Emma Stafford is one of the north's most loved casting directors.

Equally at home casting TV drama and commercials, her portfolio is diverse.

Emma has cast a whopping SEVEN series of 4 O'Clock Club for the BBC, she was responsible for Sky One's Stella, starring Ruth Jones, and casts both national and international commercials on a regular basis.

Operating from the perspective that the role always finds the right actor, I had to get Emma on a podcast, to find out more!

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With 23 accolades to his name, including multiple 'Best Actor' gongs at The British Soap Awards, Danny Miller is without a doubt, one of the country's biggest TV talents.

He's played Emmerdale's Aaron Dingle for over a decade, has guested in some HUGE TV dramas, and to most actors trying to break into the industry, would appear to have it all.

But has this success come about struggle free? Does a regular job in serial drama really make you happy? And how do you keep on...

In my opinion, director Chris Stone is the UK's premier showreel producer.

I've worked with Chris a lot over the years.

I've shot custom showreel scenes with him, starred in webseries he's created, he's the only guy I'll let edit my reel, and we've teamed up on multiple occasions, to put out content that helps actors understand the very best practices in showreel creation.

One thing we hadn't done... until now... was distill these best practices down, into an easily...

Director, Phil Beastall took over Christmas 2018, with a short film titled, Love Is A Gift - you can watch it below.

I saw it on Facebook, cried, and felt COMPELLED to share it with my friends. 3 weeks later, that video had racked up 8 MILLION views, and Phil was all over morning TV.

Was it luck? Could Phil do it again - had he discovered a formula for viral video? Or... was it hard work, patience, and a twist of fate that created the perfect storm?

I invited Phil to record this...

Alex Priestley is one of the new-breed of acting agents - embracing the technical demands of an ever-evolving industry, and dedicated to nurturing the talent of the 'best of the north'.

Based in Manchester, Alex headed up the actors' division at local agency, PHA, for almost a decade.

She decided to go it alone in 2018, and set up her own agency, Alex Priestley Talent - where she now represents almost 50 super-talented actors, working across top TV drama, comedy and theatre.

I...

Phil Barantini's story is fascinating.

At just 17 years old, he was plucked from obscurity, to star in Sky One's smash hit Dream Team, as Harchester United's striker, Billy O'Neil.

The success of that show led to an audition for Stephen Spielberg's Band Of Brothers - a job that would change Phil's life forever - but in ways you would never expect.

With the world at his feet, Phil got caught up in a cycle of alcohol and substance abuse, that would have disastrous consequences for his...

I met Asan N'Jie in May of 2018, whilst working on an episode of BBC's Casualty.

One thing INSTANTLY struck me about this guy... his mindset and mental-game was STRONG - I knew Asan was one of life's winners.

During our week of filming, I discovered that Asan had experienced more than his fair share of adversity too, which made his mindset even more remarkable.

5 months later, he landed the regular role of Ellis Chapman in Emmerdale.

I had to invite him round to record a podcast, to tell...

Famed for playing Hayley Cropper - one of Coronation Street's most iconic characters - it looked like actress, Julie Hesmondhalgh was set for life.

Little did she know, however, that one theatre production was set to change EVERYTHING - awakening an actor within her, whom she thought she'd lost forever.

In 2014, fuelled by this new found actor within, Julie waved goodbye to the cobbles, embarking on the most uncertain journey of her acting career so far.

It was a gamble that...

Nic Phillips has been a TV director for almost 40 years - and in that time he's directed some iconic shows!

Everything from Grange Hill to Casualty, The Bill, Birds Of A Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart, My Family, and EastEnders.

As I type this, Nic is over on the cobbles, directing Coronation Street.

I know LOTS of actors in the Act On This community, are currently looking for guest roles in shows like Coronation Street and EastEnders - so I couldn't think of anyone better to sit down...

One of my main goals with Act On This, is to give you access to as many reputable, legitimate, industry professionals as possible - and agent Guy Howe, from WGM Talent, has been on my list of guests for many years now.

Guy established the dual-based (Manchester/ London) acting agency WGM Talent in 2014, and has since grown it into one of the most innovative agencies in the industry.

I dropped by MediaCityUK, where Guy's Manchester office is based, for a coffee-fueled chat on all things...