We were lucky to catch up with Megan Osyen recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
A particularly meaningful project to me was one of my final performances as a training actor. I had been in a performing arts school in London prior to attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, so being given the opportunity to round my training off in New York City made me really nostalgic. It was a macrocosmic moment of ‘look how much my life has changed’. The play was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, I was playing Hermia. I remember experiencing the usual nerves that come along with wanting to do the text justice, while simultaneously feeling frozen in how to develop such an iconic character into something I can call my own. This is where my director Ibsen Santos came in, who is absolutely brilliant at injecting life into classical text. His approach was not only inspiring, but also totally transformative to my acting technique.
I use the Linklater method of script analysis to this day, even when it comes to screenplays. It is technically useful, but it also reminds me of the time that I felt most uninhibited on stage: the use of action encouraged me to reach extreme states to adhere to the play’s emotional demands. This urged me to shatter years of tensions and anxieties pent-up in my body. I was no longer afraid of going overboard – when I was told to ‘push’ less, I was able to adjust according to a scale. To this day, practising emotional extremes allows me to retain my physical work, even when my actions are minimised. This feels incredibly freeing as an actor, but also helps me as a person aiming to be more open in day-to-day life.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The idea of becoming an actor was sprinkled in with becoming a vet and a pilot, as is the case with most five year-olds. I also remember wanting to be an archeologist, as my childhood revolved around hiking around historical sights to fulfil my dad’s love of ancient stone circles, a niche I took a while to buy into… I also travelled a lot thanks to my mum’s curiosity and love of adventure. I can pinpoint my first pull towards acting: I grew up in Moscow, where I went to a Russian school. I began being taken out of math and science classes (much to my teachers’ dismay) to attend the school’s theatre company rehearsals with the older kids. I don’t remember auditioning, so I suppose the director saw me when he snuck into one of our classroom productions. The fixation with acting that this sowed continued through my move to London: I begged my parents to let me go to a performing arts’ school, because government budget cuts seriously affected the number of drama classes we got in academic schools.
I feel that having performance experience in different countries has set me up to deal with people in a range of environments – I gained a general cultural sensitivity, which developed my EQ. This has been a useful tool for delving into the vastly different worlds introduced to me through my characters. Travel also developed my desire to immerse myself in diverse circles: social media marketing, journalism, filmmaking, boating, and photography. I am a strong believer that every conversation you have, and every new thing you try will show up in the details of your acting. Exposing yourself to the world around really helps to make performance a totally immersive experience.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
A question that has jumped around my brain recently has been ‘Why did I wait so long to find my own work?’. While training, I found myself incessantly worried about finding an agent. An agent is super important for protecting your rights in this cutthroat industry, and they can gain access to exclusive listings that an independent actor cannot. Nevertheless, I feel the energy I expended on worrying could have been channelled sooner into what I do now: I wake up and apply for roles on lots of casting websites, like working an office job. This has helped me feel more in control of my career, reducing the sinking feeling of inadequacy that comes with waiting. I have discovered that this form of self-determination is essential in comforting myself in the face of instability. I think this sentiment could help artists across the board, as we are drilled into believing we are always at the mercy of others. Although there is some truth to this, the essence of our work is to think outside-of-the-box to be able to share personal ideas.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Every person can think of a film, a play or individual scenes that profoundly affected them. In fact, some of my core memories involve feelings triggered by cinema: the first time I ever felt existential (or ‘deep’, in my thirteen-year-old brain) was when I watched ‘The Fits’, directed by Anna Rose Holmer, and the first time I felt fiery motivation was when I watched ‘Whiplash’, directed by Damien Chazelle. The idea of becoming a channel which somebody can either ignite or relive a strong emotion through really inspires me. I worked towards achieving this on my most recent film job: as I dissected the script, I infused as many rich memories and experiences from my life as I could into it. Adding colours and vulnerable moments was particularly important to this story, as I wanted to relay the sensitive topics it explored as humanly as I could. I hope I can deliver this beautifully written story as an impactful emotional package to whoever it reaches.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://app.spotlight.com/7656-8975-3028
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megan.osyen/
- Other: Backstage: https://www.backstage.com/u/megan-osyen/
Image Credits
Photographer: Bronwen Sharp Photographer: John DeAmara Photographer: YellowBelly NYC