Adrienne Kress

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Where do you live?
Annex

Profession: Author and Actress

Please explain what you do in your jobs:
As an author I write middle grade (ages eight to 12) and young adult novels as well as plays. As an actress I'll happily perform in most anything, but I have a soft spot for Shakespeare

Current job:
Working on my young adult novel, preparing to promote my middle-grade novel and directing/acting in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

List of accomplishments:
I have had two middle-grade novels about pirates published, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman (2007) and Timothy and the Dragon's Gate (January 2009).
I have written two plays, Elementary My Good Man and A Weekend in the Country and produced/directed Weekend for both the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Scotland) and Toronto Summerworks Festival.
I have acted in numerous theatrical productions in both Canada and the U.K., anything from musical cabarets to Shakespeare.

How do you measure success in your profession?
Because both the writing and acting professions are so insecure, so difficult to have any stability in, real success for me would be not having to do any other outside jobs (temping, waitressing) in order to make enough money to get by on.
Ideally having constant work in both fields would be fantastic.
As an author for children, though, one of the greatest feelings of success is knowing you have touched a life outside your own, that your book meant something to the kids who read them. Best compliment ever: "Your book is my favourite!"

How did you get your start in your chosen career?
I've been acting and writing since I was young. It seems like I was always meant to do what I am doing. My parents are both artistic and I suppose they had a great deal of influence on me. But it's always been a deep desire of mine to create new worlds and interesting characters, whether as an actress or author.

When did you decide this is what you want to do for a living and when was the 'moment'?
Probably in my last year of high school when I decided I wanted to major in drama in university. Up until then I had never been sure, coming from a stable upbringing, that I would be able to handle the uncertainty of an acting career. As far as being a professional author goes, I always thought that getting a book published was a bit of a miracle - something I could never possibly have myself.
Then a few years ago, after I had written Alex, I thought, "Well it can't be any harder than acting," which as we all know is a difficult profession in itself. And I gave it a shot. I am so glad I did.

What did you have to do in order to get involved with this profession?
I have been a drama major since the age of 11, attending the Claude Watson School for the Arts in both middle and high school. I was a drama specialist at the University of Toronto, graduating with an honours bachelor of arts in theatre. Then I moved to London, England, where I studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts for a year. I then had to get an agent, headshots, put together a resume and now I go out on auditions.
As an author I studied creative writing when I was little, took courses in high school and a phenomenal playwriting course taught by Djanet Sears at U of T. I read a lot and wrote a lot. It also helps to have English teachers as parents and that one of them taught a superb creative writing course at William Lyon Mackenzie. I then had to get a literary agent, who submitted my work to publishers until one offered a contract.

Pros and cons of this job:
Pros: To create worlds and characters and bring them to life where others are then able to enjoy them. To get to play and do a job I truly love. To interact with some of the most interesting, creative, vibrant and hilarious people out there.
Cons: Instability, both financially and socially. Never knowing what your schedule will be like from one month to the next. Also being self-employed means having to be a self-starter. You have to create your own schedule.
Worst: A whole heck of a lot of work with no guarantee of success.

Skills required for this job:
Writing: understanding of literature and different genres. Understanding of grammar, spelling, the "rules". Understanding what it means to be able to "forget" all of that and just write.
Acting: As broad a skill set as you can acquire. Voice, movement. Dancing, stage combat, singing and so on. Your body has to be your instrument; the more training you have the more you can relax and embody a role. It isn't just about saying some words.

What can youth expect if they want to pursue this job?
A lot of rejection. And no predictable path that will lead you toward acceptance. For both these careers, technically, there is no one school degree that will set you on the right path, no one right course to take. Some train forever, others are discovered on the street. You have to keep working on your skills, even when it seems hopeless and when there are no jobs on the horizon. Yes, there is luck, but what you have to remember is you must be ready when the luck strikes. Luck opens the door, but you still have to make the grand entrance.

Percentage of people who actually succeed in this field:
Well, success is subjective. For actors, some are content to do regional theatre forever, others need to be a Hollywood movie star. For authors, just finishing a novel is a huge accomplishment. I will say, though, that it is very difficult in both fields. I don't have numbers for the acting thing, but the percentage of first-time authors published is around one to two per cent of submitted work.

Salary range:
$0 to millions of dollars

Advice to youth who are thinking about pursuing this field:
Only pursue either of these fields if you are passionate. There are easier ways to get rich than being an actor or an author. Most importantly, treat the careers with the respect they deserve. As an actor take classes, keep training, even after you have an agent and acting jobs. As an author, read. Read a lot. And then write. Write a lot. And don't be frightened to play with ideas, to try something crazy. Don't ask what you can and cannot write. The rule is that you can do anything you want, as long as you do it well.
For both: Be professional and thoughtful. Be humble, but have confidence. And - this is the most difficult of all - be yourself.

Anything else you would like to say?
Lots of people think that being an actor or an author is a career that "other people have". That it is a pipe dream, not something normal people can ever achieve. But there are practical steps you can take if you want it enough.