Where are they now? Interview with last year's graduate Rebecca Bugeja

photo by Paige Burnie

We have been inquiring about how our graduating students have been doing; as we all know, to enter the professional acting industry can be a long and difficult process. Today we want to introduce you to Rebecca Bugeja, who graduated from the BA Performing Arts course at Bucks New University in 2014. She is telling us how life has been for her since leaving Uni, and how she is starting to make her mark as actress and performer. Read the full interview below! Well done, Rebecca, we hope it will continue to go well for you!
Read the full interview by clicking the link below:

Hello Rebecca. How has life after Uni been treating you?

Since graduating from Uni, I have moved back home to Newport. I have tried to keep involved with performing and have been involved with a few audience interactive Murder Mystery events and also teach children performing arts. Alongside that, I focused mainly on earning money and getting jobs that help me save up enough to move to London, so have worked as usher in a local theatre and as a checkout operator/sales assistant in Asda Living.

Rebecca's third year Advanced Productions project.
photo by Hannah Phillips

Any exciting projects for the future?

Yes, I have been having a few auditions lately and have been accepted for two exciting opportunities. First, I am going to be performing in a new play by Bob Rodgers called Trevor’s House. Bob has previously written for the BBC and his play has been selected for the Playmakers Festival 2015. We will be performing at the Tabard Theatre in London on the 3^rd and 4^th April.

I also had an audition for the TopTalent Agency, and was accepted, so they will be representing me for film, theatre and TV work and more commercial projects. They used to represent mainly Children actors and models, but have branched out to represent adults as well, which they are currently expanding due to it being so successful.

How did you come to study at Bucks New University?

Well, interestingly, Bucks was actually one of my last choices; I wanted to study dance more than acting and was accepted to the Italia Conti academy of theatre arts. They didn’t offer any scholarship and I couldn’t raise the funds. But when it came to choosing a university, Bucks stood out very strongly and the performing arts course really appealed, as it seemed very diverse. I was accepted at both the dance and the performing arts course, but as I wanted to also further my acting skills, I choose the performing arts course in the end.

Looking back at University, what did you enjoy the most?

A performance with Dread Falls Theatre company

There are so many things that were enjoyable, I can’t just choose one. I really enjoyed the Advanced Productions in the third year, where we formed our own companies, that was great. I also really enjoyed the skills strand, where we worked with Rajii and Andrea and Niall and covered different subjects such as monologues and acting for camera. Also, stage combat was such a fun, useful experience which I wish we had practiced more in. I also found Arts Policy really interesting, although I did not expect it. I learned some really useful things from that.

And what did you enjoy the least?

 Well, I guess, like any student, the deadlines and the stress that come with them were not so enjoyable, as much as the essays were hard. But really, I had such a good time I can’t really say what else I did not enjoy.

photo by Amy Dickson

Any advise for our graduating students?

I would say just keep at it, try to stay involved with the theatre world as much as you possibly can, and get as much experiences as possible. It is going to be hard, and there are many practical issues that will face you such as earning a living, having to move back home, getting jobs . . . but just stick with it and don’t give up.