The Guardian - I know how hard it is for working-class actors to succeed. We can change that

I spotted this article in The Guardian written by actor Eddie Marson.

Money is a huge obstacle for people trying to get into the arts. We need positive policies – even quotas – to improve diversity

I’ve been acting professionally for more than 25 years now, but I know what it’s like to have that dream jeopardised by a lack of money. I never received a grant for drama school. My first year’s fees were cobbled together by my late mother and an East End bookmaker. And at the end of my first year, I had to audition for a scholarship to pay for the rest of the course. If I hadn’t won that I would have been out – dream over before I’d even begun. So I welcome what Maureen Beattie, the president of Equity, had to say about the lack of opportunities for working-class youngsters to pursue a career in acting.

I have nothing against my colleagues and friends from more privileged backgrounds who have been successful: many of them are fantastic actors who thoroughly deserve their success. But, as Idris Elba so eloquently put itwhen he spoke to a group of MPs in parliament: “Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t.”

That is abundantly clear in my profession. There are not only fewer actors from working-class backgrounds – there are fewer working-class writers, directors, commissioning editors, producers and critics too. This results in a decreasing circle of influence, and so the perspective that dominates the stories we tell comes from the upper reaches of society. No matter how well-meaning or socially progressive they try to be, it’s a distorted reflection of the world we live in.

But the problem goes deeper than that. Access to drama and performance training – be it at school or university level – is an invaluable tool in encouraging young people to express themselves with coherence and articulacy. It stimulates self-awareness and empathy. A shy child often finds surprising, hidden depths of confidence on stage because she knows she is in a safe place. The lights go down, the audience disappears and she knows she won’t be interrupted – and then she finds her voice. It is a visceral rather than academic art form, so by nature it is more egalitarian. No expensive tutor will make a child become a better actor because the source material isn’t beyond their reach – it’s within themselves.

And our country is, of course, not only made up of different classes but also different races and cultures. The films we make, the plays we stage and the stories we write need to reflect that. We need a young Somalian Londoner making films about the Somali community in London, a young Bengali playwright writing a play about the difficulties of growing up under the influence of two sometimes conflicting cultures. It’s through listening to each other’s stories, through exploring each other’s perspectives, that we will learn to transcend the fixed idea of ourselves and come together.

For the wellbeing of the country as a whole it’s essential that our main institutions – the law, the arts, medicine and the government – reflect our diversity, not our inequality. But a meritocracy doesn’t happen of itself; it needs intervention at a higher level. It needs funding and quotas – positive action, for want of a better term. The government and our industry already work together on tax breaks and regional film boards. Surely within this framework a scheme could be developed that encourages companies to donate to the cost of industry training. This would allow people who would otherwise be excluded because of a lack of money to receive training, and eventually build a career. “Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t” – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

• Eddie Marsan is an actor. He is currently starring in the TV series Ray Donovan