I taped for an advert about a week ago. I won't go into details for obvious reasons but they wanted me to tape for multiple characters. One character required a second person in the tape, so my endlessly patient partner had to step in for that one, and the second required multiple outdoor locations. You really can't make this up.

I hear nothing for a few days. Fairly normal. I don't think much of it. Probably just means I haven't got the job.

Monday rolls around, still nothing. Fair enough, I definitely don't have it. On to the next one.

5pm. Email from my agent. "Hey, they want you in London tomorrow for a recall."

Recalls are good, great even. It means you're down to the final few for the job. What's more, you actually get paid for recalls. A whole £50! After my agent takes their cut that's about £42 in my pocket!

I immediately start looking for trains to London. Direct trains at reasonable times of day show up at £80, £100, £130, and when I reluctantly go to book the cheapest one that gets me in five hours early for the audition, it's sold out.

Maybe it's just a glitch. Sometimes the mobile version of the website is weird. I try again on my laptop. Same problem. Okay maybe it's just Trainline I'm having issues with, Nope! Booking direct with the train company is also throwing up sold out trains, which are somehow even more expensive.

My only solution is to get a train to my nearest big city, then another train from there. Oh good, there are tickets left! An they're only £47 (closer to £51 with booking fees). At this point it's getting late and the only trains available mean I'll have to be up at 8am. Screw it, book the trains and try to get some sleep.

After a few hours sleep it's time to get to the train station. It's hot, sweaty, and cramped, but I make it to London by 2pm.

My audition is at 5pm.

Two tube rides later and I make it to the vacinity of the studio with a couple of hours to spare. I grab some lunch and waste some time wandering around before my call time.

The studio building is packed. Three floors of rooms that casting companies rent out to host their sessions. There are actors in there auditioning for all kinds of projects, most probably came from somewhere else in London, some probably came straight here after work. Not me. I've already been up for 9 hours and spent my entire day getting here. I've had no chance to get anything else done and ended up spending way more than I'd like for the privilege.

They call me in and the team are lovely. They're bright and smiley and clearly care a lot about the project and have fun ideas about how they're going to film it. We go over the same scenarios from the initial tape with some redirections and then they thank me for my time. That's it. I'm out the door again within five minutes.

I check the train. There's a return journey taking a similar, but longer route to the one I took to get here. I decide to walk back to the station because at this point I've already spent close to £20 just on food and tube fares. I get to the station and find somewhere to sit for the next couple of hours. Best I can find is a bench outside.

The train ends up being delayed by half an hour but I eventually get aboard and make the journey home. I end up reaching my front door at 1:40am.

to recap...

• Notification of the audition at 5pm the day before.
• Over £100 spent on train tickets alone.
• A total of 14 hours travelling.

... for less than five minutes in the room.

Ridiculously there's a part of me that thinks/knows I should be greatful. The fact that I even got a recall is a great sign, and I do genuinely think I did really well in the audition. For however many folk were being recalled that day, there were hundreds of auditionees that didn't make it nearly that far.

But on what planet are these acceptable working conditions? Never mind acceptable, why are they expected at all? If I said no to this recall I would have had to contact my agent and explain to them why I was turning down the opportunity to make money, and they'd be right to ask, because if I don't earn, neither do they.

I love acting, I genuinely do. And there's a strange kind of allure to dashing across busy cities for last minute meetings with exciting people that could change your life.

But that's all it is, allure.

This industry is not good. It's not kind, or fair, or forgiving, and if you're going to play the game then you're going to have to put up with a lot, regardless of how idealistic you are.

But I can put up with it. I know I can. I've been doing it for years, and I've put up with a lot worse than this because I know I want it enough. But I'll be sure to keep asking myself that question again and again, because someday the answer might change.