Alan Parker and Alan Clarke, whom I worked with in the 1970s, did not just “stop by” at Anna Scher’s unique workshops.
Together with many other enlightened directors and producers, they knew this was the first point of call to find fresh and original working-class actors, who had been carefully selected by Anna, then handed a crash course in acting, with the understanding that, as she said herself, it was a skill that some of them might be able to turn into a career ... if not, move on. She was an inspirational person whose modesty and positivism lit up that time.
