Performing Arts student Tilly Harvison (20) from Dungannon has stepped onto the screen and into the homes of many with her debut TV performance in the hit Channel 4 drama series Trespasses.
Set in Belfast in the mid-1970s, Trespasses sees a Catholic school teacher drawn into an affair with a Protestant barrister in the midst of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland.
Tilly plays, in her own words, ‘a rude girl’ who bullies and intimidates Cushla, the Catholic schoolteacher when she enters a Protestant area, while going to help a family of one of her young pupils from a mixed religion marriage.
Tilly is no stranger to the stage having acted in many of Southern Regional College’s (SRC) performances and going on tour with classmates from the Performing Arts Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Encouraged by her lecturers at SRC, Tilly is now in her second year of the BA (Hons) Degree in Acting and Performance at the Liverpool Media Academy.
Filming for Trespasses took place a year ago, with Tilly having only commenced her degree. The time between the audition and being on set was incredibly fast.
Tilly said: “I received the audition from a casting director before I signed with my agent, and everything happened incredibly quickly after that. It was a self-tape, meaning you film the audition yourself and send it. My friend helped me film it and I submitted it on the Friday afternoon. On the Monday night, I found out that I had been cast. The next morning, I had a costume fitting and trial hair and makeup, the day after that was my first day of filming. Everything happened very quickly!”
She continued: “I found out that I was cast when I was in my kitchen chopping vegetables and watching Miracle on 34th Street. I was so, so excited! I have acted in plays and musicals for many years, but this was my first ever TV role. Screen acting is what I’ve always wanted to do, so getting cast in ‘Trespasses’ felt amazing.”
Being prepared is something that Tilly advocates, from that first audition at SRC to her audition for Trespasses and future projects. Having a suite of monologues prepared is key to a successful audition.
In deciding what monologue to prepare for an audition, Tilly said: “It mostly depends on the role you’re auditioning for. You always need two contrasting monologues with one being classical and the other contemporary. Ideally these should be from different genres to show a wide range of acting skills.”
Despite Tilly’s vast experience on the stage, she was still struck by how fast-paced the world of television production is.
“In theatre, rehearsals can run for any length of time between a few days and a few months, whereas in TV, you generally rehearse a few times just before shooting. TV is much more fast paced, which is how I imagined it.
“Between takes, the wardrobe, hair and makeup departments check to ensure you look identical to the previous take to avoid continuity errors. Someone also checks that your mark is in the same place and the director will sometimes give notes.”
Gaining a role within the performing arts industry doesn’t happen by chance. Many hours of research and practice go into gaining roles.
Tilly added: “I work extremely hard and always try my best in everything that I do. You need to be very dedicated to succeed in acting because there is more work involved than people realise. Just because it’s not written work doesn’t mean there is not a lot to it!
“Learning your lines is important, but I feel that understanding your character is even more important. Someone once told me that acting should look so truthful that someone walking past shouldn’t be able to tell you are acting. It should seem real and natural enough for them to believe it was a real conversation. That’s always stuck with me.”
Looking to the future Tilly wants to continue gaining roles across theatre, television and film, and perhaps extend into directing in the future, however on-screen TV and film roles are her short term primary focus.
