What's My Motivation?

by Michael Simkins (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.25

  It's not all Oscars and ovations. This is a true tale of one man's relentless pursuit of the actor's life. It begins with a boy who nurtured an illicit taste for Gilbert and Sullivan performed in Sussex scout huts, while his friends were, more sensibly, out getting laid and stoned. It is a story of an obsessive who, despite his share of successes, has endured the ritual humiliations of his profession - end-of-the-pier seasons, Christmas panto hell, minimum wages in straight-to-video flops and TV fillers, patently doomed provincial tours with rancid digs, theatre workshop at the sewage works, the challenge of safety training videos and dressing up as a chicken to advertise TV dinners - all in the quest for the elusive perfect role.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $4.14

  As a boy, Michael Simkins always wanted to be someone. While his friends were out getting laid and stoned, he was tucked up at home dreaming of his name in lights, of holding an audience rapt, of perhaps becoming a TV heart-throb, or having someone, anyone, ask for his autograph in the supermarket. This is the true story of an obsessive pursuit of acting fame. It is a life marked by occasional hard-fought successes and routine helpings of ritual humiliation: scout hut Gilbert and Sullivan, dodgy rock operas, sewage farm theatre workshop, Christmas panto hell, straight-to-video film flops, leading roles in Crimewatch reconstructions and dressing up as a chicken to advertise TV dinners. It is a hilarious tale of turgid theatre, tights, trusses and tonsil tennis with Timothy Spall.