Why having community really matters as an actor

have you ever heard something over and over again so you just believe it’s true and then you wake up one day and realize…oh wait!! that is just a bunch of BS, a story someone made up or a belief someone has, but it’s not actually a FACT.  

Like santa, the tooth fairy or how my cousins told me if I swallowed a piece of gum it would live inside my body for 25 years. (it’s not 7 either if that’s what your cousins told you). you also won’t turn the pool red if you pee in it, shaving won’t make your hair grow back thicker and holding your legs up after sex is not going to help you get pregnant…(dang it for me!) the list goes on. 

So, have you ever heard the saying,

“love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life”? 

welp, steve jobs said something like that in his Stamford commencement speech. Marc Anthony has been attributed to a similar quote, even Confucious. 

It’s been said A LOT by a lot of people over a lot years and i used to really believe it, just like the gum.

But also, NOPE! not true. 

this career, acting – you can love love love it and the craft, but if you really wanna work as an actor, then you gotta work your career and it’s not always gonna be fun and rainbows and sunshine, ya know? it’s gonna be work sometimes. 

and if you’ve been at this awhile, you know i’m right. 

you know i tell it like it is. 

would you rather I lied to you? not my vibe. 

This career takes work. It takes focus. It takes persistence and most of us need community, support and accountability to get it done. otherwise, it gets real lonely sometimes and we get stuck. in our heads. in our own way. and we feel like we’re “behind”. (we’ve obvi chatted abt this one before) 

but ya wanna know the biggest thing my clients say they are grateful for and get emotional and teary eyed about? 

it’s not when they book their first co-star, guest star or sign with their dream rep or anything like that (though they do get super stoked and send me amazing all caps emails like this)

((don’t worry, got permission to share))

the most moving stuff, for both them and me, is not the tangible sexy results like bookings and  newreps.

it’s actually the stuff where they feel less alone. they feel seen. they feel like someone else gets it. 

And they say things like this…

it’s the group. all of them. in it together. 

And yes, sometimes this career is insanely mind blowingly fun like when you step into your tricked out trailer and have angela bassett literally hold your hand onset (true story #bananas), but this work, the work work part of it, it’s wayyyy better if you’re not doing it alone. if you have people supporting you and lifting you up. 

wanna know a saying i really do agree with? 

no, i’m not talking about a taylor swift quote. 😉 

“you are who you surround yourself with” 

this one i believe in so many ways. 

it’s why i believe actors rise together. it’s not the one singular “actor’s rise” it’s actors (collectively) rise. 

cause unless you come from an actor family, i’m guessing your family, no matter how supportive or well-intentioned, doesn’t realllllly get it. 

and even if they sort of do, they don’t know how to support or guide you along on this journey. they’re telling you, “have you ever thought of auditioning for netflix?” or my favorite, “why don’t you do a hallmark movie?” Um, yes, thank you mom. sign me up. 

<<<how do they not get that if it was that easy i would have already done 10 of them already???>>> mind blowing! 

But my point is, it’s the community stuff that matters. it’s the support of other people who get it. who have been there before. who you can also learn from on this journey. 

that’s what my clients get emotional about. they get emotional when they can share their pain, fears, hopes and dreams with other people who let them be them, feel the things and support them.

If this idea of community resonates, I want to hear from you.

this stuff, these feelings and the changes i’ve seen in my clients who have come together (both internal and external) are why i’ve been crazy hard at work building a brand new membership for actors rise, so you can have this kind of support and community too.

Comment down below and lmk your thoughts on community.

Rooting for you always!

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