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Photo courtesy of Greg Hoffman.
Success Stories , The Daily Roundup

Success Story: How Greg Hoffman’s Leap into Acting Landed in a Nike Commercial


November 22, 2024

Greg Hoffman is often typecast as a New Yorker. He can be loud and energetic, and draws you into his world. That New York tenacity gives him the drive to keep pursuing his dreams as an actor, landing Hoffman major commercials through Casting Networks, with the likes of Nike and AriZona iced tea.

That Nike spot earned him his SAG card and continues to pay dividends, but it’s Hoffman’s passion that moves his career forward. He took time to share how he got started, the details of these projects and advice to new and aspiring actors.

Insights: Lessons from Greg Hoffman

  • Lean into what makes you unique. Not only does this help set you apart in auditions, it may be exactly what the casting director is looking for.
  • Apply to every role that fits your profile with maximum effort.
  • Don’t wait until you feel “fully trained” or have “perfected your craft” to start applying for roles. The goal is to get on-set.

How did you decide to become an actor?

I don’t usually say this to people who work in acting, but … the truth is, I kind of had a one-third life crisis—I’m calling it that because I’m not quite middle-aged—and I just needed to do something else.

I was working in a business that I actually started. It was with my family and I was going crazy and not enjoying it. A lot of stuff was going on in my life, and I just needed to try something radically different.

I decided that I’m gonna be an actor, kind of spontaneously. I had thought about it before—I like to make people laugh. I like to entertain. I liked the idea of acting. I think I was interested in it maybe a little bit when I was younger. I love Broadway, but I felt this pressure to play football and do that kind of stuff. I took an ugly selfie of myself on my iPhone and that was my first headshot. I put it up on the casting websites—all of them.

How did you first discover Casting Networks?

I just Googled “How to become an actor,” and it said you’re not gonna start with an agent and yada, yada, yada. I saw the three main websites to get cast and Casting Networks was one of them, so I made a profile.

You ended up getting cast as a principal actor in a huge Nike ad, which you found through Casting Networks. What was the audition process like?

It was pretty interesting. I saw this vague posting on Casting Networks. It said “Major Sports Brand Casting.” “Entrepreneur” was the character’s name. I went into it because it met my demographic.

It wasn’t very particular. Then I saw that [the role was more of] a ticket scalper, [a] New York type of guy they were looking for. One of the things I’m typecast as, is a New Yorker. I applied and they sent me the self tape instructions. Then I got really sick with strep and I completely lost my voice.

I tried really hard to do the video and it just kept coming out without [anyone] being able to hear me, [plus I looked sick]. I was disappointed because I submit every self tape and believe in taking every opportunity you get.

Actor Greg Hoffman in a black tank top looking tough. Photo courtesy of Greg Hoffman.

I missed it and then a couple days after the deadline, they sent me a callback request. I was feeling a little better, and I was like, “Okay, well, maybe they don’t know that I didn’t submit the self tape. Maybe they do, but I’m gonna get on this callback.” I got on the callback and there were a bunch of guys on the call, and a bunch of people on the client end or the director and everything.

I didn’t really know what was going on. They sent me this script for a New York ticket-scalping guy. One guy went before me and then they came back on and they’re like, “Guys, we really want you to have that big energy.”

I went big, and this guy who was directing me was like, “Good, good, good.” Then he said, “What are you interested in that you can freak out about and tell me about?” I said, “I scuba dive and I love sharks.” He’s like, “I want you to go on an absolute rant telling me everything you know about sharks. Get really excited and go ham.” I did and I kind of yelled at them and went through this lecture sounding crazy. He said, “Thank you” and hung up.

Like an hour later, I got a text that said, “Hey, we want to put you on hold for this commercial.” I still didn’t know what it was [for]. I got a call later. “Hey, can you get on a flight tomorrow to South Carolina? It’s a Nike ad. The guy who [is] directing you is a famous director named David Gordon Green.” I was like, “My God, I know who he is!” Then they’re like, “There’s going to be a car at your house tomorrow to take you to the airport.”

That’s pretty surreal. What happened when you got on-set?

They were doing several different spots for a collaboration between Nike and the WNBA. There were a lot of people there. It was a high-budget shoot. We rented out an entire coliseum in South Carolina. It started torrentially pouring, like, a tropical storm, and of course my scene was outside. I was getting nervous. First, they told me 2 p.m. call time, so I was in the hotel and I get a call at 7:45 in the morning, like, “Greg, it’s raining. Please come to set.” I got all my stuff on and I literally ran to the Coliseum on foot. When I got there [they were] like, “We changed our mind. We’re gonna shoot your stuff at like 4 p.m. Just stick around.”

What’s funny is when I got there, I went to background holding, because through Casting Networks, I started doing background work. One of the PAs found me, and they’re like, “Hey, what are you doing here?” I was like, “I’m in holding.” “No man, you have a dressing room. You’re the guy.”

I go to my dressing room and practice. By some miracle, the storm cleared up right before it was getting too late to shoot. I went outside and did it.

David made it really relaxed. He let me improv a lot. Some of that commercial is not scripted. They built a whole set in South Carolina that looks like New York City, so it looks like a New York City street: the hot dog vendor, fire hydrants, scaffolding, “New York” signs, a little car exhaust smoke. It was an amazing experience.

Through this production, you were able to become SAG-eligible. What did the realization that you were now able to join SAG feel like? What was going through your mind when you found out that you now could go join the union?

It was a couple of weeks later. I used SAG-AFTRA’s online portal that checks to see if you’re eligible. You type in your social security number and it tells you if you’re a must join, eligible or not in the union. It said, “Congratulations, you’re eligible!” I was like, “Wow, this is great!” I audition for jobs where they want you to be SAG. It can take a long time if you do it through vouchers.

What are some of the other successes and high-profile jobs that you booked from Casting Networks?

There was one recently. I did a commercial for AriZona iced tea. It was really fun. We got to go to their 800,000-square-foot facility in New Jersey that has their own train station. They have all the ingredients and do the bottling there.

I [played] kind of a funny version of the founder of the company. We also did a day in a bodega in Queens. I suck them through a magic portal inside of an iced tea fridge and bring them into the factory and take them on a tour. I applied and I totally forgot about it. Then I got a text and it was like, “Hey, this is so and so casting. Can I book you for this job?” I was like, “What job?” They’re like, “You know, the truck driver on the iced tea commercial.”

I was going through my phone, like, “Where’s the self tape? Where’s the Zoom audition?” They said, “You didn’t audition. The director saw your Nike commercial. He liked it and he wants to book you. You don’t have to audition.”

Actor Greg Hoffman smiling in a green T-shirt, tan pants and brown boots. Photo courtesy of Greg Hoffman.

What would you say helps somebody succeed on Casting Networks?

I did some background work at the very start to try and get on-set, see what it’s like, see if this is a world I would even want to be a part of. That was all through Casting Networks, and that was really great. I got to step on some big productions. Then I started moving more toward speaking roles, and principal roles and even stunts and things like that.

My advice is apply to everything that might fit you because you never know, and always do your self tapes and give it your all every time. Any time you get an opportunity to act, it’s a blessing. Just put yourself out there and go for it.

I don’t want to say that it was easy because to tell you the truth, when I decided to become an actor, I did everything. I started taking classes. I applied to a million roles. I did tons of student films. I did independent films. I did commercials. I did little social media spots. I did horror gigs. I worked for free, I worked for 50 bucks, I worked for food and I just kept going.

I met a lot of people who went to acting schools and really prestigious programs—some of them really good actors, but they were like, “I don’t wanna go on-set until I’ve perfected this and perfected that. I don’t wanna apply to anything, I don’t wanna get an agent, I don’t wanna do this until I’ve completed every course and every degree and everything.” I don’t think all the time that’s what matters. I don’t look at the actors that I aspire to be like and see that as the route they take. You’ve got to get on-set. Do whatever you have to do to get on-set.

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Chris Butera is a voice actor specializing in commercial, eLearning and corporate narration voiceovers. When he’s not helping clients achieve their goals, he’s playing guitar and bass.



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