I Took a Screen-Acting Class in Cardiff - Here’s What I Learned at ‘Now in a Minute’
I recently joined a screen-acting class in the heart of Cardiff and found a creative community that I didn’t know I was missing.
Having been running since 2018, ‘Now in a Minute’ offers screen-acting workshops in the heart of Cardiff. Founded by Sean Rhys-James, and ran by Sean and Dan Linney, ‘Now in a Minute’ Workshops offer not just invaluable lessons but also provide community.
‘Now in a Minute’ Workshops began after Sean felt that there needed to be more for actors in Cardiff. He felt that there needed to be a space for actors to continue practicing and to sharpen their skills.
“It feels like the acting industry is very London centric. I always felt like I had the privilege through the business to allow actors in to learn and to create.”
“It started out by getting industry professionals in, getting actors signed up so they can network and know that there are these safe spaces.”
Teaming up with Dan who had moved to Cardiff just over a year ago and was a friend from Drama school, the two friends worked to make their business grow. Dan agreed with Sean’s sentiments about what Cardiff needed for its actors.
“There was a community here of actors but there wasn’t really weekly acting classes, particularly screen-acting classes. So initially we ran a four-week long course in a Church hall in Roath, and then early in 2025 we moved to the class of Chapter and we grew to 15 students and then moved to Summerfield Studios in June. Now we’ve got 32 students. It’s growing and growing, and I love all of it.”
Dan gave some genuine insight into life as an actor and how 90% of your time is not going to be spent acting. He also admitted that it can be lonely being an actor, and that’s why you have to find your community. Sean agreed.
“Screen acting is a lot lonelier than theatre because so much of it is doing auditions, self-tapes, where you’re alone. We’re very proud of creating a safe space for actors to come and try things out, meet other actors in similar positions, and to create a hub that people want to keep returning to. We’ve got actors who had never met before and now go off and do scenes together, and it’s great to see”.
They shared that breaking into the industry is not easy, and that what they’re most proud of is watching their students grow in confidence and ability. Dan spoke about one student, Amelia who started 15 weeks ago.
“She turned up a bag of nerves. Cut to last week she did one of the best performances I’d ever seen in these classes and I feel like I take pride and pleasure in the fact that it’s coming to these classes that facilitated her.”
Speaking to a few students it was clear that ‘Now in a Minute’ Workshops facilitated a welcoming community. One student, Soorya Mahendran spoke about how he enjoyed the classes and how Sean and Dan eased their students into acting.
“We are genuinely friends. For Dan’s birthday, we’ve all made a video for him where we’ve given a message and it was quite touching so many people in the class jumped in and joined in because Dan is our friend.”
Another student Amelia Beer spoke about how she was nervous to start and wanted to increase her confidence in her acting, and gave advice to those considering beginning.
“Just go for it. It’s fun, and at the end of the day you’re here to have a laugh. Give it a go, it’s definitely increased my confidence and I’m learning a lot more. It’s just instinctive now.”
Lastly, Joey Sutton said he fell in love with the classes because he’d been out of acting for so long, and it felt like working-out a muscle.
“My favourite part is – weirdly – watching other people, you learn just as much from watching as you do from performing.”
With a devoted community around them, ‘Now in a Minute’ Workshops continue to offer classes to anyone interested in screen-acting from beginners to professionals. They have several courses coming up, including an introduction to acting for beginners, a Comedy Acting Course, and an Improv Course. Hosting different cycles of students, there is always upcoming availability and if you are interested in acting, you certainly don’t want to miss this opportunity.
