My first job was the role of Kendra in a workshop of Jason Robert Brown’s musical 13. It was in Los Angeles at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Appropriately, I was aged 13 at the time. I was living in Las Vegas, but my mother kindly drove me to LA for the audition. We were staying in a hotel in downtown LA and I remember listening to musicals and singing along for the whole journey.

I was incredibly nervous about the audition. I remember sitting in the waiting room with Daryl Sabara and Blaine Miller, who would later end up being in the cast with me, and we all were talking about being big fans of Brown. We speculated about whether he would be in the audition room. When I walked in, I immediately spotted him next to the casting director and director. I was terrified, but handed the accompanist my songs – Home from Beauty and the Beast and You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray – and went for it.

We then had a few days of recalls, dance and scene work. I remember being thrilled to have made it to the next step. There’s not much I would change if I was doing it again – in fact, I wish I still had the confidence I had at 13. If someone asked me to sing in front of one of my idols now, it would take a lot more courage.

I learned loads about professionalism and work ethic from that job. I have memories of being in the bathroom of the apartment I was staying and in practising my songs for hours on end. My best advice for others follows on from that: believe in yourself and push yourself to the absolute best of your ability. Try not to let fear get in the way. I know that can be much easier said than done, but working with people I admire makes me all the more determined to show up as prepared as I can possibly be each day.

CV Meaghan Martin

Age: 27
Training: LAMDA
Theatre credits: The Actor’s Nightmare (Park Theatre, London)
TV/film credits: Camp Rock, Camp Rock 2, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (Disney Channel), Mean Girls 2 (Paramount), House (FOX), 10 Things I Hate About You, Melissa and Joey (ABC Family), The Good Mother (Lifetime), Awkward (MTV), Geography Club, Safelight, Dear Lemon Lima
Agents: Grantham Hazeldine, Damn Good Voices

Meaghan Martin was talking to John Byrne

Actor Rebecca Callard: ‘I wish I had the same nonchalance in auditions as when I was 12’