We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karma Boleyn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Karma, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Breaking into the acting industry is always a difficult task. It’s a never-ending cycle of needing a showreel to get cast, but needing a role to make a showreel. Casting directors want to be able to see what you can do before choosing you, but how do you show them?
My friends and I all met on different film sets, playing extras on a variety of movies and series. We all agree that whilst being on set is always fun, and being an extra helps you gain experience and can open many doors for you, it’s easy to get stuck in the background. That’s what eventually led to us wanting to create something of our own.
It didn’t take long for us to realise that we all had other interests related to the industry, eg. directing, screen writing, producing etc. That’s why our project means so much to all of us, because it gives us a chance to practice and develop our skills together, whilst also showing other people what we can do.
We decided to make a short 4-part series, that features all of us both on and off camera, and I think the fact that we all know each other from before, and get along so well, makes it so fun and easy to work together. We’ve come so far already, and I can’t wait for us to finally be able to share our project with everyone.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve been a very artistic person all my life, not only in acting, but in music and art as well. I started dancing, singing, playing instruments, and acting in school plays as early as primary school. On top of that, I would spend time in my father’s tattoo studio, drawing and tracing his designs.
In Sweden I chose theatre as my core subject in upper secondary school, and played a lot of different roles in our class productions. I also took classes in musical theatre and dance.
When it came time to look at colleges, I knew I wanted to leave Sweden and study acting in English, and I was lucky enough to get into the Gaiety School of Acting’s one-year part-time course. I absolutely loved my time at GSA and cended up staying with them for another 2 years, developing my acting skills for both stage and screen.
Outside of school I’ve had the opportunity to be an extra on the sets of some really great productions, including Normal People (2020), Wolf (2021) and Clean Sweep (2023).
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I think every artist has to be extremely resilient. Whether you’re an actor, dancer, musician, or painter, you are almost always going to get a “no” more often than you get a “yes”, and it can be extremely difficult to convince yourself to continue to try. You often have to keel rememinding yourself that you are doing something you love, and not to give up.
When it came time for me to apply to colleges, I knew I didn’t want to stay in Sweden, and a friend and I first applied to a school on America, which seemed like it would work out, but we ran into issues at the last minute and our plans fell through.
We then turned to schools in the UK, and were met with several rejections, before my friend finally decided to stay in Sweden. I, however, found The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, right after their applications had closed. I decided to take a chance and emailed them anyway, and I was lucky enough for them to open applications for foreign students again so that I could audition.
Getting accepted to GSA gave me the push I needed to move out of Sweden and to a country with more acting opportunities, and I am extremely lucky that I didn’t give up after getting rejected to other schools first.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It’s extremely rewarding to be able to do what you love, to be able to express yourself through your art, and to connect with other people and share what you create with the world.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Simon Nider Mirza https://instagram.com/simonnphotos?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg== Liam Cooney https://instagram.com/manofmoments?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg==