Heather Agyepong: 'Find mentors in your area of work'

My first professional theatre job was Girls, written by Theresa Ikoko for Talawa Theatre company. I had made a beeline for Talawa the year before – in fact, as soon as I found out they existed. I just followed everything they did and got on to their Young People’s programme at the time, which was called TYPT. I don’t know if it was an open audition for Girls, but somehow, I heard about it and researched the hell out of that script.

In my visual art career, which had taken off before my acting, I knew that I needed mentors and organisations I aligned with. So I did the same thing when it came to setting out on my acting career. Talawa felt like home and the people there at the time very much became my acting family who helped nurture me and grow in confidence. I definitely think they helped to advocate for me to step into roles such as Girls.

At the audition, I felt as though I had nothing to lose so I was really relaxed. I just wanted to do a good audition because I truly believed I could do the job. When I got the part, that’s when the fear kicked in, but the Talawa team, particularly Mimi Findlay, was a rock. Looking back on it now, I don’t think there is anything I would have done differently except that maybe I would have been a bit more compassionate to myself.

As a multidisciplinary artist, the advice I would give somebody starting out now – in whatever or however many disciplines – is to find mentors in your own areas of work. That could be a person or an organisation or a community but, whoever that is for you, they can really help sustain and nourish you on this wild journey of being an artist.

CV Heather Agyepong

Age Undisclosed
Training Part-time drama schools
Theatre includes Shifters (Bush Theatre; School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); Celebrated Virgins (Theatr Clwyd); The Body Remembers (Battersea Arts Centre); Noughts and Crosses (UK tour); Girls (Soho Theatre); So Many Reasons and Best Friends (Ovalhouse); Hatch (Hackney Showrooms); Jagged Edge (Acrylick)
Film and TV includes The Power (Amazon); This is Going to Hurt and Enterprice (BBC), Joy (film) and Sylvia (film)
Other credits Photography at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize
Agent United Agents