Jamie Carter has won a place at the prestigious New York Film Academy, but can’t afford to go. Today, he tells MARION SAUVEBOIS how he’s refusing to give up on his dream

“I always knew I wanted to be an actor – there is nothing else I want.”

For as long as he can recall, Jamie Carter has dreamed of treading the boards of Broadway and seeing his name in lights on the billboards. His dream even prompted him to plaster a mural of the New York City skyline across his room.

His apparently far-fetched fantasy came within his grasp when the 18-year-old was offered a place at one of the world’s most prestigious acting schools, the New York Film Academy, last year.

Without any real expectation of even fitting the right profile, Jamie, of Penhill, attended NYFA’s high-pressured auditions in London along with hundreds of aspiring thespians.

Within minutes of being ushered into a plush hotel room in the city, he had the two casting directors in stitches during a particularly hysterical rendition of Matilda the Musical’s Telly.

Despite this, the performing arts pupil held very little hope of being successful.

And yet, just a few days later, he was accepted on the academy’s two-year course and awarded a $20,000 scholarship towards the $72,000 fees for good measure.

“I purely went in for the experience,” he said. “I thought ‘it’s just not going to happen for me this year.’ “I was panicking and I was shaking outside. They had a camera set up and I did the songs and monologue back to back.

“When I performed my second song they burst out laughing. Their laughter broke the serious tension.

“It’s just crazy to think they were willing to take me on.”

But, even with two further scholarships and an offer to pay just £10,000 for an intensive year of training, Jamie is still unable to afford his dream.

“It’s heart-breaking not being able to afford it. Every time I asked they would knock money off, but it’s still too much. You come up with cake sale ideas and car washes but you could do hundreds of them and still only get a grand and it would take months of organising. But it makes me want to chase my dream even more.

“Going to NYFA is what I think of when I wake up in the morning.”

So impressed were NYFA casting directors that they invited Jamie to take part in their summer programme in July. This cost Jamie every last penny he had already raised towards the two-year course.

The brief experience allowed him to glimpse the life he may one day lead but left him feeling increasingly bereft on his return to the UK.

“I decided if I wasn’t going to get the money for the two-year course I’d rather go there for the summer and live what I wanted to for six weeks than not go at all.

“I got to Heathrow Airport with my mum at 4am on June 30. I was petrified, but I was trying not to show it. When I got on the plane it was just electric. That was the moment that I felt most alive in my life so far.

“I had a massive adventure in New York. At the school I did everything from ballet, to tap, song interpretation. I received training methods that people like Meryl Streep have been trained in.

“It took a few weeks to get used to all that. I learned something new and got better and better every day. One of the teachers, Deidre Goodwin, who was in the cast of the film Chicago, called me Billy Elliot.

“The best part for me was waking up at 6.30am and walking along Wall Street on my way to school. I felt like it could be my life. I really felt like a New Yorker.

“Leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. It was like being taken away from the place where you feel most alive.

“Going home felt like going back to square one; like New York never happened.”

Jamie began performing seriously at the age of 13 after joining community drama group Stars Under the Stairs, run by Carole Anne Rapson. He went on to take part in the Wyvern Theatre’s Summer Youth Project four times.

“Acting means so much to me. There are so many different aspects to it. If you really dedicate yourself you can grow as a person. I take away something from the characters I play, something they have learned or something they have gone through.

“If you’re having a bad day, you walk in the studio or rehearsal room and leave your troubles at the door.

“Having the ability to make people laugh and then 30 seconds later make them cry; being able to have an effect on the way they are feeling is the reason you do it. Acting is my drug in life.”

Last spring Jamie received the Best Performance Under 21 Award at the Manx Easter Festival of Plays for his role as Claudio in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

He graduated from New College with BTEC Level 3 performing arts extended diploma, for which he was awarded a triple distinction star.

In September, Jamie accepted a place at the University of Wolverhampton to study musical theatre until he raises enough to return to New York.

“I have had so many upset nights. Imagine the life you always wanted and then realising you will never get it. Sometimes I can’t look at the photos of New York, it’s too upsetting. But you have to keep in the game. I got a place at Wolverhampton; it’s a very good university. I’m going to make the best of it and work hard to get the money and go back to New York.”

 

  •  To help Jamie realise his dream to study acting in New York email jamie.carter1995@hotmail.co.uk or call 07972 281398.
  • To find out about New York Film Academy https://www.nyfa.edu/acting-school/