That's a wrap

That's a wrap.

Those are the words that lift your heart at the end of a long day's filming. And we've certainly had some long days during the filming of "Him and Her" series four "The Wedding.  This Saturday, 17 August will be saying those words for the final time as filming draws to a close.

After a read through in London in a week of rehearsals in Bloomsbury, the whole unit decamped to a secret location just outside St Albans to recreate a day in the life of a group of people involved in a wedding. It's really difficult for me to say more without infringing what I'm allowed to tell you, but I am about to say that it's been great fun if hard work.

Usually the months of July and August are by definition holiday months. People are away, and very few firms do any training in the  summer months, so work prospects during that time can be quite fallow, particularly in my area of strength, the corporate field.  In past years I've involved myself with the National youth Theatre,  community films and a whole host of bizarre enterprises just to keep things ticking over through the summer. So I'm very grateful that this year it's been full on,  and having some days off during the last two weeks of August will come as a joy.

I suppose that as an actor there still a feeling that the seven long weeks of summer are a little like they were when one was at school and had the big long holidays. The first couple of weeks were  wonderful, the next two weeks were okay as the idea of no school became normal, and the final two weeks were often filled with an anticipation when school would start again just so that one could see ones friends and not have to find something different to do everyday.

The return of routine - school bus, school, school bus, home - was often very welcome..... for a few weeks  at least and then one would begin to start thinking about the holidays again. I suppose that's why I enjoy being an actor.... or rather, a freelancer. I get bored very quickly with routine. I like short hit jobs. The downside of course is there is no security, and when I was younger, there was an awful lot of unemployment, but now age and experience have brought regular work, and it's the variety that I relish.

The Autumn is full of  one, two or three day corporate jobs, and I will enjoy them because of their brevity. I still hanker after something more continuing i.e. a theatre job, but even when I think of that I know I couldn't contemplate a huge long run of several months.

So it's been nice to work through the summer holiday, on a series that is incredibly well-written and well acted, brilliantly directed and, for this year only, filmed near St Albans!