Our Creativity Spotlight series features advice on artistic practice, inspiration, and a glimpse into the worlds of artists working in a variety of disciplines.
Meet Jordan Daley, an emerging actor who stars as Mia in FRIDAY NIGHT LOVE POEM.
"Everything I do with my acting is a love letter to black women. I want to be a part of and create inclusive projects so that things can be easier for the younger black women of today and I want the creatives of today to think the same for all races too."
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Jordan Daley (a name to remember, lol). I’m currently 18 years old and an upcoming actor. I just got into drama school which I will be starting in about 2 months.
When did you know you wanted to pursue a career as an actor?
It's crazy because I always knew I wanted to be in front of the camera and my mum was always so supportive of whatever dreams I had, but due to the lack of support from others I was discouraged to say I wanted to be an actor, so at the age of 12 I aspired to become a TV broadcaster as in some way I thought it would be a more stable career path.
It wasn’t until I got to year 11 and it was time for me to pick sixth forms/colleges that I realised acting was my passion.
So I came up with a genius plan. I applied for the theatre course at one of the best performing arts colleges and did the same for the media one and thought that “whichever one I got into, that was what I was destined to do”… I got into both.
But despite this, my heart knew that acting was what I wanted to do. And everything happens for a reason as due to being interested in media I know so much about cameras and filming.
What does your creative practice look like?
I’m a very detailed and in-depth actor. So when creating art or being a part of it I give reasoning to everything, you could say I’m not really an in the moment type of actor.
For example when working on monologues I look at the language, the choice of specific words, repetition in sounds or words, the length of sentences and punctuation because I believe that all these aspects can contribute to my performance and understanding of the character. This part is honestly my favourite part of the process as I feel closer to the character.
How do you stay inspired?
My current favourite thing to do to keep me inspired is observing people living in the world. Whether that’s on the train, my friends during conversation or actors in movies. It gives me inspiration to work on my naturalistic responses, facial expressions and existence in fictional worlds. So if you see me staring at you on a bus, I promise I’m not being creepy!!
What advice would you give to other creatives?
To everyone out there that considers themselves a creator, know that you always have something new to learn. This is honestly a reason why I love this career so much, I feel like I’ll never be bored and there are so many opportunities to use my other skills like dancing or writing, so embrace the freedom too.
Also don’t let your previous self make the decision for your current self, we are always growing.
Finally, everything I do with my acting is a love letter to black women. I want to be a part of and create inclusive projects so that things can be easier for the younger black women of today and I want the creatives of today to think the same for all races too. I want younger POC’s to be able to focus on trying to be a great actor and not have to think of their skin colour and gender as a reason why they have to work harder than others.
What is the best advice you have received?
A teacher once told me “The things you say to yourself are things you would never say to a friend, so why would you talk to yourself like that”. As someone who is really hard on myself, this was a really amazing piece of advice. It reminds me to be my biggest cheerleader and celebrate all the good.
PLUG TIME! What have you been working on?
So I just finished working on a play called Friday Night Love Poem written by Natalia Knowlton where I played the character Mia. It has been so amazing working with the cast as they were such great and dedicated actors and the director, stage manager and crew were such brilliant thinkers that it was so inspiring to see them bring the play to life. This is easily an experience I will treasure FOREVER.
To stay up to date with Jordan's work, follow her on instagram: @jordandaleyx
Friday Night Love Poem will stream on ZOOTV from August 16-29, 2021, and will be available to view worldwide.
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