“Words that kind of stuck with me and almost sent me down a dark path were 'try and be a bit more normal and life will be easier'. Maybe that person was right because life would have been easier, but then again I wouldn’t have arrived at this stage."

Kyle Borg, 20, is a very talented young actor, who recently became the third Maltese actor to receive an offer for B.A. (Hons) Acting course abroad. However, Kyle is the first to be going to ArtsEd, which is a top drama school in Chiswick, London. Alumni from this Conservatoire include Julie Andrews and Lashana Lynch.

He is also the first Maltese actor to ever be accepted for such a course in the US, but he decided ArtsEd would provide the right training for him.

He had the privilege to work closely with Edward Caruana Galizia, who had also graduated from the same course. As a result, he was able to give him some great advice. One of the main things that stuck with Kyle was when Caruana Galizia told him "it ain't all the glamour, it's really hard work when you get up there".

He’s been in many different performances lately, Roderigo in Othello, Christopher ­Morcom in Breaking the Code, Luigi Collins in Blood on the Crown and most recently Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

He’s also had the privilege of working closely with Malcolm McDowell, who was the protagonist in A Clockwork Orange, and Harvey Keitel, who has had significant roles in Reservoir Dogs and several Martin Scorsese films.

Following his success of achieving a scholarship at a top drama school and showing massive potential from his stellar performances, The Malta Independent sat down with Kyle in order to discuss the story of this up-and-coming actor and his views on performing arts in Malta.

Initially, we spoke about how his love for acting sparked from the annual school concerts he used to have at school.

“I felt like I belonged and the idea of playing a character and telling a story for just an hour already at such a young age of six or seven was very interesting for me.”

In witnessing his passion, his mother sent him to drama classes at the School of Performing Arts Malta (SOPA) in 2010.

In 2015 things changed for Kyle as he got introduced to the Scottish director Denise Mulholland who took him under her wing.

“I remember her coming up to me and asking me, 'is this something you really want to do? You have potential, but you have to really work hard for it'. I said yes, not knowing what was waiting for me at first and then the rest is history.”

He also took this opportunity to express his gratitude towards his parents who have been there “since day 1". "They've been there, they've watched every single performance, and they were great taxi drivers to and from rehearsals. They were there with me every step of the way."

Furthermore, he spoke about the struggles of combating “normality” as a male actor. He explained how when he was younger and still at school the idea of participating in the performing arts was considered different by his peers.

"There's no such thing as being normal, activities that are a bit more masculine or feminine, let children find their path, let them see what speaks to them and build from there. There's no template, we love doing what we're doing. As actors, we have a passion and we love telling stories."

"Find your own voice; you're your own person."

When asked about the acting scene in Malta, he conveyed how "there is talent in Malta! There's a lot of talent in Malta. Especially young talent".

"As a small island, we should look to those countries that are not Hollywood but are still thriving in their industry. The actors are doing well and getting paid well. They're telling stories; that's the most important thing."

He also spoke about being brought up through theatre and not having many opportunities to work in a film in Malta. “I'd always been brought up in the theatre and that's kind of an issue in Malta that we're more on the theatre spectrum. I think it’s great training to start from but then, as you go along, we should have a bit more opportunities with film."

He elaborated on how in order to expand creative arts in Malta, then it must be built “from the ground up at an educational level. We should put more performing arts into schools”.

Additionally, he commented on the Malta Film Commission and how he hopes that following the controversial budget for the Malta film awards, they will now “listen to the actors, directors and producers and move in the right direction, which means investing and helping our local film scene more”.

Moreover, we spoke about the great feat of his scholarship at ArtsEd. He described it as being a "pinch-me-moment". He explained how you must build up a lot of confidence and experience over the years to simply apply for one of these schools, therefore being accepted did not feel real.

He was pleased to see that the panel was mainly made up of black actors working within the industry. He expressed how the panel was brilliant and progressive in their ideology. “They seemed to understand what it was like coming from Malta, the small fish in the big ocean scenario, but just from the audition I felt reassured that they would support me and push me to be the best person I can be."

Finally, we asked him about what he is hoping to achieve from this education. He expressed how he was most excited to work with new cohorts and peers.

"You come in with your experience; they come in with their experience. You're building a picture all together, and then by the time the final showcase comes around, you've created this whole multiverse of different actors with different stories to tell."