My Gurus

Peter Mimms
My first venture into theatre was when my best friend and I roller-skated our way into our local village hall where a room brimming with people of the older persuasion were sitting in a circle reading a play. I was totally sucked in to the magic of it all and although they looked like a bunch of crusty old people to a 13-year-old, they were headed by a true gentleman. Peter Mimms approached the rehearsals with such professionalism and creativity that has stuck with me my whole career. His drive to ensure the running of the show was smooth – one might say regimented – has instilled me with the desire to take care of the details even now. I stayed with him and the group for 10 years until they all bullied me in to taking it up professionally. He taught me how to entertain, not how to show off. He never knew I got in to drama school, as he died of a brain tumour a few months before, but his ideas are with me to this day.