How Did You Decide to Become an Actor?

October 19, 2023 | Casting Networks
Photo Credit: LightField Studios / Shutterstock.com

In The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, there’s always a calling compelling the hero to do something extraordinary. We wanted to know how you were called to the world of acting, and what compelled you to step into the entertainment industry. We received many brilliant responses, each accompanied by their own unique tale.

Here are some of our favorites:

Actor Eunyoung Park smiling in a pumpkin colored shirt.

After my family immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when I was 10, despite knowing that acting was my calling since [age] eight, I gave up on this path thinking the U.S. was too big and I would never be able to speak like a native American.

I ended up pursuing visual arts instead, graduated from Parsons with a BFA in fashion design, and worked as a designer to make use of my degree, but never quite felt fulfilled working as a designer even after I started my own business as a bridal designer.

While watching a famous reality/audition show called “K-pop Star”—albeit that the show was for singers in their teens—I realized after so many years had already passed, that I found myself longing and wishing for myself to be their age again so I can give my shot at acting.

Although I was way past my teen years I figured “better late than never,” and dove right in on Google to start searching for opportunities to audition, without any prior resources.

— Eunyoung Park

Actor Robert Fleet smiling in a gray shirt.

I first became an actor when I was 15 when I was on a NY game show pretending to be someone else, in front of an audience of five million, and loved the experience—even while other people there were freaking out.

I decided to become an actor when I went to Syracuse University and, even though I was majoring in something else, audited every drama class they had and found myself in the middle of my sophomore year, on a cold, rainy December Sunday morning trudging to a rehearsal and so happy to be acting that I knew I didn’t want to do anything else.

— Robert Fleet

Actor Zoe L. Smith in a burgundy shirt smiling.

I came across an advertisement for an introduction to acting class in my early 20s. I’d never acted before, bar the odd compulsory drama class in high school, and it was never something that interested me. But I was confused about what I wanted to do in life because I liked so many things and I found it really hard to stick with something.

So, my gut feeling told me to sign up, I went along and it was a lightbulb moment for me. I loved it. Playing these different characters allowed me to explore all these interests. I could be a doctor, a dancer and a lawyer all in a day’s work. I’ve never looked back.

— Zoe L. Smith

Actor Nick Sayce in a striped t-shirt smiling.

At 17 years old in 2000, I was a dresser at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham during Oliver and Les Mis, and I would be sitting in the dressing room for the whole show. I would have a laugh with the actors and then hear them onstage through the tannoy quickly after speaking and it made me think, “That looks like fun.” So, I became an actor. When you’re actually doing it for a living though, it’s way more than just fun.

— Nick Sayce

Actor Kristen Brimm smiling in a burgundy shirt.

My granddad always used to tell me, “When you have a calling, you listen to it no matter how many people are telling you not to follow it.”

When acting, I get a sense of feeling who the character is and really bring them to life, completely cutting myself out to make that magic. I think that’s why he pushed me so hard because he saw this living in his grandchild.

I never got the chance to quite show him before he left, so it’s become personal to become that woman he saw me becoming and I know I’m capable of being.

— Kristen Brimm

Actor Jon Michel Roberts posing in a theater gangster costume.

My father started up a community theater in Mexico when I was a kid. I took on any role I could get my hands on. Acting as a kid just felt natural (I started when I was seven years old). The use of infantile imaginations led me to become a natural comedian.

I also grew up in eight different countries, with a plethora of accents that made the English language so much more playful and interesting. So, the stage, cultures, accents and being a kid actor all had something to do with my seasoning. It was just fun, and still is!

— Jon Michel Roberts

Actor Malena Cunningham Anderson smiling in a yellow sweater.

After getting vaccinated during the pandemic, I answered a random email to do background on a Showtime series shooting in Atlanta and I was selected.

I was asked by casting to do background on another show the following day. There, I met an actor who suggested I text his agent on the spot. She asked for pictures of me and asked what my profession was. When I told her I was a retired TV news anchor and reporter, she signed me without any experience. That was in 2021. I’ve been working ever since and recently became SAG-e!

— Malena Cunningham Anderson

Actor John Dudley smiling in a blue shirt.

While visiting my dad in Texas in 2006 from Florida, he suggested that I should model because he liked how I looked in pictures. My dad had stage 4 cancer. I took it to heart and when I returned to Miami I joined a talent agency where on my first audition I booked a local commercial.

Later, my dad saw me in a national Just for Men commercial. On my next visit to Texas, he let me know he saw me in the commercial and he was so proud.

— John Dudley

Actor Daniella Barsotti smiling in a white shirt.

COVID locked down the world. My older son had already moved out and my younger son just moved away to another province to continue playing Jr. A hockey. My husband’s and my office shut down and we had to establish home offices. I work for my husband so I had the time to do other things.

Empty nesting meant I could travel (once the world opened up again), I could pick back up my French and Spanish, I could finally write my memoir and I could let my hair go curly and gray and get back into modeling for my age group.

I took photos and got an agent and they put me up for commercials. I said “no,” they said “yes,” and then I thought, “What do I have to lose? Nothing.” I worked behind the scenes in film as a young woman and I had done some modeling.

Now, I was 15 lbs heavier, more mature, more comfortable in myself and more confident. I felt lovelier than I ever had and I was a good mother to my now very independent, kind, responsible and respectful sons. It was my turn to tune into me and why not, I asked myself. “Why not act? Other people are doing it, so why not me?”

I’ve been doing this for 19 months now and I have had 30 jobs. Not too shabby for someone in their 50s trying something new.

— Daniella Barsotti

Actor Rockwell Nixon looking stoic in a plaid jacket.

My parents were in the modeling and film/TV industries so I knew it was a possibility. I remember watching [popular adventure movies] when I was about five or six and making mini-movies with my younger brother with my dad’s camera equipment. We copied movies, made our own and were always making some type of short-acting or action sports.

It wasn’t until my mid/late twenties when I realized I’m good enough at this to make it work! I have the practice, now I just need to refine it.

— Rockwell Nixon

Some responses have been edited and condensed for clarity and for compliance with SAG-AFTRA strike rules.

We want to hear from you! Tell us your best advice for finding an agent. Your response may end up in a future article!

You may also like: