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Bryce Saxon, a senior theater major with a focus in acting, has a named-character role in the pilot of a new TV show called "Conrad."
Saxon has wanted to be an actor since she watched her older brother perform in his high school musical, “Footloose.”
She attended every dress rehearsal and performance and enjoyed the energy that came from the performance.
“I was so hyped and excited about it,” she said. “I thought, ‘I want to have this much fun for the rest of my life.’”
She never expected that experience would lead her to land a job before she even graduated college.
“It’s an interesting thing because as an actor you jump on anything that’s going to get your name out there,” Saxon said. “You work on these sets and you think, ‘what’s really going to come out of this?’ You hear it all the time — it’s not about how good you are; it’s about who you know, and it stinks but that’s how it is.”
"Conrad," is a crime investigation series based in Chicago, close to Saxon’s hometown of Schaumburg, Illinois. The crew is currently shooting the pilot and first three episodes, according to their Facebook page.
Saxon got the part in “Conrad” after posting a boxing video on Instagram. She had been doing what she calls “backting,” where she was an extra and all the audience could see was her back. However, these roles as an extra allowed her to network with other actors.
“One of my friends I had networked with saw the video and said ‘you’re a pretty awesome boxer, would you want to audition for this TV show?’” Saxon said. “I read some sides, which are pieces of the script, in a video and sent it in.”
In the show, Saxon will be the title character’s best friend, a school teacher named Emily Hodge. She describes her character as “single and ready to mingle, but also very supportive and ready to listen to [the title character].”
One of Saxon’s favorite parts of acting is meeting different people.
“It’s pretty exciting meeting people from all around the world and working together,” she said.
Through her experience working in both film and live theater, Saxon notices the biggest differences come with the pace of each. Working in film seems easier because the pace is faster, she said.
“Live theater is so much deeper,” she said. “You spend months diving into the characters. Not like film can’t be deep, too, but you usually only have one rehearsal, and then you do the shoot and that’s it. You don’t have time to go back and question yourself.”
Because she has one more semester left, Saxon is working closely with her professors to figure out when she has to miss class.
Seniors in the theater department are allotted a couple days off for auditions, so she will be taking advantage of those days when working on “Conrad.”
“The theater professors are understanding, especially in your senior year,” Saxon said. “I’m also a business management minor, so I’ll have to speak with them, too, about why I’ll be gone certain days.”
Through her education, Saxon has learned how theater can impact the world, and how it’s all around. She hopes to impact her audience and broaden horizons.
“If one person sees something in a different way because of the show and tells another person who tells another, then my job is done,” Saxon said.
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