Perks

Last Thursday at school I had one of the best days of my career (possibly my life) so far.  I wish I could say that what it involved was something related to teaching but, I will say, unashamedly that it was not.  Yesterday I was given the opportunity to meet someone who I have been the BIGGEST fan of for almost TWENTY years. My god just saying that gives me five new grey hairs. But not only did I get to meet him, I also got to kiss him hello (only on the cheek, much to my disappointment), chat to him informally for about ten minutes but most excitingly of all, I got to INTERVIEW him on stage in front of 300 of my students and all of my colleagues.  To say I have been beaming for a solid 24 hours would be the understatement of the year. I’ll give you some context. The college that I work at is exceptionally industry focused and one with a big push on industry involvement, professional mentors, relevant work experience, you get the picture. And one of the brilliant perks is that we have weekly industry masterclasses with a whole host of incredibly creative people. From A&R managers in major record labels, to greatly esteemed film directors and influential games designers and even on the odd occasion a really great celebrity. We’ve had the global music director of YouTube, Lyor Cohen in for a visit.  The founders of Working Title films Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have given us some words of wisdom. Even Rita Ora paid us a visit. The point is, we have some great people in and it’s a real bonus to the job. Yesterday, bonus doesn’t even begin to cover it. For approximately twenty years I have followed the career of Ashley Walters - from his early days as an MC in the OGs So Solid Crew, to stage actor starring in plays at the National and Royal Court, to his numerous roles in film and TV. Currently he is one of the most talked about faces of British film and television in his role of Dushane, the star of the highly esteemed Netflix show, Top Boy.  When I was asked to interview him a few weeks ago I knew instantly that I would be able to do a good job. Not to sound like a big head but when you know the life and career (and I won’t even pretend - his inside leg measurement) as well as I do, it’s pretty easy to plan some fire questions that would hopefully elicit some really engaging and valuable responses. All good right? Well what I didn’t account for was just how good he would look in real life. Nonetheless, I tried my best to stay as unflustered as possible during the morning leading up to the interview. I got up at 5am (as you do) to wash my hair, put my face on, pack my change of clothes, generally calm my butterflies. All was going well until I reached my first hurdle - the rain.  Of all the days for it, some kind of micro climate had developed in between me boarding my train in West London to stepping out in East London. It was basically gale force winds with the added disadvantage of what can only be described as biblical rain and as sturdy as my investment piece Moschino umbrella is, it didn’t stand a chance - before I could even make it to the front gate of school it was inside out - ideal. And my hair! Think Helena Bonham Carter post day of filming in her husband’s most recent flick. But I didn’t let that stop me - I made it into the building in one piece. Hurdle one accomplished. Next was how I could avoid being seen in my commuting outfit - just to be clear there wasn’t anything wrong with this look, I just didn’t want anyone to see my vanity of having an outfit change for a school interview- I mean who do I think I am, Oprah Winfrey? Anyway I managed a sly toilet change without being spotted. Or so I thought, until moments before Asher D joined me on stage when one of my favourite Year 13s decided it would be an appropriate moment to start heckling me from the audience about my brand new boxfresh creps that I had obviously “saved for Ashley” - brilliant.  If I wasn’t worried about blushing when I met him that would have fixed it pretty sharp. I managed to laugh it off and continue to calm my nerves but my excitement was growing pretty rapidly. My last hurdle was actually managing to meet him and greet him without tripping up, blurting out something mortifying or turning into a living, breathing tomato. To be totally honest, I owned it - I bowled straight up to him and went straight in for the hug and double kiss. Delicious. And I managed it without blushing and then luxuriated in 45 glorious minutes of sitting inches from him on stage, engrossed in brilliant conversation where he was funny, articulate, intelligent and engaging. It was honestly one of the most valuable masterclasses that the school has had and a day that I will remember forever.