Award season ‘25
Of course every actor has imagined, at some point, receiving some award or adulation from the crowd. I cannot claim to deviate from the norm here. Something about wanting the audience to want to connect with the performance.
Yet, my first taste of an actual awards ceremony came as a total surprise.
HEIR was a multi-cast audiobook, directed brilliantly by Frances Loy. Really her job was the most challenging here; getting us all on the same page, matching us across our performances even if many weeks apart! She has a fantastic ear for detail and consistently sought the highest standards. I’m very glad her efforts paid off, and to have contributed in a way.
Funny thing was… after the recording, everyone carries on with their own paths. The book comes out, the audiobook too, reviews pile in… and I was not aware of any of it. Until one day a particular email came through.
We were finalists for the Young Adult category at the Audie Awards 2025!
Messages of congratulations were exchanged between the cast and producers, excited virtual pats on backs, and requests of where I was in the world, so I could receive this medal pictured below.
When it arrived, some days before the actual Audie Awards ceremony, I unpacked it carefully - it had a surprising heft. The density was palpable, a reassuring ferrous quality with a respendent finish. (I actually have no idea what it is made of).
Practically it would go on to serve as a decoration, but as with many things that can only be sourced from a particular point in time, they stand to represent the journey to attain or find them.
For me, it is those many years I worked with a little Blue Yeti USB microphone, trying to imitate the great voices, learning editing on Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, the rollercoaster of frustrations and joyous feelings of magic when there was a breakthrough. Unsolicited (from my perspective) appreciation from a third party with a worldwide respected platform all these years later is a reminder of where it all started.
Something shiny for the studio! A reminder to keep pushing and respecting the work.
While we didn’t get the final win in the ceremony, the nomination itself really was beyond my expectations already. I do have a video from the day itself, which with context might be a funny aside another time. (If I say “Joey from Friends”, I wonder if you’ll get the picture?)
Anyway, as I write this, I wonder; does it change anything?
Well, I’m not going to be thinking about winning something while I narrate or even prepare to - that wouldn’t do at all. But now that I feel it’s even possible, I think I’ll use it as a motivation on the days when I don’t feel at my best.
I’ve found that many pursuits get better when taken seriously. When you believe in the work strongly, you find the fun within the thing itself rather than making jokes about it, or joking to try and avoid it. I suppose one has to really want do it, for that to work, which is why it’s good we all have different interests - between us we can give everything a good go.
Let’s see where this path leads…