FEATURE
ALUMNI PROFILE
BENJAMIN CARON Benjamin Caron (BEd Education with English and Drama, 1995), discovered his taste for the directorâs chair while at Homerton, and has spent the past 20 years building a successful career in television. He is currently the director of the hugely popular Netflix series The Crown, the third season of which will be broadcast later this year.
Benjamin Caron
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HOMERTONIAN
You were at Homerton at a time of transition â it was an âApproved Societyâ of the University of Cambridge, but not yet a full College. What was it like at that time? It was a brilliant place to be. At the time, you had to pay for a lot of drama courses, as opposed to academic degrees, which were free. So I couldnât believe it when I saw Education with English and Drama listed as an option at Homerton College, Cambridge. I drove to my interview, in the days before sat-nav, got hopelessly lost and arrived with two minutes to spare! I met Peter Raby, we bonded over Oscar Wilde and all seemed to be going well. Then they said âNow itâs the Education interviewâ. Ah. Not only had I not prepared for that bit, I hadnât even known about it. Suddenly I was being asked questions like âHow would you decorate your classroom?â I completely
winged it, convinced myself over the course of the interview that Iâd always wanted to be a teacher, but was sure I must have blown it. They told me to give them a ring that afternoon for a decision, so I went for a walk around Cambridge to while away time and was completely blown away. I went for a pint at the Eagle and then finally, went to ring the Admissions Office from a pay phone. They had decided to offer me a place.
Did you make your peace with the Education aspect of the course? In the end, although Iâd signed up to the course for the Drama element, it felt like a good balance. There are so many skills in teaching that are directly applicable to all kinds of careers, but particularly to directing. If you can stand up in front of 30 kids, you can stand in front of a bunch of actors.