When did you decide you wanted to be a performer?

 

Luisa: I think being a twin you just get very used to being the centre of attention, a lot of the time growing up. We were very extrovert, we were very energetic and we were like two little jumping beans! We enjoyed performing, we enjoyed singing and liked putting our energy into something where we got appreciation at the end of it. As I grew up, I just always did it at school, it was the best part of Secondary School; performing and being in musicals. I grew up watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Mary Poppins. I thought I’ll do acting as a hobby. When I hit secondary school and I formulated my own opinions, I kind of just thought, I’m just going to just study drama, even if it’s insecure as a career.

 

You studied for a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. You then went on to studying for your Master’s degree in Musical Theatre at The Central School of Speech and Drama. Please describe your experiences in each of these educational establishments and tell us how did a university education in theatre compare and contrast with a drama school education?

 

Luisa: The university course was less practical, it had a practical element but everything you did practically was reinforced by theory. Whenever I did something practically, I’d have to write an essay, I’d have to justify it in terms of the things I’d read about it. Additionally if I was studying a certain practitioner, once I’d studied that and done my thesis or done an essay on that practitioner, then I’d back it up with a physical performance.

 

When I did my Musical Theatre degree, I did it because I wanted a more practical based study. I was rebelling a little against essay work, but being a Masters degree, I still had to write the odd few. Actually because it was something I was enthralled by, writing the essays almost became cathartic and welcomed. I found it was more of a 70 (practical): 30 (theory) ratio, whereas at Royal Holloway it was 50:50. At The Central School of Speech and Drama we did singing lessons, dance lessons, we did exploration of the body. We also performed in shows/showcases that we could invite agents and casting directors to.

 

One of your many specialisms is stage and screen combat. What was the training that you undertook like?

 

Luisa: I believe I did something through Camden when I was 15 years old where they had a day of stage fighting and that got me into it. Doing stage rolls, fake punches, hair pulls, with a qualified fight director was thrilling. Knowing I wanted to be an actor anyway and then saying ‘oh my gosh I can do fights on stage! Oh Jackie Chan Sweet Jesus!’ At the age of 16 I saw there was a course at City Lit for stage fighting and during my summer holidays I did it and I had a ball! I took to it like a duck to water. I’d use it as part of my school plays because I’d got so proficient at it. I was at a point where I could advise on it but not fight direct; I wasn’t insured or trained in that capacity. So I was put down as a fight captain or a fight lead and I would advise and we’d do it in slow motion.

 

I want to be an actor who does their own stunts, so I keep my physicality fresh. What I do find is, being a girl, and not a model, I’m not of any average height, I’m not a commercial casting; my stage fighting sets me apart because it’s new and it’s weird. In terms of the commercial market, when they’re looking for women that can fight, it’s usually to play the siren or the romantic lead and they want aesthetically alluring people for that. And I get it, the film industry is a market. I’ve made the fighting work for me. I’m 4ft 9in; I don’t have model looks; I had thought maybe I should use all my skills where my looks are not that important and actually my talent can shine through, and that’s where I’ve found wonderful opportunities and work in motion capture.

 

You have worked with world-renowned circus entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, tell us about your experience working with them.

 

Luisa: I’ve auditioned for them which is a process in itself. To get into a Cirque du Soleil show you need to be on their database. They audition internationally and it’s not often and highly competitive. When they were casting in London I jumped at the chance. I was going for the physical comedy performer’s bracket. You have to write to them first and send them your submission with a video audition to even get considered for the audition day. The video requested had to show an introduction, a one minute acted piece with no words and twelve different characters entering and exiting the scene. I only had one day to get this video off to them as I was teaching Commedia dell'arte in Venice when I saw the audition casting. Literally within two hours of sending it off, I had an email from Cirque du Soleil saying “we would like to invite you to an audition.” On the day of my audition they were seeing fifty people. After five rounds of physical exercises we were down to three. They said “you’re in, we’ll give you certificates” and it was mind blowing! I’m one of an exclusive number of people around the world on their database. They only ever cast through their database. They did say it could be a year to eight years before they call me in.

 

Who have been some your sources of inspiration during your career and in what ways have they inspired you?

 

Luisa: Without a shadow of a doubt and tragically, Robin Williams. He’s one of those people that just invested every facet of his emotional spectrum from complete insanity in terms of happiness to bone crushing tragic despair. He just went; these are my emotions, do what you want with them. Imelda Staunton’s another one, she seems to be able to do anything. When she’s being grotesque, she just doesn’t care. She just goes, I’m being grotesque, my character calls for it, read it and weep! Julie Walters, Peter Polycarpou, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Celia Imrie, Danny DeVito; actors who take risks in their work! They’re the ones I truly aspire to be like.

 

What have been some of the most gratifying moments of your career to date?

 

Luisa: Making children laugh is an amazing sound. I was dressed as a pigeon doing a show in America and hearing 2000 children all laugh, that will never leave me! Working on Assassin’s Creed, that was great. Cirque du Soleil was extremely memorable. Working at The National is always a huge honour for an actor.

 

What do you feel could be done to support budding actors and performance artists in the United Kingdom?

 

Luisa: Stop all this stupid talk about scrapping the GCSE Drama. There’s so much that drama offers a person in terms of making them an all rounded human being and not scared to talk in front of other people, than there is in just getting on stage and pretending to be Fagin from Oliver! There’s a very one rounded view that people have of drama, that it’s this very light, non-academic course that doesn’t involve thinking, it’s there as a token, it’s a fun thing. But it’s extremely academic in a sense whereby you’re using your brain to think philosophically but you’re also thinking like a psychologist, an anatomist, a councillor. You also need an analytical and creative fusion in your approach to character work. We use drama in many ways; in protests, in politics, in finance, therapy, in selling and in advertising. It’s useful in all factors of our lives, not just performance / acting. Also having more philanthropist’s to help people make their own work would be great. It needs to be made easier for people in the arts, give them grants and incentives to make new work. Also train people how to see themselves not only as actors but as a business. If they don’t see themselves as a business, sometimes they give up because they don’t know how to market themselves!

 

Tell us about your upcoming projects and what is next for Luisa Guerreiro?

 

Luisa: Luisa will be doing Puppetry Research and Development two weeks before Christmas. It’s a musical version of a Midsummer Night’s Dream with puppets for children of 3 years and up. There’s a possibility it will tour next year. I’m singing as usual at the Phoenix Artist Club. I’ve got a short film coming up in which I’m playing a lawyer, which was in association with RADA. Also two feature films next year. One I will be assisting with the combat and helping with the basic stunts, it’s called The Divider . And the other one which I will be in is called Londinium playing a conflicted psychiatrist to a police officer. And a short film I’m in called How to be a Villain comes out in January. That was an amazing film to be part of! 

 

To find out more about Luisa Guerreiro visit her website