The voice of Ryan Kelly will be familiar to anyone who listens to The Archers on Radio 4. He plays the part of Jazzer, the village renegade who is always a hit with the ladies. Here Ryan talks about his acting work and his time at Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford.
Ryan's story:
I'm Ryan Kelly and I am a blind actor who plays Jazzer in The Archers. The Archers is based in the fictional English village of Ambridge and aims to provide contemporary drama in a rural setting.
Tell us about your current role?
The character I play is called Jazzer. I'd describe him as a nice guy but a bit of a fool. There is a lot involved in playing Jazzer, starting with learning my lines. You may be wondering how I do this. To make it simple I have the script emailed to me and then I put it on my "Booksense". The Booksense is a portable daisy player with text-to-speech software, which means I can carry it around and listen to what I have to learn. I like hearing the lines being read with a synthetic speech because it means I can't copy the voice when I'm playing Jazzer.
How did it all begin?
I first realised that I had ability when I did acting at school. But I never thought of it as a career option because I didn't think it would be possible. I only began to think of it as an option when I attended the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) in Hereford. There I was made to realise that acting was a possibility.
I have to say that the people at RNC who really helped me were Amanda Hemmer [Head of performing arts at RNC] and John Everett [former Head of creative arts]. They were very inspirational people and I have a lot to thank them for. I have no doubt this is where my inspiration comes from. While I was at RNC I did a lot of messing around at first, and was once even suspended for a week. Academically I would say I was average. My best subject was performing arts. If I was to change anything about the education system, it would be to enable more children who are visually impaired to get a mainstream education.
Has there been any challenges along the way?
It's not been an easy ride getting to where I am, and there has been a lot to battle through. I have had to deal with prejudiced people thinking "he can't do it because he can't see". For instance, getting an agent was a big challenge. When I approached agents, they were very hesitant in taking me on, just because they were unsure about how to deal with a blind person.
What's your motivation?
The main motivation for me is that when I am acting it is something to do and someone to do it for. Doing the acting is a reward in itself. Also it means that I can bring money home for the family, who play a big role in supporting me. They keep my feet on the ground and continuously encourage me.
Amanda Hemmer, Head of performing arts at RNC, says:
Ryan was the first blind student who said he wanted to pursue a career as an actor. I remember having a conversation with him when I said "I'd like to do whatever you need to help you get to drama school." He's an ambassador for any student who wants to follow their dream. He has so much talent, but also has determination and listens to advice. He sang a cappella in a recent school production, and also supported the students with their performances. He is a joy to work with and I'm just so proud of what he's achieved!"
Further information
The author of this "Inspiring lives" feature is Ben Rendle, a member of the Focus editorial group (see p28). He is a student at RNC and is editor of the student website, Eyesover. A version of this article will appear in the next issue of the Eyesover newsletter. For more details visit http://eyesover.rncb.ac.uk