my filmmaking and acting journey but I'm also going to focus on your singing journey because you started at age of two and that's really interesting.

[00:02:21] Your childhood journey it's amazing what I saw on your website. Before we go on more, welcome to the show. Well thank you so much Ajay for having me on your show. I appreciate you reaching out to me and inviting me to be a part of this and

[00:02:37] thank you for the work you do for artists and interviewing us and giving us an opportunity and a platform to share our stories and what makes us us and how we're going with it all. So thank you. We got connected. I guess I saw your recent photograph.

[00:02:53] You were in some film festival I guess in Sydney. Tell me a bit about that. What was that? So just on the weekend gone and actually just quickly I'll apologize in advance. If you can hear some background noise, it's just the ocean waves.

[00:03:07] So hopefully it harms us during this. You can show us the background if you want to. Okay maybe towards the end of our session. No on the weekend we had our celebration awards, another awards ceremony for the film, say my name.

[00:03:24] So that's why debut acting film that has won I think 65 international awards thus far and a number of official selections. Yeah, that's something crazy like that. So we're celebrating at the awards gala in at the Sid Fest film festival

[00:03:45] and we took home another award and got to celebrate on the red carpet which was really nice and certainly another nice acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication and artistry that went into this production. Okay great, great to know that Quinn.

[00:04:01] Importantly now I'd like to know you do a lot of stuff okay. So it's not one thing that you do on regular basis and now you're professional I guess from 15 years in this professionally doing more than 15 years I guess. What's your schedule in 2024?

[00:04:16] What's your schedule looks like in 2024? Like what is it filled up with now? So since say my name I have worked on a few film schools with some other short films.

[00:04:30] I'm also working on developing some of my own productions so I like having creative influence in my work as well from the beginning. I like being part of the early... I see filmmaking and even music production as a form of...

[00:04:46] It's like a pregnancy for me and I like being part of that gestation period and then developing it and then birthing it into the world and it's crazy and intense and it's awful and it's fun.

[00:04:57] But then you deliver something into the world and release it into the wild and just trust that it goes okay. I get it. You know the point of pregnancy I immediately got it.

[00:05:10] So you kind of build that inside you and keep it inside you for a very long time and then you put it out and then you leave it to people and you decide that's great to know.

[00:05:21] And I guess you're fully packed with your schedule after the release of say my name I guess. Well the film hasn't been formally released yet. It's still during the rounds in the international festival.

[00:05:33] So that's still keeping me busy a little bit with that but also working on my own productions and upscoring some other productions as well and being a producer. So this has sort of evolved into a number of multiple avenues for me.

[00:05:48] I also was off and out of it for a little while last year I had to have some surgery so I've been spending a little bit of time in recovery and working on that.

[00:05:59] But I'm almost back to full speed now and I look forward to seeing where that goes now that my health is in a better position now. So yeah but certainly love having that creative influence in productions and I look forward to seeing where the rest of it goes.

[00:06:18] But thus far I'm just grateful for every bit of opportunity and being able to use years of hard work in other careers like nursing and even teaching for a while and channeling that through what I really am passionate about which is film and music. Wow.

[00:06:35] So first of all I guess yeah. I was going to say so yes my schedule is busy at the moment but because I am a multi creative or multi artist or whatever multi dimensional.

[00:06:46] Yeah which I think the industry at large are probably moving in that direction anyway now it's good to be multi dimensional. Yep.

[00:06:55] And I certainly think it also makes it more fun and you appreciate what everyone does a lot more too when you know what goes into it all behind the scenes like especially from a perspective as an actor.

[00:07:08] The audience to see the actor but they don't always see the networks of people behind the scenes that help bring the actor to get. Yeah.

[00:07:18] And it really is a team collaboration in every credit counts and for me that's really what I love about filmmaking and even music production when you work with amazing groups of people coming together for a common cause. Yeah.

[00:07:34] And feeling that powerful energy together in unison there's something really magic in that. So yeah I look forward to see what comes out of this but that's far it's been lots of fun and yeah grateful for every minute of it.

[00:07:49] Great great to know that Queen first of all hearing about your surgeries I guess that's kind of a setback when you have good things going on. I'm really glad that you are now I guess maximum 90 to 98 percent recovered and you're working back.

[00:08:04] That's that's great to know when when you have a lot of energy and a lot of talent you know this kind of stuff related to health is something that keeps you back something that puts you.

[00:08:14] Oh God I wish I was good and that that period I guess that's gone for you now and you are completely recovered. You told me a lot of stuff and I can relate with it.

[00:08:26] It's kind of team energy to get anything out in this world in the world of filmmaking.

[00:08:32] So before we jump on the success of see my name and the success of your character Mel and how the journey with the radio interview Sydney Radio into I'd like to know more on that.

[00:08:41] But before we go on more about you and your acting career I'd like to know your childhood days how was Quinn in as a kid as a two year old three year old what was her childhood.

[00:08:56] Well yes I was born down in Melbourne so for my international friends that is in Victoria which is the lower part of Australia not as far down as Tasmania but so part of the mainland.

[00:09:09] I was born in Melbourne and when I was two we moved up to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.

[00:09:17] With the population of less than a thousand people and I grew up there so very isolated and certainly not conducive to developing or having access easily to the arts or film and music or anything.

[00:09:35] Yeah it's kind of middle class or something we can say middle class very just focusing on the work and bread and butter that's the thing that you had.

[00:09:44] Yeah so bad it has its advantages in other ways and so I think in some ways it was a pro and a con for me growing up.

[00:09:55] It meant that some things that I wanted to do when I was young I didn't get to do because I didn't have access.

[00:10:01] And so part of my moving forward with my career is also to be a voice for people from regional communities as well and showing that we need more access and more resources and the culture to celebrate the arts particularly in Australia

[00:10:20] where I feel we still have a bit of work to do in celebrating our artists. I think a lot of our international counterparts like the USA and Europe tend to nurture and cultivate arts better.

[00:10:31] Australia is coming along but we have some work to do and especially in regional communities it just really isn't a lot of infrastructure there or a lot of funding. So that's something that I would like to give you a voice on yes.

[00:10:45] However spending a lot of time climbing trees was good for my imagination and so I used to build a lot of worlds in my mind and characters and spend time on developing myself as a person and getting to know who I was.

[00:11:00] And I think as an actor, as a human it's important to know thyself and I think to be a good actor or an artist it's important to know who you are first.

[00:11:11] And I think in some ways not having the distractions of lots of things happening around me enabled me to develop who I was pretty early.

[00:11:21] Yeah, I guess your adversity what we can say and maybe the phase of you climbing on trees I guess you were with your friends or siblings maybe but with the books that you were spending time with with the films I guess I saw you enacting films.

[00:11:37] So which were the film that you used to enact you know the traumas who you used to have with yourself to perform what was that phase.

[00:11:44] So I think I've always been a bit of a performer I do have an inner show pony and I think I get that from my probably from my dad it's the Irish side.

[00:11:56] And so I come from a bit of a line of public speakers and performers and singers and things so that's certainly in the blood. And so I used to perform to the cows and the horses and the trees. Yeah, yeah.

[00:12:19] And this that's the reason that you are this good. You know, I guess at the same time you're singing that you started right. Yes, we were performing. Yes, I was singing very early. I was actually, I had a nickname very early in life.

[00:12:35] I was called Loud Lungs from a baby because when I was in hospital, I used to cry at 10 times the volume of a normal baby. And it's because we've discovered these later I actually have very thick vocal cords. So when I sing or cry, it's quite loud.

[00:12:53] And since then I've gone on to study classical voice. And so my voice was classified as a dramatic coloratura soprano voice. And that explains the loud cries of a baby. Yeah, yeah.

[00:13:06] So I used to sing very early on and and then the acting was part of that too. And going back to that just quickly, I used to spend a lot of time with my grandmother on their farm. We used to watch a lot of period dramas.

[00:13:22] So like Jane Austen and some other Australian classics like All the Rivers Run and many others like that, that I used to memorize all the lines for and know all the parts for and I'd read all the books for.

[00:13:35] And we'd walk around the farm together and just reenact the different parts. And sometimes we did the gender bending roles too. I would be Mr Darcy or my grandmother would be Mr Darcy. And but it showed that I had a memory for lines then.

[00:13:53] I didn't develop that in classes at that point. It just kind of went into the musical side of things, but that has still helped facilitate my acting now. So having used that, it's provided that foundation for all of it.

[00:14:07] And I think it's all interrelated and it makes me more informed as an artist as well. It's more of which is helpful for you now because I guess that's how you started. You enjoy this. It's not something like you do as a profession.

[00:14:24] You started enjoying it, even the film's enactment and I guess not having in the axis made you more involved because that was the only source of entertainment or just running away from your reality at the same time.

[00:14:37] This is something that made you, okay, I want to be part of this world. And I love the world that I watch in the TVs and films and books. And that's my imagination.

[00:14:45] I guess that's how you enjoy the process of making songs, creating songs, creating a world inside your song. Also the way you act now. I guess it's the escapism but more often that's where you feel relaxed also. That's where you feel more, okay, this is my world.

[00:15:03] This is me more and I'd like to be here for a very long time. I guess that's what got you into a lot of things. That's kept you into it. You're right about that.

[00:15:15] It was a type of escapism but in that escapism I also found myself and found parts of myself that perhaps I wouldn't have, as I said, had I grown up around lots of other opportunities.

[00:15:28] So I think anything in life, it's also about how you use it and what you do with it. You can either beat you down and keep you stuck or you find a way to make it work for you.

[00:15:40] It doesn't mean that it's fair or easy and there comes times when it's very frustrating and we don't have the resources and the people around you to allow you to move forward in the way that you want to. But that doesn't mean it's impossible, nothing is impossible.

[00:15:56] And I do think that fundamentally if you believe in yourself enough and you do it for the right reasons where you actually love what you do, as you said, it's coming in from a place of enjoyment and for me it's a soulful thing

[00:16:09] rather than I'm coming in and just wanting to be an actor for a work sense. You're saying that money is helpful. No, no, it is, it is, it is. But the start of staying and being there whenever you think when you said that

[00:16:25] even the resources were not there but you were there, you were enjoying and I guess that keeps you going, keeps you going for a very long time. And yeah, money is important because I guess that's what keeps you running in a good way.

[00:16:37] You know where you are not starving, where you are focusing on how I can make it more beautiful or more creative or you know focus on more curves and craft more. I guess that's where the money helps you to relax on the financial side.

[00:16:52] Thank you, thank you so much on that. Before we jump on that film, when did you started acting or was it all singing? Because when I read about you, it says more about singing, you winning competitions,

[00:17:05] you start participating in a lot of competition, your teachers are helping you out to become a better singer and that's your life. So when this is happening, acting never pops up in your head because this is kind of starting happening with you.

[00:17:20] When you start winning, you focus on how you can be better and win more. So I guess singing was the thing. So how this acting thing came into, when it came into? So as I mentioned, I always had a thing for acting and I love film

[00:17:37] and I used to be a little bit of a gamer as a PC gamer when I was young. I was a bit of a nerd, still there with Zylo.

[00:17:46] And I used to play this game that was a film studio game and it used to allow you to write film scripts and you could film your own movies within this game and you'd win awards and it even allowed you to film sex scenes.

[00:18:02] As a kid, that was a great thing when you were learning about it. But I can put in my movie. So for me, I always had this thing about films and movies and acting and drama but it wasn't realised until I had this serendipitous meeting with an author.

[00:18:24] I was already at this radio interview talking about music because as you said, I've had more of a musical background and there's something about this interview just resonated with both of us and clicked

[00:18:36] and the following week she was having a book launch and invited me along for that and it was at the book launch that she said, would you like to be a part of my film?

[00:18:46] I think you could play me as my younger self and I said I would be honoured and the film is also about issues that I'm passionate about as well so I jumped at the opportunity as an artist wanting to get into acting my whole life

[00:19:01] finally, you know, a bit of an opportunity. And then too, it's also representing things that I'm passionate about so it was just amazing how it was like, yeah, it's kind of what you're looking for. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:19:17] This to everyone, she was talking about her film, See My Name which became a big hit, her character Mel. So this was a story where the author who was talking about on the radio interview, Sydney Radio interview, that's where the film came into place.

[00:19:34] So you're seeing before that you never acted, there was no acting involved? No, I'd done a small little student project at film school so I did a bit of film school, I've done a bit of filmmaking prior to this but the acting, I'd never really done proper acting.

[00:19:50] It was not like the full-time thing for you or not where you, okay, you never invested any kind of energy. I was just thrown into it and there I was on screen in my first lead role. Yeah, but I was lucky to be working with amazing humans

[00:20:09] and I think the universe certainly prepared me for this role as well and I discovered within myself that I think I naturally gravitate more towards method acting or a little bit of Stanislavski acting so I've gone on to study a bit more since then

[00:20:27] but I really was fully in character for this role. So I just got something in myself that I think the little dream within me when I was young, there's something there and I was right, I keep believing.

[00:20:39] So that's also my a bit of advice to listeners as well if you believe in something within yourself no matter what your external world says or what people say around you, if you don't have access to resources just keep believing.

[00:20:55] I think even the actor Anthony Hopkins says that as well believe, believe, believe, believe and even when you don't believe, keep on believing and I think as an artist you have to have that type of stamina to be able to make it

[00:21:08] whatever that means for any of us but yeah, just keep going and showing up and keep believing within yourself. True, true, true. Now this was the thing of you getting apart. Something where you had a little, a small I guess 10 to 20% inside involved in filmmaking

[00:21:28] but you were majoring into music. So once the director approached now we focus on the film, say my name where you were playing the character Mel. So what was it? How you started prepping for this film? When the author approached it she was looking for her younger self.

[00:21:48] How you planted this whole thing? How you structured this out? What was the prep because you are someone who goes into deep and you know extract a lot of things and then you go craft wise. Okay, so with your singing also. So how you prepared for your character?

[00:22:04] What was the preparation? So once I attended this book launch I actually she gave me a copy of her book and I spent some time reading it and as I'm a composer and musician as well I actually started writing music.

[00:22:21] I wrote a piece of music for every chapter in the book as to what my musical interpretation of it was and then she and I actually went out to a beautiful spot on the south coast of Sydney and we talked about the film

[00:22:33] and what the vision was in the film and what we wanted in the film and we talked a bit about her younger life and I just basically tapped into her spirit really in herself and just I think through sharing some powerful conversation

[00:22:51] I was able to get into character through that and I also then went on to spend some time in hostels where I actually So literally in the hostels? Yeah, so I stayed in some hostels and had some crazy experiences in my times there as well

[00:23:12] and that also helped me get into the character of someone who was homeless and struggling and not having a lot of money and I met some amazing people through that journey as well but I think combined it certainly helped me to stay in that energetic place.

[00:23:31] I also practiced meditation and so for me when I am working in music or in acting I get myself into a meditative state and then allow the state of flow to help me access the character in a way that feels much more organic

[00:23:49] rather than just reading the words off a page and going off a script like that which isn't in keeping with say classical acting or Shakespearean acting it's a very different approach and I think different characters and different films and different productions would need probably a different approach

[00:24:06] or at least a combination but certainly for this film I think that was just that my intuition guide me and it just flowed naturally and I think that's why the character comes across I believe quite naturally and it certainly not me that I even see

[00:24:25] I don't even recognize that creature that we created it's not you and that's the one thing I saw when I opened your IMDB wow, when I see that poster when I see you in that one frame the video is not even played

[00:24:42] it's just you and your eyes and your hair and every aura that you had it shows okay this looks something else that this is something that we need to watch that was it and I guess whatever you did you used how you prepare for your craft

[00:24:58] everyone has their own craft so how you prepare you went for I guess you compose the music for the same film say my name so I guess you went with the you went with way you actually go for a song you saw that story by your mind

[00:25:14] and you came up with lines and paragraphs of music you created songs and then you did what Arthur was also looking for so she knew you were going in the right path so I guess once I guess she's the writer the director so once the director confirms

[00:25:30] that I guess she is going in a good way let her go whatever she is doing it's going good so let her do what she is doing and I guess that's the best thing that happens with the actor because an actor is also you know

[00:25:40] trying to go more and evolve more with the process that's a great thing one thing I like to I missed out on this point is before we discuss more about say my name tell the audience and the listeners about the film in short

[00:25:56] and then tell us about the character man so the film is based on a true story it's based on a young teenager she was about 15 years of age she experienced horrendous child abuse at home and mainly at the hands of her father

[00:26:16] and actually was held at gunpoint by her father and basically had to run away and ended up on the streets living under the harbour bridge in Sydney and so the book Sleeping Under The Bridge is what it's based on and it goes through her time on the streets

[00:26:34] and how she got there a little bit in the film say my name we couldn't quite capture the whole story obviously but we did our best we featured flashbacks as well as to her younger child self so when she was only really little

[00:26:49] to give you a bit of insight into what happened and how she ended up on the streets broken, forgotten and then living a really hard life for a while so ultimately though the vision was about hope and that's what the author wanted for this film

[00:27:07] is to inspire other people that no matter what you've been through you can still find a way through and there's always hope and don't give up on yourself and we do have a couple of scenes that can be triggering we have a scene that does go into

[00:27:25] suicidal references and things because that's where she got in her life so it's quite powerful and thus far we have had quite a positive audience response we've had applause at nearly every screening it's had thus far which is quite profound

[00:27:44] and certainly for all of us involved in the film that's an achievement but as an actress with my first role that means a lot to me to know that my work is it's had an impact it's set you on a level

[00:27:59] that is going to lead you to something else this is the rarest thing it's something that happened to very few people who just go into something and then they lead to something new which is on the next level so for you playing Mel

[00:28:15] the character, the way you described the story and indirectly you also told about Mel because I guess it's the story of Mel the main character throughout this so she was staying under the bridge going through a lot of assault and I guess there's a lot of emotion involved

[00:28:35] which is leading to suicidal thoughts at the same time to hope so these are contrast things that I mentioned in one single movie so people who are looking to go down the path where they're looking to end their life can also find hope and then rise again

[00:28:53] so I guess even when you're talking about it I was feeling that, I can see that I can see your character moving in front of my eyes when you're talking about it so I guess the way you told it and the success that film had

[00:29:08] it's unbelievable, it's unimaginable the way you portrayed it I mean look at you where you have no idea how should I go for it but the way you're professional in singing the craft that you always go and prep for any song, any music even composing

[00:29:26] that's one thing that helped you out and I guess process is the one thing that matters because I guess once you have the process with you to help you even you change the feel inside this artistic environment so I guess that's really great

[00:29:41] and now we jump on to prep process of how complex like tell me how many days first of all you prepped before even going for the shoot or the first take so there was a little gap between me spending some time with the author and us actually filming

[00:30:04] our director of photography was on a very strict timeline so we had to really work in with his schedule but it was very precious there wasn't really I can't remember how much time between us meeting but as for preparation time there wasn't a lot

[00:30:21] I did help with some of the producing for the film as well and helped get some cast members on board and so my head was in admin space for a little while first but once we were on set I just something switched in me

[00:30:36] and I went straight into character and like to the point where I was feeling the emotions of the character during the filming process and people on the street were even treating me differently because I was so entrenched in the character

[00:30:51] like I actually legitimately had people on the street bumping into me this was in between one of the scenes when we were moving locations I had some girls actually come up to me and say ooh get a shower

[00:31:02] and I mean I'm an actor like I was in character and the director looked at me and she's like good method acting because we weren't even acting then we were just walking to location and I walked into a hotel at one stage just to go to the bathroom

[00:31:17] and same thing the reaction I got in there was confronting so that was a humbling experience and a profound one for me because it just goes to show you how differently we treat people based on how they look

[00:31:30] and like so I hope that somehow this also is influential in that and it certainly has been for me personally I'm not used to people treating me like that feeling invisible, it's a horrendous feeling and no one should ever be made to feel like that yeah that's true

[00:31:46] so I guess it was in an odd way a bit of a gift to me as an actor and as a human to have that experience as well and I certainly hope to use that knowledge for good moving forward in some other roles that I'll do but yeah

[00:32:02] the whole experience certainly was incredible but I am glad it's done and I'm glad to be out of character it did take me a while to say goodbye to the character though I had to do a whole releasing of the character and it took a few weeks

[00:32:19] maybe even a few months to really relinquish the energy so you were saying it took you a month to go for the shoot before the first take I guess right? It took a month also so time frame it probably was less than a month

[00:32:35] less than a month so I guess 21 days and it wasn't full character preparation in that time a lot of it was administration so location scouting and a lot of admin so I guess it was something impromptu or something that you were getting while you were shooting

[00:32:51] in that particular time period only I guess and once you guys I guess how many days it took to end the shoot the whole shoot we only had three days to film so it was pretty tight and we also were working against the weather a little bit

[00:33:09] it rained nearly the whole time we were filming and I can say one thing after sleeping legitimately under the Sydney Harbour Bridge that bridge is very leaky and I wouldn't recommend sleeping under there if you want a dry night so yeah I think there might be other places

[00:33:26] that would be drier than there but you do get good views of the harbour though yeah it's just for the look it's just for the look that you get of the bridge don't sleep under the bridge okay and I really loved I guess three four days you're seeing

[00:33:44] but the prep I guess 15-20 days it took you to go and do the whole thing but it took twice or thrice the period to get the character out of you I guess and that's really something that shows how good you are at what you do

[00:33:59] but I guess it takes a lot of you to get that whole thing outside because you work very hard in very short time that it takes a part of you and it has an impact on you that it is hard to get that out

[00:34:16] you need to watch a lot of sitcoms just to relax I guess you have that mindset of you know maybe think a lot of on very small things or get emotionally involved on very little things that may trouble you on people what they think or what they say

[00:34:34] maybe because that's where you catch things very fast but that stays with you I guess that's the reason that you do meditate a lot to make sure that you are physically good emotionally good your soul is proper when you're working but I guess take care of your health

[00:34:50] when you get into such characters try to watch sitcoms a lot so you laugh out burst out harder and will help you to get out because I guess this is something that comes with this risk of you having to go through that trauma at the same time

[00:35:06] that's true there is an Australian actress Nicole Kidman she is incredible and she speaks of these two she actually goes to therapy after some of her characters because they tend to come home with her and I know what that feels like now and yeah it's crazy

[00:35:28] I think that's one thing I've learned actually coming into acting is it's not all glamorous at all I think the red carpet events are glamorous and things and that's fun and it's a nice healing process I wish I could have done a traumatic role I made it

[00:35:46] but the actual roles sometimes are anything but glamorous being on set is work there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes lots of carrying crazy equipment and lots of humans doing incredible things don't get credited so there's a lot that goes into it but

[00:36:06] yes Nicole herself said therapy and looking after your spirit and yeah I think a lot of actors who especially do take more of that approach do practice meditation and for me that helps me find my center again and become grounded and lots of sitcoms and comedies and dancing

[00:36:28] dancing maybe singing but I guess it also requires your mood to be good somewhere you can actually because I guess that's one thing also takes a lot inside you this is something comes with emotional drama something which is really emotional where you have to go inside you

[00:36:46] once you start doing some comedy films you are going to enjoy more some kind of rom-com I love comedy I just love to moving forward work with some great comedy actors I love having that riff and I love on tondra where things have layers and multiple meanings

[00:37:06] you can explore with the systems in all sorts of ways yeah I love a good comedy yeah yeah yeah and I guess it's coming on your way it's coming on your way after this huge success you're going to get script and people are going to approach you

[00:37:22] so you can have that way where you choose the genre and go for the film well now the other thing winning first of all congratulations for winning all the awards congratulations that you are still winning like yesterday or two days back you were at some festival

[00:37:40] so winning a best actress in Milan and nomination in Athens for your role Mel must have been something that you know something that gave you hope or gave you thank god I want something because this process was something that took a lot of me

[00:37:58] I guess this may help my soul to heal you know this may help yeah I did something and it was worth it I did involve myself I guess you know 18 90% 100% 120% and I'm thankful to God that this is something that is worth you know investing all this time so

[00:38:20] how has that you know this holds I guess six months what we can say how many months you've been winning this whole thing like um oh it's more than that now I'm not sure when it actually started going in the festivals yeah yeah I guess it's

[00:38:38] lot to everyone it's it's it's a lot of awards a lot of festivals so how has this whole process this whole journey of Mel and this whole film has impacted you now before you were actor and now after this what has changed inside you now um

[00:38:58] I think being able to walk in somebody else's shoes even in film is a privilege and an honor and I think for me as as an actor I still feel funny saying that word I think for me I prefer the term artist it's more descriptive

[00:39:16] for me and my approach and methodology yeah but I think it's a privilege and an honor and I think it's certainly it is a craft and it's not something to be taken lightly especially for some of these more dramatic um roles or true stories or when you are

[00:39:34] representing something that is important in society it is a big thing to do to step into someone else's shoes or their life and their energy and things and take on their story and be the storyteller for them on their behalf it's profound, it's strange, it's mysterious

[00:39:50] it's all sorts of things it's wonderful and I think it's certainly influenced me as a human to keep going in things that I believe in um with you know just compassion and kindness and not treating people based on how they look whether it's unattractive

[00:40:10] to us whether it's skin color whether it's sexuality whatever it is even if it's someone who's really beautiful you don't know what they've gone through behind the scenes you never judge a book by its cover and this has certainly shown me or reminded me as

[00:40:24] to that and how important that is so I certainly feel it's impacted me on a human level in a really different way and my hope is that it impacts audiences and um the people who know me as well in the best ways yeah I guess this

[00:40:42] movie also opened a lot of songs for you uh incoming time because the way you are thinking now can lead you writing new songs you know composing a new theme or composing the whole process you can uh this this whole change this whole

[00:40:56] change can because you are a professional singer before becoming an actor actress and then uh you know trying into getting into I guess this whole journey helped you uh indirectly in your singing career because now you can come up with more song with more emotion

[00:41:10] with more depth and that can lead you to get a new album just by you know just by being in this period so maybe because you as an artist are looking for experiences so you can write something up and I guess this movie has

[00:41:24] unlocked a lot of things inside you so did there may be an album coming now uh in some days we have no idea but yeah it's good to know that that absolutely is is right and um I think as

[00:41:38] artists we are very influenced by the world around us and um we all channel that in different ways and express that in different ways but it's all important and um even if it's confronting art which I do say this film is in its own way

[00:41:52] um I was lucky to be joined by my sister Laurie as well in the recording of one of the songs that I wrote for this film the title track also called Say My Name and uh yes it's about visibility and um being seen and it's a song

[00:42:10] of it's a cry it's a battle cry really I guess if you will see me you will hear me you will not you know disregard me just because I've been homeless because I've gone through abuse whatever and I leaned on some of my own experiences

[00:42:24] in that but I've also been a nurse and I've spent a lot of time with a lot of patients and people who've experienced to be a trauma so I've heard a lot of stories over the years and was able to draw on that and you're right I hope

[00:42:38] and I am working on some stuff now yeah um to channel that further in my work too for future film I particularly like writing for screen probably the most um but also just for album work too and um yeah I think it's all all just being

[00:42:58] an amazing wild journey thus far so uh tell me do you go for auditions like if you if someone approaches you how you prepare for an audition what's your process of going for an audition a tough audition how you encounter it uh what is the one thing

[00:43:16] that uh you tell yourself how you prepare for an audition so it's um I actually was thinking on this earlier I don't think anything I've really had come into my life thus far I've actually had to audition for with maybe the audition

[00:43:36] I'm funny like that I just seem to attract the right thing at the right time and it's meant for me it will come and weirdly when I audition for something it just doesn't seem to go as well so I haven't auditioned

[00:43:50] for a lot of work in that includes singing and music I've done some auditions I've been successful for and as part of my preparation for that again meditation I can be a little bit um of a procrastinator and leave things to the last minute

[00:44:08] and I don't recommend doing that but I do like improv and I part of me I think is because I like more authentic performance rather than perfect performance even though I'm a perfectionist I know that sounds contradictory but I prefer an authenticity and a perfection somehow within that

[00:44:28] so I like to sort of come on stage and do it off the cuff rather than prepare for a long time beforehand and rather get into the state of flow and meditate rather than just rehearse lines and my music auditions were the same my family and friends

[00:44:46] of my youth will tell you that even with some of my exam pieces as a young flottist I didn't know until the day of my exam and I would write it out on this scoring program play it back a few times and then play it for my exam

[00:45:00] that's why I tend to work like that and it drives the people I work with crazy because it's not easy to work with but it just seems to work for me but moving forward you know I don't know about the acting side of things with auditions

[00:45:16] I can't say I like auditions very much I don't think that brings out my best performance because of the way I am as an artist and my sister is interestingly enough the same like that we tend to just be better off the cuff

[00:45:28] we don't like to feel pressured too much in advance so I think the way that say my name unfolded was perfect for me because I didn't it just came and I had I mean I had a choice but I just said yes

[00:45:40] and we did it and it was a thing and a great thing but this yeah I'm a bit of an odd I get it the one thing I love about you is you go with the flow okay what's going to happen let me see what is there

[00:45:58] rather than okay you're going to prepare for it and then something the bomb comes up and then everything blast you don't go for that okay let me see what the situation is where I am at and then you then take

[00:46:10] care of okay how should I move on now so that's that's best part you know that's how I also go on because there's a lot of thing you know this thing this interviews that I used to do you know I should prepare a lot of things and then

[00:46:24] something else comes up like we started you know this interview will start and then there's a small button the record button was not popping up and that created chaos so I guess there's a lot of things involved and this thing is really

[00:46:38] helpful the way you do it because it keeps you in the present situation than an imaginary one then you were you develop a world and then you see okay I'll do this this this and then I move ahead because once the step starts going down you

[00:46:54] start spanking you know and that panic can create you to downgrade yourself yes so I guess the way you're moving ahead it's good and I guess it worked really well for you you know you don't have to audition and the way the pitch happened for you for this

[00:47:10] film say my name was absolutely written I can say because it led to something very beautiful in your life and and it really is popping up like the way you wanted you know where you don't go and prepare something where you approach towards it

[00:47:26] and see what the situation is so great to know that now I thought you were into auditions and also I came up with four five six questions sorry no I have to go ahead with something I know it's a big part of acting

[00:47:42] I just feel for me the audition thing I don't think well the audition thing in me will ever be a happy marriage I think I'd rather have it sprung on me in the last minute and I'll be like okay I'll say yes spontaneously and we'll see

[00:47:56] how it goes because I guess that works for you not for the list though and people like my agent and other people don't love it but it will see what happens AJ in future yeah yeah yeah yeah sure now tell me with this whole process of

[00:48:14] going through acting performing you may have like been into where people giving you advice and telling you okay go ahead with this let's see and hey try this what do you think of this so what is the best advice anyone has ever given you about acting or auditions

[00:48:34] auditions let's put that apart that's not your thing but throughout this process of preparing for say my name what advice you received that was really helpful for you while preparing for this I think ultimately what as a watching lots of master classes online and engaging in other learning

[00:48:58] since say my name and even in a lot of my musical training and having some really good mentors and examples in my life of incredible humans who are just amazing what they do fundamentally it comes back to know yourself know who you are first

[00:49:16] and stay true to yourself as much as you can in the world that we're in and somehow just trust the intuition and the guidance within you to make the right decisions I think once I started making decisions that were more intuition based

[00:49:32] and I think that's what changed for the better rather than overthinking things and I think particularly for those of us in the performing arts it's more important to listen to your intuition which is where it's important to have meditation practice and a good healthy diet

[00:49:46] whether that's food diet or what you're listening to and watching and maintaining a healthy equilibrium for yourself in order to receive the right guidance within you to help direct you in the right direction because sometimes we can be external noise

[00:50:02] and sometimes it can sound good on the outside and it sounds like the right sort of advice but it may not be the right advice for you it may not be what is actually meant for you so sometimes you have to take yourself away

[00:50:14] and if you don't know yourself that makes it really hard to know that then to decipher what's me and what's the rest of the noise in the world so know yourself become really good at meditating and looking after your wellness and your intuition

[00:50:30] and I think allow things to flow and not force them into being and for me that was a tricky one to learn because I am a go-getter and I like to be gung-ho on things sometimes when I feel really passionate about it

[00:50:44] but that's where being in state of flow is really good because it can help you step back from forcing and just letting it fall into place as it should so that doesn't mean being inactive that means coming into it with the right energy and the right mindset

[00:51:00] and being open to incredible possibilities life can be interesting like that so I think the one thing I like to know yourself I guess that's the basic that's where you start and that leads to whatever else that you added after that because when you start

[00:51:22] knowing yourself who you are that's what leads to other things other questions that pops up in your head after that and you start solving but I guess know yourself is the best advice I can see from this because that's what lead you to become what you are

[00:51:38] and what you want to become once you start knowing yourself you can start preparing to become what you are dreaming of that's really great thank you for sharing this in detail this was really helpful now before we jump on to your challenge but

[00:51:58] tell me about how is the master class thing that's going on with you with Risa Bremen Grisha and Steve Braun are you continuing the master classes still for your upcoming projects what's the thing with acting master classes now so since say my name I have

[00:52:16] well actually before say my name I used to watch a lot of their content online as well as other acting and master classes but I engaged in some of their actor summits and master class since then and they've been really helpful and I think just helpful in having

[00:52:36] a sense of community around me and engaging with different actors and hearing different perspectives and journeys is all really helpful because I mean really that's what acting is about the human experience I mean now with AI it's a bit more machines and robots but for the matter

[00:52:54] there are interactions as humans with them but certainly yeah it's about the human connection so even just having that as part of the master class is great and I've enjoyed that I've also been doing other one-to-one coaching and most recently I did a session a couple of sessions

[00:53:14] with a Shakespearean coach and I'm looking to do more it's not my style of acting I'm sorry Dame Dewi yes yeah yeah incredible thanks to your actress with an amazing memory for lines but it's not my style of acting but it is all helpful in my own

[00:53:30] development as well you're picking yes and I also like engaging with some other pre-recorded content and watching the incredible masters and master classes like Michael Cain is a phenomenal actor and he came from very humble beginnings and he's got some recorded content online

[00:53:54] for other actors out there if you're interested he's incredible to watch in his master class because he gets down to the nitty gritties and the nuts and the bolts of it but his performances are always very authentic and he's also an intuitive performer as well

[00:54:10] I think even he met his wife somehow he saw her on TV or on an ad or something and just knew within his spirit that she was the right one and yeah I've been together for years see intuition that's the second thing that you added yep yep

[00:54:30] great great I've had a combination of things and I think as I said I've done like Alexander technique with my music opera, training and breath work and posture and dancing it all interrelates with acting as well it's all part of the performance body movements etc so for me

[00:54:54] it's an unconventional journey but here's what it is yeah I don't think anyone's journey is conventional really I think it's part of success is unique and that's what makes it exciting okay now tell me about your work life balance meditation I guess is the important thing for you

[00:55:16] where you do breath work and I guess meditation overall is helping you out to do lot of things so how how it got started first of all and tell me about this technique that you perform I guess it's Alexander something you told me about how this practice overall

[00:55:38] meditation is helping you out why you chose to meditate first of all why you chose to do the breath work why this whole thing came into and how has it changed so many years ago I actually went through a very traumatic few life experiences

[00:55:58] and actually went through some major health crisis and experienced some of my own mental health and depression for some time and as a result of that I went on this self discovery journey and found meditation initially I didn't really believe in its benefits

[00:56:16] I heard a lot of hype around it and thought it was woo woo and I was open minded and started learning more about how it affects the brain and it has changed my life and there's many different types of meditation

[00:56:32] and there's not one approach I think that's the right approach and I think if you have experience to be a trauma there's certainly ways around how you would approach it you need to make sure you're safe it's not just simply about emptying the mind

[00:56:46] and thinking about nothing there's a lot more involved especially when you start navigating into transcendental meditation David Lich the famous director practices and swears by transcendental meditation and actually our editor Agnes Kielmogore in our film has been mentored by David Lich and she I believe practices too

[00:57:12] so if you are stumped on an idea meditation, affirmations mantra all of that can help unblock blockages within your mind and open up the channels of inspiration to flow within you to receive answers, intuition and help you navigate your way through problems to receive more

[00:57:36] inspiration as to your artistry music, film, characters whatever it is, writing I swear by it too and there is evidence to support this and I think coming from more of a medical background will at some point in my life having evidence to support it is important

[00:57:54] but I've seen this change my life profoundly as well and I would highly recommend other actors and artists to certainly look into it because it could really enhance your craft and take it to a whole new level just by being open to explore the mind and meditative practice

[00:58:16] Alexander Technique looks into posture and breath work and being present so it ties in with awareness as well which again as an actor is important being present being present thank you for sharing why you got into this there was a lot of traumatic experiences and I guess

[00:58:38] that's what led you to calm down, this is the one thing that's going to keep you out of all these things and I guess you practice daily and now you are very good at it this is something that we also recommend to every

[00:58:52] person to use and to practice this process and meditation I guess is there anything some big challenge that you faced in your career and some big setbacks that you went through can you share a light on that and how you overcame it is there any experience or incident

[00:59:12] that you can share probably not significant at this stage I think for me more just working through my surgeries and health has been a bit of a setback in the last year but there probably really hasn't been any other setbacks I think maybe even dating back

[00:59:32] to childhood just not having access and not having the right maybe the people around me to support and nurture that early on was certainly a downside and that's why it takes me a while to get into it later in life but I do believe

[00:59:48] that life can take you on other journeys of development that perhaps lead to a better way of going about it but that's my perspective too not everyone always sees that I like to find ways of reclaiming the downsides of the past and then using it

[01:00:06] for something good in the future it's kind of like recycling really in a way sometimes you kind of recycle it you do have to chuck it out but there might be a way forward that you can look at something

[01:00:18] in a new light and go actually that served me in this instance really well and now I can use it here like this it sucked at the time it felt terrible and I would never want to go back through that again it was what it was

[01:00:30] but you know you've got to move forward and find a way to make it work for you and so I think for me that would be that was a setback early in life but it's now about reclaiming that and using that moving forward in a way that

[01:00:48] helps me and hopefully some others as well that I keep meeting along the way and I think it's really having impact actually in people that I know in a positive way which is exciting to see so it's not just me reaping benefits as others as well

[01:01:00] and that's really exciting yeah thank you so much Gwynn first of all for telling everything about you how you started, what you went through and how was your childhood you created a world and a new world for you now in the acting where you

[01:01:18] will be encountering a lot of new things and preparing for a lot of new stuff so from someone you are someone who went for it you never had an access or anything where you had a very normal childhood playing with trees and climbing trees

[01:01:36] and playing with your siblings and in the garden and playing with books and join books watching films and acting that was your childhood and growing watermelon oh wow that's good and they were some of the biggest melons you've ever seen they're the only melons I can boast

[01:02:00] about, I'm afraid we used to put them in the old prams you'd push your dolls in and cut them up it was very refreshing during summer but that was a big part of my childhood I was I guess I jumped in on your question AJ I'm sorry

[01:02:20] I was leading to something but something thank you for sharing that even the watermelons I involved in your story and bigger part of your life is your childhood is one thing I guess made you who you are because I guess you were making axis and fighting for it

[01:02:38] even at a period where you thought okay I don't know what's going to happen but I'm still going to fight and I'm still going to make sure that I read somewhere because I guess this is me, you know very earlier that who you are and what you are

[01:02:54] because you were connected with your inner self at very early age you were professional singer and this film say my name literally changed your world upside down because this is going to give you to something very new very new opportunities very new connection in this world

[01:03:10] and I'm really happy that this is something that turned out in your way because you are someone who is not good at auditions who is not good at preparing something and then making sure that this will work out for me you are someone okay if this goes my

[01:03:24] way then I'm going to make sure I put out my 120% and I'm going to make sure that this wins a lot of awards so you are a fighter you are someone who even went through a lot of traumas, a lot of things and you came out real good

[01:03:42] you fight really hard with whatever comes in your way and someone like you who been through all of this what advice you would like to give to you know who starting out just like you no idea if they are going to reach

[01:03:58] but there's only one thing which we call as belief so what advice you would like to give to those people who are starting their journey well firstly make sure that it's something you want to do and make sure that it's true to you and don't listen to anybody

[01:04:16] don't let anybody tell you that it's a stupid idea or a silly thing to do with your life I think if that's what you feel inspired to do life will show you away somehow it may be a while down the track and it might mean

[01:04:32] you have to do other things in the meantime but don't give up keep believing in yourself throw yourself into opportunity and also look at developing opportunity yourself I think there's something to be said about that is not just always waiting for opportunity sometimes it's also about cultivating it

[01:04:50] because especially for me it's nice to think that you can give back in other ways through making other opportunity for others too whilst you make it for yourself there's something special in that and as someone said to me yesterday don't always wait for the

[01:05:06] sunshine sometimes you have to learn to dance in the rain and that's true you've got to make your own joy wherever you are and grow wherever you're planted and I mean sometimes if you want to move yourself somewhere else because it just never stops raining

[01:05:22] well that's okay too but ultimately don't listen to any of the naysayers even your own mental state sometimes you can put yourself off with doubts I know I still do some days which is where the meditation is important I think self-doubts a natural

[01:05:38] thing as a human we all experience it that's normal and don't be too hard on yourself and most of all love the journey find ways to celebrate it and find good people around you to celebrate it with too and it's not always easy but they are out there

[01:05:56] and yeah just enjoy it and enjoy life and don't force anything learn from some of my own lessons don't force it just let it flow let it flow be there don't listen to the naysayers just go for it I guess that's what I learned from your journey

[01:06:14] and the way you present yourself to this world and it's going to be much bigger coming years with the way you prepare yourself for your music your composition your acting, your filmmaking journey it's going to be really good for you in coming time Quinn

[01:06:32] thank you for sharing everything that you did even that last moment you told me about the watermelons that was really good it was I guess something that really popped in your head and you didn't want to I have to mention that I was thinking melons so

[01:06:50] I really enjoyed working with you I really enjoyed this time we completed I guess over an hour and it was really awesome I didn't even realize we went this far this is happening with me so thank you thank you so much

[01:07:06] for being here please share your social media handles so people can connect with you what is the name of the handles please share a website anything certainly so again thank you for having me on AJ for your interview I appreciate this very much my website

[01:07:24] is www.thequinn.art and Instagram is the three underscores Quinn and Facebook is under Quinn Ellis at the moment until I have it changed as just Quinn which is what I go by but if you type in Quinn Ellis you will find me on there and yes

[01:07:48] feel free to reach out if you want someone to connect with in film or music I'm always open to conversation and other connections so yes what's your email where people can reach out to you email is well I've got my agent which so acting

[01:08:06] and things can go through her I think her email is something like Gina okay you text me later so to everyone whatever she said will be mentioned my personal one is studio at thequinn.art and then my agent so to everyone whatever she mentioned

[01:08:26] will be there in the description of this episode and it will be mentioned here if it's possible for me but it will be there in the description so make sure you check the description of this episode and there's a lot of links

[01:08:36] to the stories that we do in a lot of different genres including action, adventure, romance crime, mystery, thriller Indian mythology a lot of things there is there make sure you go and check and listen to those also I am Ajay Thambay the host

[01:08:50] producer of this show and this was interview with actress, singer composer, filmmaker, Quinn thank you so much for listening to this episode now I'm signing off