Actor Joe McGann visited LIPA on Monday 9th March to give an interview and Q&A session to the students and staff at the Institute. LIPA’s CEO Mark Featherstone-Witty led the hour and a half long, session that took place in the Sennheiser Studio Theatre. He interviewed Joe about his long and varied career that had included him working as a professional musician, songwriter and actor for film, TV, and stage.
Liverpool-born Joe began his career playing in a band with his 3 brothers who are also still in the entertainment industry. Arguably, most well known for his lead role as Charlie Burrows in the 90s TV sitcom The Upper Hand, Joe spoke candidly about how he ‘fell’ into the business and how the art of networking had got him a large amount of his professional work.
Drawing freely upon his memories of his career’s highs and lows, he highlighted how he felt the industry had changed over the last two decades. He was happy to give the acting students in the audience some advice for the future, and explained the importance of being kind to the people you work with. He said: “Learn the names of the people you are working with including the crew because they are more likely to help you out when you need them.”
A relaxed Q&A session that followed the interview developed into a debate which engaged both LIPA staff and students about the future of theatre script writing.