A 40-year-old, neurodivergent Tandragee man who bravely embarked upon a journey to follow his lifelong dream is appealing for a little “help” after he encountered a major stumbling block at the final hurdle.
Neil Cochrane – who goes by the stage name ‘Owen James’ – told Armagh I that while he has worked countless customer service, sales and admin jobs throughout his life, he has deep down “always wanted to be an actor”.
It’s the heady dream of many. Bright lights, big screens, action. The chance to show your talent to the world.
Few make it to the ‘big time’, but Neil has already accomplished more than most and he’s intensely proud of how far he’s come in just four years, when he took the decision to take that plucky leap of faith and focus on his calling.
At the age of 36, he had come through a difficult period involving depression, anxiety medication and struggles with his weight. He taught himself through books, videos and classes, secured several roles and even founded his own acting school for adults, now known as The Acting Bug.
Speaking to this publication, the actor – who has already made appearances in hit BBC crime dramas Blue Lights, Hope Street and Channel Four’s, Say Nothing – explained how he then entered into a rigorous application process to be admitted to some of the UK’s “finest” acting schools.
“It’s the best professional training you can get and I hope at the end of it, I will be a better actor but I also hope it will open more doors for me in terms of signing with a high calibre agent and getting opportunities with casting directors who maybe don’t see me in that bracket of actor at the moment.
“There’s a lot more actors than there are parts. If casting directors put something out publicly they will get literally thousands of applications. It’s really, really tough. With these top drama schools I applied for, pretty much the top five in the UK, and for some of them the acceptance rate is 1% or 2%.
“This is my first time doing it and I was very fortunate to get an offer at the first try but I met people there who have been through auditions for five years to get into a drama school.”
The auditions, the workshops, the parts, the programmes – all fiercely fought over. “Spaces are limited”, he said. But he perservered, letting his talent do the talking.
And, so it did. Neil made it through to the prestigious “final round” for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London – which was exhilarating enough! – before The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama made him a concrete offer of a place… on their Master’s programme!
Neil did a little research and discovered that “only around 1–5% of top drama school applications result in an offer, and just 8% of working actors in the UK come from working-class backgrounds”.
These statistics are important because, shortly after winning his place, Neil discovered that postgraduate fees are unregulated and there is limited available funding through Student Loans NI.
He has estimated the course to cost him in the region of £20,000 for the year between paying tuition fees and accomodation. There are no bursaries or grants available to him.
Neil even entered into another arduous process for potential scholarship support – to no avail. Dispirited, he said, “Believe me, I have looked into every avenue for financial support out there.
“I’ve searched far and wide for bursaries and grants to help me, only to find that the doors were closed, due to my age, my background, my location and the course I’m studying.”
The fees and associated costs average out at around £6,531 per semester. At the time of writing Neil has not yet managed to raise enough to secure even his first semester.
Desperate to ensure his toil was not in vain, he has now resorted to leaning on the “kindness of strangers” in launching a GoFundMe campaign, but he strongly believes that no one in his position should have to.
Said Neil: “You can get a student loan but the maximum postgraduate student loan is £10,000. I was really applying for Bachelor’s and if I had got into one of those it wouldn’t have been a problem because the loan would have covered the tuition for those.
“But because Royal Welsh do a Master’s and if they think you have sufficient ability and experience they will offer you the Master’s even if you haven’t got the Bachelor’s. It was a great outcome for me but because the fees aren’t regulated the tutition cost of that is £22,400. The loan covers £10,000 so I have to make up the other £12,400.
“You can’t even get the maintenance grant on a postgraduate.”
He admits, the fundraiser is his “last desperate hope” and says he would be utterly “devastated” to miss out on this incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
While his current focus is on trying to get himself onto the programme he worked so hard to secure, Neil is also deadset on trying to pave the way for burgeoning, “working-class” actors in Northern Ireland.
To this end, he has already attempted to fill the void of being the only country in the UK without a dedicated acting school, by setting up The Acting Bug. He also hopes his voice will be heard by those with decision-making power to help change the landscape in student funding, to make creative and academic postgraduate dreams a reality for those less financially able.
“Maybe there could be a bit more regualtion for postgraduate fees, it would make it more affordable for people,” he said. “Again, the support through Student Loans is limited and maybe if as a postgraudate candidate I could get the maintenance grant that would help with accomodation costs at the college.”
He continues to tap every avenue imaginable for support and would be eternally grateful for any sponsorship or business backing, adding, “I am more than willing to earn my sponsorship. Whatever they need me to do, I would be happy to!
“It’s so degrading having to go begging, asking for money. I really hate it. But if I don’t try and this opportunity slips away, I don’t know if I’ll get another one. I just want to learn, to grow, and to be the best actor I can be.”
If you are in a position to offer Neil a sponsorship opportunity please contact info@armaghi.com to be put in touch with him directly.
