Simon Kunz has been working continuously in British theatre and screen since the early 1980s — without ever going to drama school. Four Weddings and a Funeral, GoldenEye, Captain America, The Last Kingdom. Here is what he told Ukrainian actors about rhythm, confidence, being seen, and why you have to consume the work before the work will consume you.
"You have to love it. Not quite like it — love it. It's got to consume you."
Simon Kunz grew up with music in his blood — his grandfather was Charlie Kunz, one of Britain's most famous popular pianists, a household name in the UK from the 1930s through the 1950s. Simon became a drummer, was in bands at university in the early 1980s, and could have gone that way.
He chose acting instead — not because he was certain, but because he was honest with himself about which thing he was better at.
"I'm an alright drummer. But I think I can act better than I can drum. So."
— Simon KunzWhat he took from drumming — and still talks about as central to everything he does — is rhythm. Not as a metaphor, but as a practical tool. Good writing has good rhythm. Comedy is entirely about rhythm. Dramatic scenes hit harder when the timing is right. The relationship between music and acting never left him.
He did not go to drama school. He did a Theatre Studies degree at the University of Warwick — academic, not vocational, focused on history and practitioners. He learned how a theatre building works, lit shows, built sets, made costumes, directed, acted. Then he formed his own theatre company, got seen, got his Equity card as an understudy on a touring production, and built from there.
This session took place on 19 March 2026 — which Simon noticed, mid-conversation, was exactly six years to the day since theatres closed for COVID on 19 March 2020. That morning had been his first rehearsal day back on stage in six years. A Euripides play — Iphigenia at Aulis — with Simon playing Agamemnon.
Simon has done both throughout his career — theatre at the National, Bristol Old Vic and small fringe stages; screen across decades of film and TV. His view on the relationship between the two is one of the richest parts of this conversation.
"Theatre is petrol. It feeds you. It's like going to the gym. And it gets you seen."
— Simon KunzTheatre builds a particular kind of confidence — not personal confidence, but confidence in the work. The confidence to sell a character to a room of strangers every single night, whether or not you feel ready.
Theatre gives you weeks to explore. Film rarely gives you more than the morning. The flip side: that first fresh take on film can be magical in a way a well-rehearsed stage moment can never quite replicate.
On stage, your whole body is visible to the audience from all angles. On camera, the director decides what they see. Being aware of which space you're in, and working with it rather than against it, is fundamental.
In film, when you find a great spontaneous moment it's in the can forever. In theatre, you have to try to find that electric moment again every night — which is the hardest and most beautiful thing about it.
He is clear that the transition between stage and screen is not as difficult as people think. The technical adjustments — working within the frame, understanding how close or far the camera is — are common sense once you know about them. The deeper skill transfers directly.
Simon was refreshingly honest here: as a British actor who has always worked in Britain, he doesn't fully know what it's like from the outside. But he knows the fundamental mechanics — and they're the same for everyone.
"You might be the best actor in the world — but if you're not seen, who gives a damn? Nobody is going to come and find you."
— Simon KunzThe British industry is centred on London. That's where the majority of castings, agents, and productions are based. His partner Caroline has just finished a run at the National Theatre in a play called The Land of the Living, which included several Ukrainian actresses now based in the UK — proof that it is being done, and being done successfully.
The classic problem: it's hard to get an agent without credits, and hard to get credits without an agent. Simon's path — forming his own theatre company, touring festivals, getting seen in fringe theatres, being picked up by an agent who came to see a show — is still valid, and still the most reliable route.
A play. Even a very small one. Even unpaid. The point is to be in front of people who matter. Write to casting directors and agents and invite them. Most will say no. Some won't.
If you can't get professional credits yet, make pieces specifically for the reel. Get it in front of agents and casting directors. A good reel from an unknown production outweighs a bad clip from a famous one.
Simon got his first agent from a fringe production. Good agents actively scout small theatres looking for talent. The Barbican and the National weren't the entry point. The fringe was.
If you go to a top UK drama school, agents and casting directors attend the end-of-year showcase. It is one of the most direct paths into representation. Not the only one, but the most structured.
Simon describes himself as someone who works from the text outward — from the word, to the meaning, to the rhythm, and eventually to the emotion and the body. This is the reverse of some approaches, and he's clear it's not the only way. But it's his way, shaped by his love of poetry and language.
If it's historical, read around it — Chaucer for a 14th century peasant revolt, Euripides in translation for Greek tragedy. If it's a junkie in modern Kyiv, find out what that life actually looks like. Steep yourself in the world before you think about the character.
Learn lines by walking. Movement helps them settle in the body, not just the head. Lie in the bath with the script. Cook dinner with the script. The goal is to forget you've learned them — so they're just there, automatic, and you can be alive in the scene instead of thinking about words.
Good writing has good rhythm. Simon reads and re-reads text looking for it — where the pulse is, where to land a word, where the pause does the work. This is where his musical background comes in most directly.
Costume matters to him. He thinks about it early. And he walks around as the character — physically inhabiting their posture before he's ever in the rehearsal room. Agamemnon doesn't slump. So he stops slumping on his walk through the park.
What does this character share with how you actually are? Where do you need to add something, or take something away? The overlap is where your strength is. The gap is where the creative work happens.
You arrive with what you think are good ideas. The director has other ideas. The other actors have different rhythms. Half your preparation gets thrown out in the rehearsal room. That's not failure — that's collaboration. Stay open to it.
"Acting is problem solving. You've got a scene to perform. That's your problem. Solve it."
— Simon KunzOne of the most useful reframes in the entire session. Simon described the shift in thinking that transformed how he approached auditions — from going in desperate and frightened, to going in as an equal.
"They have a problem. Their problem is they have a part that needs filling. You are their solution. Go in and offer them that."
— Simon KunzThis isn't arrogance. It's a practical recalibration of the power dynamic. Once you stop thinking "I need this job" and start thinking "they need someone for this role, and I might be that person," the conversation in the room becomes easier. You can ask them questions. You can be curious about what they're making. You stop being a frightened actor and start being a professional.
They're not there to grill you. They're looking for someone to solve their casting problem. Ask what they've been working on. Open the conversation. You don't have to sit there answering questions the whole time.
You have a unique sound, rhythm, humour, look. Everything about you is distinctive. That distinctiveness is not a barrier — it is the thing that makes you castable in a way nobody else quite is.
He said this plainly and repeatedly. The more work you put in, the better you are. It is an old adage because it is simply true. Do not be lazy.
A Marvel superhero film has Shakespearean scale. A naturalistic drama needs stillness and connection. Knowing what kind of piece you're auditioning for shapes every choice you make in the room.
A participant asked whether Simon ever turns down work — and why. His answer was unexpectedly honest about the psychology of it.
"The only control you have in this industry is to say no to a job. And sometimes I've said no and felt like a million dollars afterwards — even though I wasn't getting paid."
— Simon KunzHis reasons for saying no have evolved over 40 years. Early on, he rarely did — and he wouldn't recommend it to younger actors either. Do everything you can. Every job is experience. Early in a career, the cost of turning work down is almost always higher than the cost of taking something mediocre.
Simon didn't go to drama school himself — he was suspicious of the competitive environment and the tendency to work on fragments of plays rather than complete parts. He learned by doing whole plays in front of real audiences. But he acknowledges the landscape has changed, and he recognises the value of formal training for people coming in from outside the British system.
The worst advice Simon ever received came from the head of Equity — the UK actors' union — when Simon was 18 or 19 and desperately wanted his Equity card. The man looked at him and said: maybe you should just be an amateur actor. Go and do plays in church halls.
"That spurred me on. How dare you sit there in your power and tell me I don't really want to be an actor. No. Fuck you. I'm going to do it."
— Simon KunzThe best advice: no Plan B. Not as a cliché, but as a genuine commitment to the work itself — not to fame, not to money, but to the privilege of saying the words of great writers.
He told a story about Michael Gambon — the British actor known internationally from the Harry Potter films, who died in 2023 — driving up the motorway from London to Stratford-upon-Avon to play King Lear at the RSC in 1982. Gambon looked across at the car next to him: a businessman in a shirt and tie, jacket hung up neatly behind him. And Gambon thought to himself: those people don't know they're living. I'm going to play King Lear.
"That's all the payment you need. And I know that sounds naff. But if you start with that attitude, I think the rest will come."
— Simon KunzNot something you quite fancy doing. Not a career you're pursuing because you're good at it. If you can take it or leave it, leave it. If you can't imagine not doing it, that's the thing.
From the highest to what you might think is the lowest. Everyone on a film set is critical. Be difficult or rude to the wrong person and word travels fast in a small industry.
Samuel Beckett. There is no perfect play, no perfect film. You will always find something you'd do differently. That is not a reason to stop. It is the condition of the work.
It lets you put your demons somewhere useful. Great art — a painting, a play, a film — makes people feel less alone. It shows them their own emotions from the outside. That is what you are trying to do every time you work.
He ended by offering something practical and personal: to connect the group with Ukrainian actresses now working in London through his partner's National Theatre production, who could speak to the experience of making the move from the inside.
Free live Q&A sessions with working actors, directors, and casting professionals from the UK, US, Spain, Germany and beyond. Open to Ukrainian film and theatre artists at any stage of their career.
Learn More & Apply