CAITLIN FLORENCE ROSE INTERVIEW - Digging my teeth into a character and working out what makes them tick and how I can show that.

Swanky Magazine Interviews the wonderfully talented individual - Caitlin Florence-Rose

ACTOR/ACTRESS SPOTLIGHT | Actress Caitlin Florence-Rose, From Taunton, Somerset.

Q1. Swanky Mag: Hello Caitlin, Can you introduce yourself to Swanky Magazine's readers? Can you tell us a little about you?

Hey Swanky Mag, thank you for having me! I’m Caitlin Florence-Rose, a recent Acting graduate from Arts University Bournemouth. To try and put me in a nutshell, I’m an older sister, trying budding actor and Netflix binge-watcher. 

Q2. How and when did you get into acting? 

I’ve been acting since I was about 7 years old, it was a wonderful accident actually. I was at my local village hall for another after-school club - I joined most after-school clubs as my mum worked at my school- this one was acting. It didn’t even take 2 classic drama warm-ups before something clicked into place in my brain. I then became the lead of the show, performing as the first female captain of an all-male pirate ship, she began how she meant to go on. From then my parents enrolled me in acting classes at the Tacchi Morris, they even put me in the older groups to push me as an actor and as a person which I am so thankful for today. 

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Model/Actress: Caitlin Florence-Rose

Photographer: Kieran C White

Q3. What attracted you to begin a career as an actor? 

Without sounding too soppy or cliche, it was more of a gut feeling (a very actor answer of me I know). I knew that I didn’t want to get to 40 and regret doing what I’ve always wanted to do and what make sense when I did it. I think film/theatre heavily influenced me throughout my life also. I have always been in awe of how for 2 hours, you can be totally lost and believe in a world/the people in it. I also found that with being on stage and screen myself, I would just let the script talk and my mind and body go with it. It’s the ability to be totally in the moment. 

Q4. Did you take up any training in acting? 

My training has always been very local community based, school village hall, local theatre (Tacchi Morris), A-level Acting at college to then my best training at Arts University Bournemouth, which was a drama school course on a university campus. I always wanted to be well-rounded and so when I had the choice of going to an art college at 16, although parts of me wishes I had joined now- even just for curiosity's sake, I chose to take A-levels instead. Taking psychology, English literature and language, and Acting. I felt, well hoped, learning about the human psyche and the study of text would benefit me as an actor later on in life, which I believe it has. The more I think about it, my whole life I have had acting on my mind. 

Q5. Who are your biggest influences? 

My comfort film and film I get a lot of acting influences from is Devil Wears Prada. It was one of the first times as a child I saw something on-screen and said ‘that is what I want to do, that is the level I want to be at’. It’s got Meryl Streep in it for goodness sake, hook line and sinker, the kid was a goner. 

Model/Actress: Caitlin Florence-Rose

Photographer: km.makeupfx

Q6. Which role that you have played you like the most? 

One of the things I like the most about acting, is you don’t always play people you like, it is your job to make sense of why they do what they do, horrible or good, and portray that as truthfully and authentically as you can, even if that person is a narcissistic manipulative socialite (a role I have played). It is hard for me to answer this question but a pivotal character I played in my life has to be an Irish Ghost named Caitlin *shock* during the Irish potato famine in Ireland (odd I know but stick with me). The play was written by one of our teachers at school and showed the hatred between religion and the pain families suffered from during this period. I think the thing I like about this character is because she was so complex, she was a drunk, a mother, a widower, a friend, a narrator, a comic relief but also harbored all of the pain of this twisted story and I just had fun playing her, I was challenged and it was the first time I could see myself as a serious actor.

Q7. What do you love about acting? 

Definitely challenging myself. Digging my teeth into a character and working out what makes them tick and how I can show that. Being able to lose yourself for a moment never fails to excite me.

Model/Actress: Caitlin Florence-Rose

Photographer: Bill Bradshaw

Q8. What has been your most memorable session and why? 

I’m thankful for all the projects I’ve been a part of and love all of them for lots of different reasons and the knowledge I have gained from them. I think Treasure Island performed at the Lighthouse in Poole really sticks out to me though. It might be to do with the fact show week was the week before the first lockdown in March 2020, but I’ll never forget the sense of community I felt on that show. It was long hours and we were all so tired but we were all so full of energy and just joy for the whole process.

Q9. Can you tell us a bit about your next project? 

One of the many joys and challenges of being a creative is being constantly on the lookout for your next job, never quite sure when the next one will be. There may be a theatre piece lined up in the October/November period coming up which I am excited about! However, at the moment my reality is I am still constantly applying for acting jobs and waiting for footage for 3 films I have done this year to put together a showreel I’m really proud of to then send off to casting agents and freshen up my acting portfolio. 

Q10. Name a character you would want to play.

I would love to be in a murder mystery one day, growing up I would watch them with my Nan and that would be a full-circle moment for me I think. Whether that be playing the complex psychopath they are trying to catch or the fresh-faced/haunted detective trying to catch them. 

Thank you so much for having me on your magazine, my email is CaitlinFRose@outlook.com if you ever need to be in contact.