I always joke that had I not been an actor I would have been an archaeologist, but in many ways there are simillarities. In archaeology we search for evidence of previous civilisations, communities, people, individuals - studying the clues they left behind to understand how they lived and behaved. Acting is the same, looking for clues and understanding the character through the text, excavating and exploring their behaviour and relationships.

It was a wet rainy school trip to Hadrians Wall in 1989 that put me off archaeology and the West End Musical ‘Starlight Express’ became my preferred career aspiration!