36/52 Bill Walker

36/52 Bill Walker

“I get to be creative every day with kids who are really interested. There's always going to be that surprise element of what they bring into the classroom. And as much as you want to think, 'oh yeah, I teach you to know everything' -- No, we don't.

If you're open to it and you're willing to let the kids go and try something new, and take chances and take creative risks, you're always going to discover something. One of the most powerful performances that I'd ever seen was a grade ten student who had written an original monologue, and her character was dealing with body image issues. We were always sort of taught as actors, you have to face your audience, they have to see you... She stood with her back to us, looking into that mirror, which was perfect, but if you looked closely, what you could see was that she used a measuring tape for her belt… And it was so cool because she was constantly trying to tighten it while talking about anorexia and all these issues. It was shattering. You couldn't talk at the end of it because it was just so well-performed. It went up against all the conventions that we were ever brought up with as actors. That has stayed with me all these years. This is my 19th year here. I would never imagine I'd ever stay anywhere for 19 years, and I could have retired easily a couple of years ago, but the thing that keeps me going is what they bring into the classroom every day. They step in and you know something's going to happen.”