4- CD 2 = William.

It was much harder to find the character of William, and I struggled right up until we got the staging as I came out of my shell a little bit. 

Because my scene doesn't come in for 52 pages (around an hour into the play) I didn't begin to be directed as my 'As you like it' character for a long time into the process. 
In the beginning I was really anxious I was just going to look like an idiot. So I held back a lot. In the beginning also it was hard for me to see eye to eye with the director as I would copy what I was told to do but it wasn't right. 

This made me feel embarrassed that I just couldn't get it which made me hold back even more. Then we put the accent in. Which I hated, because I couldn't do it and it made me anxious. So I was spending too much time on stage trying to sound right I wasn't even acting at all and right up until the last few weeks I was stumbling through and acting really terribly. I felt like everyone was watching me intently to either make them laugh or to judge me which made me feel pressured so William wasn't coming out. 

What really helped me with my character was when we had a talk from Bob (a stage and screen actor) who helped me gain more confidence in the role. And if I make a mistake, own that mistake, because I was only going to be centre stage for five minutes. He reminded me that there were no small parts and only small actors and that so what if I only have ten lines- I'm going to own them ten lines. 

After this when I began to rehearse, people laughed because they were enjoying it, not because it was so bad it was awkwardly funny. Once we actually had the frame we also on the dress rehearsal that is when I finally found William. He was a lovable idiot who loved a girl he could never have and he will probably never know that. He was a character you could have so much fun with and I did, I stopped dreading my scene and couldn't wait for it. The audience responded to the character well which made it all the more better. And in the end, after all that stress I actually think I did a good job with my character.