Cat That Got The Dream - Part 4

Daniel Dresner is an actor and performance coach

What is your dream?

To take my career in acting and coaching forward. In terms of acting I'd love more TV drama and dramatic film and decent west end theatre.

When did the dream first form in your head

On paper I've lead a dream life I guess, living in Japan and America but that happened because someone said, 'why don't you go a live in Tokyo' and I thought, oh that's a good idea, rather than, I've always wanted to do that. My goal was to live a full life so I guess that's why I left the corporate world I came from. It wasn't going to be fulfilling enough and that's what led me to move in to acting. 

I'm always looking to move forward. Like,with my coaching, I did a six month course and I'm doing another starting in January so I'm taking steps to progress. That's why I want a better agent because I want to move forward. Actually, I think my dream is to keep moving forward and to keep growing. Yeah,  that's it. Thanks for that. Cheque's in the post!

What steps have you taken to realise your dream?

I have a meeting this week with a top agent and I know what I want from them. I haven't met anyone new in 6 month so I want the new agent to introduce me to people I've never met before because, well, I've met all the people know already! 

The agency I'm meeting have great talent on their books like people from the Wire. I have to remember to big myself and  think 'I deserve a  great agent' rather than apologising for not having enough credits. I've done a new showreel which I had to put together very quickly because I have a time limit which is this meeting with the new agent. I need to show them a showreel that isn't two years old.

Because I do a lot of acting coaching I'm able to be constantly working on my craft by helping people work on theirs. It's like, the more I say something to somebody and work on how to get a good performance from them, the more it goes into my head. I think, I've got to practice what I preach here.

What would life be like if you hadn't realised your dream?

I was a divisional manager for a big multinational company so I would be a managing director of that company or another company somewhere in  the world. I would be fat. I would be bald and I would be grey and I would probably have a pace maker. If I was married I would definitely be having an affair. I would probably have a couple of kids and I'd probably be an alcoholic. So basically, I'm currently all of  those things except I'm not fat.

What is your advice for people pursuing their dream?

Put your money where your mouth is.There's probably a nicer way of putting it but you've got to back up your words with actions otherwise it's a fantasy not a dream and there's a difference. Also, they should take the plunge more often. You don't have to go from A to B to C. You can go from A to D and take a risk because there's a business adage which is very useful  and that's 'the more risk, the more reward' so take more risks but don't call it a risk. Call it opportunities. Keep your eyes open and make your own luck.

You can find out more about Daniel at www.danieldresner.co.uk