By Guest Columnist LAUREN SAMUELS
Lauren Samuels shot to fame on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC TV talent show Over the Rainbow and became a stage star in a series of hit London West End musicals. Now the actress and singer has moved to Los Angeles to further her showbiz career and is documenting the journey in a new podcast about achieving Hollywood dreams. Here she speaks about why she made the move…and what has brought her here.
“All of us who move to Los Angeles from Britain have a dream – and I’m no exception. Mine is not an unusual one, to succeed as a performer in Hollywood. But it’s an ambition which didn’t find universal enthusiasm back home.
Many people said to me: ‘You’ve already got a great career in the UK, why would you move?’
I see their point, but the fact is I want to do more and show my versatility. In the UK, I was pigeonholed as a musical theatre performer and reality TV personality. I really fought to get myself out of that box to be seen as a serious actress as well, but it was tough.
In America, I think it’s easier to take another path, there’s a lot of respect for British performers and more acceptance of wanting to have your finger in many pies. I always wanted to try L.A. and now I’ve gone for it – and I’m determined to enjoy the journey.
Part of that journey to do new things has seen me host a podcast in which I interview, and learn from, people who have achieved their own Hollywood dreams. It’s called A Brit in LA and starts on May 18, after which new episodes will be available every week wherever you listen to podcasts. The guests I’ve recorded episodes with so far are fascinating, illuminating and so encouraging that I feel totally inspired that no dream is impossible.
They include a few people you may be already familiar with and others you will enjoy getting to know.
My first guest is Kris Lythgoe, the producer responsible for bringing the great British panto – for American readers, those are festive fairytale musicals – to Los Angeles and other US cities. He reveals his own ambition to bring panto to Broadway for the first time, explains how he has been able to recruit big names like Ariana Grande and Neil Patrick Harris to appear in his Pasadena pantomimes and describes launching Panto Camp, an initiative for kids which sounds absolutely brilliant.
The next fascinating figure I got to interview for the show was Gaby Santinelli, a top dialect coach who has helped so many British actors master American accents – something that’s essential for those of us wanting to work here. And the flood of British actors heading to Hollywood is good news for Gaby, who told me: “If only Americans played American parts, I’d be out of a job!”
I experienced a lot of cyberbullying when I was a contestant on British reality show Over the Rainbow and so it was intriguing to interview former Star Trek Deep Space Nine actress Chase Masterson who has formed a coalition of showbiz performers dedicated to using their platform to stamp out that and all other forms of bullying. Devoting an episode to that dark side of fame was really important and hopefully helpful to many listeners.
Also helpful to me was hearing the brand building stories of Angie and Ruth McCartney, Paul McCartney’s LA-based stepmother and stepsister. Still going strong at 92, inspirational Angie is one of Hollywood’s oldest entrepreneurs, running an organic tea business with flavours like Penny Lane Peppermint and Abbey Road Apple.
Each episode ends with a funny chat down the line with my best friend from back home, Noel Sullivan, the former Hear’Say singer who was the Danny to my Sandy when we starred together in the West End musical, Grease. It’s great sharing all these Hollywood adventures with my mate.
I’ve met more wonderful new friends by attending the Brits in LA Pub Quiz each Tuesday at the Market Tavern in the Grove. Witty quizmaster Sandro Monetti does a wonderful job making sure everyone has a great time and I’m thrilled that he’s letting me stand in for him as guest host when Sandro is away at the Cannes Film Festival launching the exciting film he’s directed. If you’re free on May 17, do come along to see me make my trivia hosting debut.
That’s another fun first which has come my way just a few weeks after moving to Los Angeles.
I’m so glad to have made the move, love my new home in the Venice Beach area and am excited by all the possibilities ahead. As I say to listeners at the end of every A Brit in LA podcast, “go for your dreams.” That’s what I’ve done, And I’m loving every minute.
*From May 18 onwards, you can listen to Lauren’s weekly podcast A Brit in LA at www.ABritinLA.fm and all major podcast platforms.
