The uniform I hid inside.

I was a Royal Marine Commando for eighteen years. Iraq. Afghanistan. Sierra Leone. People think that means bravery, pride, purpose. The truth is I never loved the job ' I only loved the respect that came with it. I was pretending the entire time. The problem was, I was very good at pretending. Military life is safe in a strange way: food, pay, order, medical care ' everything decided for you. I hid inside that structure because I was too frightened to fail in the world outside it. I was known for physical courage. What I lacked was the courage to want something different. Two years ago I finally left. I'm in acting school now. Starting again at the bottom.