How I Got Here: Theatre and screen actor, Christina Falsone
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Admit it, we’ve all been there – stalking social media and LinkedIn profiles, trying desperately to figure out how the hell someone got their dream job.
It seems impossible and yet there they are, living out your career fantasy (minus the itchy business suit). It might seem hard to believe, but once upon a time, they were also fantasising about their future career, and with some hard work, they made it.
Welcome to How I Got Here, HerCanberra’s series that reveals everything you wanted to know about the secrets of career success. Ahead of her performance of Solange in Jean Genet’s classic thriller The Maids translated by Martin Crimp at The Street Theatre (showing Saturday 24 May until Sunday 8 June), we sat down with theatre and screen actor, Christina Falsone.
Existential crisis time: Who are you and what do you do?
Christina Falsone – I act, run a small business, and parent children.
Let’s go back to when you were a kid, have you always dreamed of working in this industry?
Yes – ever since late primary school. It took until I was about 20, though, for me to start pursuing it for real as a job.
Tell us about when you were first starting out, what set a fire in your belly to get here and how did you do it?
Seeing Jeremy Sims’ production of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney in high school – I remember going home that night feeling such desperation to be able to do that one day myself and that memory has stayed with me all these years. I also never got any of the lead roles at drama school, which I think made me really hungry to prove myself once I graduated. I searched out every opportunity I could and said ‘yes’ to everything and made sure I was always prepared and easy to work with.
Recall a time when you wanted to chuck it all in; what did you tell yourself when it got too hard?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment like that. Work comes and goes, sometimes there’s a lot, and sometimes there’s none. To stick with it, you really need to be comfortable with the uncertainty and have faith that opportunities will present themselves if you stay open to them. I don’t see it as a ladder I’m climbing to some end goal, it’s a career full of diverse experiences.
What was your biggest break?
There hasn’t been a single ‘big break’ per se, but a gradual series of smaller opportunities that have opened doors to new and different opportunities, such as a guest role I did on All Saints, a show downstairs at Belvoir Street Theatre, or my first international TVC.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A prominent theatre actor once told me ‘If you can sort out the money situation, acting is the best career in the world’ – meaning it is difficult and unrealistic for most actors to rely on acting income to sustain them in life, particularly if you have ambitions to own a home and have a family. Most working actors don’t really earn that much, and lack of stable income has been the most common reason brilliant actors I’ve known have dropped out of the industry. If you can find a meaningful and flexible way to supplement your acting income, then it doesn’t ever become a question of ‘Should I just give it all up and get a real job?’
What is it about your industry that you love and what makes you want to pull your hair out?
I love the creative collaboration, the camaraderie and the diversity – it feels like I’ve never done the same thing twice. What I hate is the expectation that actors have absolute flexibility and no other responsibilities in their life – you may not find out until 5 pm the day before that you have an audition at 9 am or that you have to be on set at 6 am the next day somewhere miles away. It does make it really hard to plan your life.
Tell us how you ‘stay in the know’, what media do you consume?
I used to be much more ‘in the know’ than I am now when I was single and had no kids. I don’t really stay on top of who’s doing what industry-wise these days. I tend more to seek out things that have been recommended to me or that people I know and respect are doing. Having said that, the National Theatre at Home streaming service has been a wonderful addition to my life.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I will be parenting two teenagers, so I imagine I’ll be on the receiving end of all the headaches I gave my mum as an adolescent. Hopefully, I will continue to be lucky enough to play pretend and get paid for it.
Why should people follow in your footsteps?
I don’t recommend anyone follow in my footsteps. It’s a recipe for disaster to try to model your life on anyone else’s. Stay open to experiences and follow your own gut and 20 years later you will look back and it will have all added up to a rich and unique life.
What advice would you give your past self?
Don’t overthink it. Your life will pass whether you do it or not, so you may as well give it a go. Now.
