Anna Cannings - London-based actor, who is blind.

 

• Lead actor (travel agent) in the COI TV commercial, High Life.
• Guest lead (Jill Barlow), in the ITV comedy drama, William and Mary.
• Guest supporting actor (Tessa Richards) in the BBC medical drama, Bodies.
• Dance theatre performer for Two Lives, performed at Siobhan Davies Dance studios, London.
• Has undertaken numerous corporate acting roles for conference presentations, training DVDs and
  role play scenarios.

 

Click here for my full media CV.

Click here for my show reel.

 

Member of Equity and The Actors Centre, London.

Spotlight view PIN: 1419-8974-9432. Click here to go to my Spotlight page.

 

Brief Description of physical appearance:

Playing Age: 20-30, Blind since birth, Fair, 5 ft 3 inches, 7 stone 7 lbs, Dress: 8, Shoe: 5

 

I have been working professionally as an actor since 2003, and have been hugely privileged to work with some exceptionally talented and inspiring actors and directors, including actors Julie Graham, Max Beesley and Patrick Baladi and directors Matthew Evans and Jed Mercurio.

 

Although not a formally trained actor, my media experience began at the young age of nine, with the making of the RNIB video, Anna’s story. Filmed by The Moving Picture Company over two very full but fun days, this fourteen-minute documentary told a “day in the life of” story of my experience of mainstream education and day-to-day life. My input into media projects continued regularly throughout my school years, with numerous filming days for TV news programmes and documentaries, as well as magazine interviews and photo shoots. After leaving school, I initially began working as a voice artist, later embarking on modelling and acting – my career has just sort of evolved.

 

Finally realising that my acting career was something more than “just a fluke”, (which is how I viewed it in the early days), and with a growing desire to extend the scope of my performance career further, into stage acting and singing, I decided it was time to back up my growing experience with some formal professional training.

 

So 2006 saw me taking one-to-one singing tuition at The Actors Centre with Bruce Webb, studying how to learn accents and dialects with voice coach Elspeth Morrison, attending a two-day comedy workshop with director Gordon Anderson, and beginning my dance tuition with dance teacher, dancer and choreographer, Tim Taylor. A hectic and somewhat scary year, but one of great self-discovery and development for me, both personally and professionally.

 

Since then, I have embarked on dance theatre work and have also added corporate acting into the mix, so my repertoire of skills is always growing.

 

I am represented for my acting work by VisABLE People, a National agency representing professional actors and models with disabilities. Although it is a specialist agency, set up to help the media industry find a minority group of performers more easily, and to provide management specifically for disabled artists, the agency believes very strongly in inclusive and creative casting, (as do I), as well as in the more obvious casting of disabled actors wherever possible, i.e. a blind actor playing the part of a blind character.

 

For further information about the agency, or to arrange to meet me for a casting, please contact Louise Dyson at VisABLE People.

 

Telephone 01905 77 66 31, or email louise@visablepeople.com

 

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