Saturday 21 March 2015

BOBBY: HOW I GOT TO BE COCO!

Bobby, the talented winner of our 'Could You Be Coco' comp tells us all about how she landed the CCTV role…

Bobby says:
It's been almost two years now since I landed the role of Coco for CCTV - but it doesn't seem that long ago at all! It came about by pure chance, really. My sisters and mum had been to one of Cathy's talks where she mentioned the comp to find someone to play Coco. I wanted to try out as I'd read and loved Cathy's books, but never expected I'd get anywhere. I sent in my video audition and couldn't believe it when I got a call saying I was a finalist. I had to go to London for a final audition with other hopefuls, and I met Cathy and some of the Puffin team. Imagine my shock and excitement when I got a call to say I had the part!

When you're playing a character you have to stop thinking like you and start thinking like them; consider what your character would do in any situation… how would they react? Coco is such a bubbly, excitable character with very strong opinions. It was fun getting into her head and making sense of the world from her perspective!

Talking with a camera in your face and people standing around watching you can be really off-putting… it is very different from performing in a theatre! It was much harder than I'd expected and I'd never done anything like it before. It suddenly became a lot harder for me to let the character of Coco shine out… but after a few practice runs I managed to get into it and I let Coco take over. In my mind, she has so many thoughts and things to say that race around her head; being the youngest sister her opinion isn't always taken seriously so she does enjoy a good rant now and then! Acting was relatively new to me, but I was determined to give this a go and put myself out of my comfort zone. If you never try anything new, life would be pretty dull, right?

Becoming Coco was an amazing experience for me and a great learning curve as a young actress. I still often find myself thinking 'What would Coco do?' Why don't you guys try it too? Think of your favourite CC character and put yourself in their shoes for a day… you might really enjoy it! Whatever happens, take every opportunity that comes your way… you never know where it could lead you!

Keep on being fabulous… see you later!

Check out some of the fab CCTV episodes here… http://www.cathycassidy.com/cathycassidytv

Cathy says:
Brilliant! It's awesome to hear about Bobby's experiences of playing Coco on CCTV! Which CC character would YOU most like to play? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

3 comments:

  1. I would love to play skye she is a creative and thoughtful character oh and I also act!! I am very passionate about acting :) but I suppose it would be different on camera than on stage what with people yelling cut! all the time!!bobby, well done on playing coco your very good and put sooo much energy into her, exactly like coco!! what a great actress you are!! :)

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  2. Unfortunately for me, there's no CC character that looks like me plus I'm quite a bit older although it's only been two years since I was last mistaken for a 12 year old. If we're just focusing on the acting and not any physical resemblance, I'd do well with Paul and Joey. Maybe Scarlett or Finn. Very different characters, I know but I think I could manage all of them. It would be fun to play Scarlett - the screaming and shouting would certainly let off some steam! I think I could portray Finn's calm outlook and Joey's bold confidence but Paul is the one who'd be easiest to play simply because he's like a 13 year old me. Albeit with some differences. But we share many traits. We obviously both love kittens. We're both Scottish. We have the same coloured eyes (I think my eyes are green but other people think my eyes are blue so that's pretty much turquoise, right?). We both have this habit of tugging our sleeves down over our hands. We both like spending time alone and if there was a beach outside my house, you can guarantee that's where I'd go to be alone. We both own sketchbooks although mine are filled with half finished sketches and doodles, not well-thought out comics. We both draw cat/human hybrids. We both got bullied although thankfully, no one ever threw my stuff down a stairwell or covered me in jam, make up and perfume. I can make my eyes look really empty and far away which I think would be brilliant for Paul. My drama teacher said I show vulnerability so the audience can empathise with me which is cool. So, yeah, Paul would be easy-peasy for me to play.

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  3. I think I could play Skye because I can connect to her and her situation and I find we're both really alike! We both have blonde hair, we both love vintage and I often like being different and unique yet not always in the spotlight, and I get along with almost everybody I meet. I think I could also play Summer as I love dancing but I do some other sports and I think I could get into character with Summer because I'm also like Summer as well. But Skye I think I'm more alike as I also like daydreaming and going into my own world :)

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