Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gracie Brooke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Gracie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I was a shy child – bossy, but shy – and when my two younger siblings bulldozed onto the scene, I definitely retreated into my shell even more. It didn’t help that I was chubby, ginger, four-eyed and gap-toothed, because school was also, fundamentally, not the place for someone like me to venture out of their shell. You probably know why. So, I definitely never expected to be pursuing an acting career later in life. But, a lot’s happened since then and here we are! Thankfully, as a teenager, I slimmed down, got braces, lost the braces, got contacts, lost the glasses and discovered the brilliance of make-up. My physical development definitely gave me some confidence, and boys took my focus for a while, to be honest, until I had to choose subjects for my final exams at school. I’m British, and we call them A Levels, but, as I’d not yet found a subject I loved or thrived at, I thought that choosing drama would be an easier option than chemistry (shock). What I hadn’t realised, is what a sickeningly thrilling experience being someone else, in front of other people, would be. I formed this sort of love/hate relationship with acting, as the thought of people’s eyes on me made me want to hurl, but my fascination with becoming someone else, as a life-long observer, was so exciting. My teacher very quickly let me know that she had no idea why I’d not auditioned for school performances sooner, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, years of insecurity caught up with me, and I left school before graduating, at 17. A pretty sudden and overpowering battle with Anorexia Nervosa took over my life for a couple years, but deciding to do perform professionally brought me out of it. At 19, I enrolled in a 1 year Foundation Acting course in London, graduated with an agent, and was off to the races. Within a year, I’d performed in an Edinburgh Fringe musical, at the Pleasance Dome, in a prime time TV series and a feature film. But, my health soon took a turn for the worse, again, and this time I had no control over it. I had caught a virus, which lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome took hold and 4 years of being mostly bed-bound/in a wheel chair if I wanted to leave the house. I lost my agent, my confidence and my faith in life. As I recovered, Covid happened, and then finally I decided to go back to school one last time, in sunny LA, and give this acting stuff one more go. I’ve just finished 2 years at school here, and am ready to do this. Moral of the story is, things don’t always go the way you want them to, but it’s an adventure, and who cares when you start. Just start. And if you have to start again, start again. I’m now completely healthy, and able to pursue this. That should be more important.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After a lot of stops and starts, a lot of life experience and a lot of studying the craft, I am finally ready to make acting my living. I’m aware it’s not an easy profession to break into, but, it’s not impossible, and sometimes simplifying the process allows for progress. Essentially – like any profession – getting your name and face out there, doing the work to the best of your ability and believing in yourself, are the keys (I believe). I do my absolute best to maintain my focus, positivity and confidence, because ultimately it’s not life or death, it’s a fun and creative profession. There are a lot of unknowns, and this isn’t always easy to deal with, but, such is life, and there’s not much you can do about what is out of your control. I have found that getting my foot in the door has been the most difficult part of my journey, as an actor, because nepotism is real and known faces are favoured. It can be a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, but I know that I have a tonne to offer, and not everyone has been through long bouts of hardship that they can draw upon in auditions, or learnt how to talk to people from all walks of life. I grew up in a family of big characters, each one of them a social butterfly of sorts and with their own creative edge. My dad, Dave Holley, had humble beginnings, growing up in a small UK fishing town called Grimsby (you might’ve seen Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Brothers Grimsby”). But, because he worked hard and followed his passion, he went from qualifying as an accountant, to managing The Beatle’s Abbey Road Studios, in London, for 10 years. He’s been in the music industry for decades now, and has recently decided to write how own children’s book. My mum, Clare, was a very present while we were kids, and gave up her job to look after us. But, she returned once we were old enough, and initially worked for Elizabeth Arden’s PR team. Now she’s with Conde Nast, and has her very own interior design article!! My brother is another actor (joyous for our parents) called Alex Holley, signed with Emptage Hallett agency and definitely worth checking out too! And my sister, Anna, is finishing her law degree, hoping to go into entertainment law. It’s been a long process for each of us, as we’ve chosen competitive careers, but we’re getting there. Thanks to our generous and supportive parents, we are able to follow our chosen career paths. We do have that perk, and I’m aware that not everyone does. Whatever perk you do have, I’d definitely make the most of it and be thankful for it.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
This might be a boring answer, but honestly, people could be nicer and a lot less stingy. It’s almost looked highly upon to be such a force of nature, such a “shark”, that you are completely unreachable to the majority. Which, to me, is a load of turd. I get that power is a thing in this industry, it’s respectable to have it, but it would be nice to have more people use it for a fairer industry. It can be so dog-eat-dog, for not much reason, and it’s unhelpful. Honestly, if that’s what this industry requires of me, I can do that, but I don’t massively want to. Because I don’t think that true, respectable people, are unkind. Kindness is such a strength in a sometimes really tough world, which might sound naff, but I believe it to be true. For example, the other night I went to a rooftop bar with a friend, who is also an actor. We got chatting to some girls in the queue, who seemed friendly enough at first, until we revealed our professions. It turns out they worked at a talent agency, and because we were actors, they seemed to avoid us for the rest of the night. To me, this is just crazy, and actually the opposite reaction to what we should be doing to help each other out in the entertainment field. It would have taken literally nothing, to ask for our emails and see some of our work, without promising a thing. Just a chance. I like to think that if and when my reputation is strong enough, I will help out as many people as I can, so long as they’re right for the job. Obviously!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Feeling something, and making someone else feel something. We’ve got to keep feeling things to evolve as humans!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/2294650-6384089
- Instagram: gracie.brooke_gb
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7304474/
Image Credits
Kim Hardy