A prestigious New York acting school which lists Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and Angelina Jolie as among its graduates has rolled out the red carpet of invitation to its first New Zealand student - and he's from the Western Bay.
Tauranga teenager Matt Lee, who left his Year 13 classmates at
Otumoetai College in July last year to act in a new teenage television drama in Australia, was this month offered a spot at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.
Filming for the Australian show Dance Academy, which 19-year-old Matt beat 300 other dancers to act in, finished in January.
Now, the only thing standing in the actor's way is the hefty annual price tag associated with accepting the place and following his dreams.
Working part-time selling men's suits in Sydney and attending acting auditions once or twice a month, Matt can't afford the $60,000 fee to attend the institute, where he will study method acting.
To raise some of the funds, Matt has applied for an AMP "Do your thing" scholarship.
The public can vote for him, via the www.doyourthing.co.nz website, with the applicant with the most votes winning a scholarship worth up to $10,000.
"Obviously it wouldn't cover everything, but it would be a great start," Matt said.
If he does not win the people's choice award, which closes for voting on July 31, Matt is still eligible for the judges' choice scholarships, awarded in September.
Matt first started performing as a 7-year-old learning ballet at the The Dance Education Centre in Tauranga, where he was trained by Prue Gooch.
When Matt left the Western Bay to take up the six-month contract working on Dance Academy, he was one of only two of the seven lead actors who had not previously worked professionally as an actor.
To vote for Matt Lee to win the AMP "People's Choice" scholarship, visit http://www.doyourthing.co.nz/2010-00043/matthew-lee
