SAC Actress and super awesome human Rebecca Montalti is working with the amazing Nash Edgerton and Scott Ryan. Hear her story on what inspires her and why she chose SAC to further her training.
Why do you choose to be an actor?
Because it’s a really consistant, reliable career that always pays the bills. Ha. Naahhh I literally am incapable of doing anything else; terrible with computers, dangerous with a hammer and have really average latte art skills. Right, I’ll stop being an ass now…
I do it because I fucking love it. It’s my way of expressing myself and an attempt to understand human beings from all walks of life and work out why we are the way we are.
Also, I’ve loved telling stories since I was a kid. My favourite memories from growing up are of my sister and I putting on shows for the whole family (they didn’t have a choice they HAD to watch us – sorry Papa). I figure if I have a chance at being a child for as long as possible; playing, laughing and not taking all this too seriously, then that seems like a pretty good life and career choice for me.
Why did you choose to do acting classes?
We all know auditions and acting opportunities in Sydney can at times be few and far between. It can leave you feeling like you’re not an actor at all and you’re just at home twiddling your thumbs wondering why you chose this path. Classes for me are a way to shake that, to keep that fire burning and the creative juices flowing.
Also, I feel like with acting some of the time you can rely on natural talent, but if you sit in that comfortability you’ll never be challenged and grow. And like anything if you’re not doing it consistently you’ll just become like cardboard. You have to constantly work your muscles if you want them to grow, you have to constantly learn to breathe if you want to be in flow, you have to do classes at SAC to be a better actor, so fucking go. lol.
You’ve got to immerse yourself in your craft, and be prepared to take all of it, the good and bad. The rejection and the wins. For me, I relate my surfing to acting all the time. No matter how many times you fall off or get dumped, you have to keep jumping back on your board, even if it scares the shit out of you – because the feeling you get when you overcome that fear and ride the wave is incredible. They say the best surfer is not the one with amazing ability but the one having the most fun, and I feel that’s true for acting as well. One day I can have the best surf of my life, fully be in flow and then the next day be absolute dog shit. But both surfs are equally important. You learn every time you get in the water. So dive in, do a class, even if you feel dog shit you’re still learning and growing not just as an actor but as a person.
How has working with SAC helped you become a better actor?
On a basic level SAC helped me smash out scripts really fast, gave me something to work on every week and a bit more structure, otherwise I’d happily float around procrastinating and not learning scripts for myself at home. It gives you that added pressure of a deadline that so many of us creatives need and thrive off. It’s also nice to be part of a community, learning together in a room without judgment. But the main thing SAC helped me do is shed all my bullshit and old habits that were getting in the way of moving forward. The teachers at SAC showed me that what I need to be an actor is already within me, I just needed to learn how to push aside the shit that wasn’t serving me to access it. They taught me to be an unapologetic juicy little monster. To show up, to fuck it up, to play, to stop saying ‘sorry’, and to like myself. So for that, thank you thank you thank you SAC teachers, you bloody legends!
What do you feel the future holds for you?
I have no idea. I guess I’m trying to focus on the old ‘one step at a time’, being present thing. I want to keep learning, changing and growing but the only way that’ll work is if I take it day by day, and keep showing up. I’m a firm believer that if you stick to something and keep putting it out there long enough it has to pay off eventually. But the way you perceive that ‘pay off’ is completely up to you; your wins might be considered littler than someone else’s and that’s okay, they’re yours, fucking own them! As long as you keep moving forward, keep feeling juicy and ready for anything, you can’t go wrong.
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