Damien Gerard

No, not the Matt Munro song of a similar name, although I AM dashingly handsome, naturally.

In December 2012 I had the incredibly good fortune to work with one of the world’s foremost acting coaches, Bernard Hiller. The man is incredible as he can just see inside someone and know what makes them tick and where their blocks lie.

After an intense few days with him in London, he invited me out to work with him in Los Angeles, so finally in October this year, I managed to get out there to work with the great man again. If you’re an actor, I expect you already know how incredible LA is for us. Such positivity and energy like nowhere else on earth.

Whilst there, I organised a few meetings with some agents, with some great responses from them and some fantastic feedback on my showreel (courtesy of my friends at Reel King).

I had the good fortune to perform for some top agents and some of the worlds leading casting directors, such as April Webster and Sarah Finn and we met Jerry Weintraub and Lionel Richie who had some incredible stories to tell us of their escapades over the years and the people they worked with, such as Sinatra, Elvis, Michael Jackson and so on. Very inspirational people. Both Sarah and April wanted my showreel and details too, which obviously shows they saw something there in me that they liked. in fact, I received the best feedback I think I have ever had, from April Webster, so if you are reading this April, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate what you said more than you can imagine!

Lionel was so moved by what he saw at the class that he stayed for the rest of the day, even though he was only intending on turning up for five minutes to say hello to everyone. here’s a pic of me and the incredible man himself.

The week with Bernie was just amazing and has really cemented my decision to go and live and work in LA once my visa comes through.

I made some new friends and finally put faces to the people I had only spoken to online, which is absolutely brilliant. These were people I had followed on Facebook for ages and whose posts had inspired me onwards and upwards to create my own work, so I am glad I managed to get the chance to hug them and say “thank you” for all they had unknowingly done for me. After the masterclass, I had some new headshots by the remarkable guys Oren and Jordan at OG Photography in Downtown LA. I really think they are some of the best photos of me I have ever had and I think it is because I was still very emotionally charged from Bernie’s class. Head over to my photos page and take a look.