There are certain professional markers actors potentially face throughout their career; one of them being their first stage kiss. Typically, they have to reach adulthood before they experience this. For Bermudian actor Lana Young, she was barely out of diapers.
“My first play was ‘Puss & Boots’ at Nambour Nursery,” Young tells The Bermudian. “That was my first stage kiss with Jeremy Whittle.”
One might think that with such an early start, an actor’s life was predetermined for Young. That’s only somewhat true. While active in acting throughout her youth, it was not something that was viewed upon as a potential profession.
“I was one of those little girls who was introverted and extroverted,” says Young. “So I was quite shocked that I put myself out there, but I [also] love putting myself out there. I never fought for the lead, per se, but I always wanted to be in it…I did it all through high school. I did it all through university. I did it when I came back to Bermuda to work…My mom, who was a single mother at the time, was not having me go to drama school, and not understanding how that would serve me coming back to Bermuda, so I wasn’t encouraged to do it at that time.”
It was her return to Bermuda after university that actually set in motion her professional acting career, after a chance meeting with Patricia Nesbitt, co-founder of Jabulani Repertory Company, who was looking to fill the role of Andrea Devereaux in “Once On This Island.”
“One day I ventured into Rock Island Coffee,” Patricia Nesbitt tells The Bermudian via email. “As Lana was leaving I saw her. I was looking for a young adult ingenue who could play the part of Andrea Deveraux, a strong, confident aristocrat who knew her place in society and could command respect from a black peasant girl who had fallen in love with her beaux, Daniel. I introduced myself and invited her to audition for me. She was taken by surprise at my invitation but cautiously accepted. I gave her an appointment and as she turned to leave I stopped her and asked, ‘You do sing, don’t you? It’s a musical.’ She responded, ‘If I have to sing I guess I could.’ Her audition was exceptional and I offered her the role.”
Motivated by her Bermuda theater experience, Young continued to pursue stage roles after moving to Boston in 1998 with her then-husband Bryn Robinson. Getting cast above American actors, all while still working in the corporate world, Young realized “Oh, I’m a contender.” This gave her the confidence to audition for her first on-camera part for a television movie entitled “Killer Flood: The Day The Dam Broke.”
“[I played] Janine Mackey, hospital administrator,” says Young, laughing at the memory. “I had to evacuate the hospital when the killer flood was on the way.” (Needing more extras, Young’s mother, who was visiting her on set, was recruited to play an evacuee).
The marriage ended in 2001, and Young, newly divorced and realizing “What am I waiting for?” moved to London in 2003 to study at the Arts Educational School in a one year program to obtain a masters in acting. This training allowed her to build her technique where prior, all she had done had come to her naturally.
“The program was very rewarding but very intensive,” says Young. “I was the second oldest person in my class…but I was like a sponge.”
Graduating from the Arts Educational School allowed her to join British Equity, the union for stage actors. However, there was a slight hiccup – there was already another Lisa Young registered – and they don’t allow for members with the same name.
“It was interesting to discover that I was actually more attached to ‘Young’ than I was to ‘Lisa,’ says Young. “I chose Lana after going through a very long list of possible names…I kept coming back to Lana because it was a classic name, same initials, same number of letters and it just felt like me. Plus you didn’t hear it a lot so I knew it would stand out with casting.”
Required to move back to the States in order to keep her visa active, Young moved to Los Angeles, trying to build on all the experience she already amassed. Instead, everything came to a screeching halt.
“I didn’t get any auditions for two years,” Young admits, who had to return to odd jobs in hospitality for her income. “It was a very interesting observation of my ego. Because I came from a world where I was taking a champagne off the tray and now I was the one holding the champagne [tray].”
Once she started to book auditions, however, Young found herself dealing with both ageism and being mixed race. “At that time in casting, it was very young and very caucasian,” Young recalls. “Here I was, a mixed race woman at 37, already too old for L.A. and not white enough. It was very difficult. I had to play some Latino roles because that’s the only place I fit in,” says Young. “For the black roles, I wasn’t black enough. When I first [started], I wasn’t white enough and now what we’re seeing is I’m not black enough.”
While some casting directors couldn’t see past Young’s mixed race heritage, it did serve her well when it came to auditioning for Tyler Perry’s 2022 movie “A Jazzman’s Blues,” a post-World War II drama. Young landed the role of Ethel, a mixed race woman who passes for white and uses this ability to social climb with tragic results.
“Tyler characterized her as a villain,” says Young. “I hope I humanized her. She makes really, really bad decisions but I believe that she made those decisions based on her lot in life and where she was in history and what she was able to do because of her light skin.”
With these strides in her career, Young is not only accepting honors (receiving the Earl Cameron Award in 2024) but is looking to mentor up-and-coming Bermudian actors, something she didn’t have when she started pursuing the profession.
Offering a year’s mentorship for four Bermudians ages 10 and up (which people can apply for by emailing actorslabwithlanayoung@gmail.com for more information), the recipients will work with Young twice a month where she will offer acting and industry advice.
“I didn’t have anyone to guide me,” says Young. “I want to offer it to people, not only who are pursuing it as a career but also just want to be a hobby actor in Bermuda. I would have definitely benefited from deeper techniques and support as a local actor as well.”
Young has also realized that the delayed start to her acting career was probably the best thing for her.
“What I found as I’ve as I’ve gotten older is that it was really the right decision for me,” says Young. “This business is so difficult. I’m not sure I would have been in the right frame of mind at that earlier stage in life to be as resilient as I am now. I’ve come to realize and accept that it was actually a gift.”
