We were lucky to catch up with Jana Lee Hamblin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jana Lee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Ever since I can remember. As a kid, I was always performing. I would put on neighborhood talent shows with the other kids. It would always turn out that I was the weird, creator, director and star of them. Yes- I was that annoying child. I have always had a drive and desire to sing and dance and act.
They say that when you’re an adult, if you’re doing what you always wanted to do as a child, you are living your dream. So I feel really lucky and grateful to be able to do that!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been a professional actor for 25 years, directing for the last 12-15 years and teaching for 20. I am a big believer in studying whatever you’re interested in. I have been in class on and off for 30 years and continue to drop in classes for tune ups as needed.

The pandemic was a great time to study and get good at auditioning with self tapes. We stopped going into casting offices and auditioning in person so we had to get masterful at putting ourselves on tape.

I started teaching 20 years ago in Portland Oregon (which is my home town) with 4 students, a notebook, and a rhe of ideas about what I wanted to teach. That turned into owning and operating The Act Now Studio for over 15 years. I love teaching. It’s one of my very favorite things to do in the world. To watch the lights come on in people’s eyes, to witness them starting to trust themselves and to follow their instincts has to be one of the greatest privileges of my life.

Directing came directly out of teaching for me. We did a lot of Showcases at the studio and through that I started to understand how to put things together to tell a bigger story . Not just the characters story but the world of the play/show.

I continue to work as an actor in LA, which basically means I audition for a living (it’s a good thing I love auditioning!) I love film and television and yet will do a great play any day of the week :)

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think the artists life can be somewhat transient. By that I mean that it’s not predictable. Sometimes it’s feast. Sometimes it’s famine. There are no absolutes in the artist’s world.

Some people started out wanting to be an actor (or painter or writer) and learned that it’s a financially unstable profession. For some, that is not sustainable; they cannot bear to be financially insecure in their lives- and that’s understandable! It’s hard to not have a 401K.
I always tell my students if you can do anything else in your life, besides acting, DO IT!! Because it’s hard.
But if you’re someone like me, you can’t NOT do it. And that’s okay too. Because, when you’re working, there is no better feeling in the galaxy.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think that being in “the business” of acting requires a certain kind of resilience in general. It’s a lotta “no’s.” There have been years when all I have done is audition without booking a job. Years! And then there are times where you are in the flow and you’re booking work left and right. Both are important.
That’s why you’ve got to love ALL aspects of the craft.

I had come to live in LA for a couple years in the late 90’s. I was trying to get rep’d by a manager and she said “honey, LA is going to be very difficult for you, if you ever even do anything here. You’re not young, you’re not ‘Hollywood pretty’ and you’ve got that kid” (my daughter was then 9 years old). I remember thinking, “yeah, but you don’t know who I am and what I’m capable of.” She ended up repping me and I booked the first 2 TV shows I auditioned for. (I was secretly smug !).

That was a defining moment of my professional life. Someone said that I wasn’t going to be able to do something and I bet on myself. Something deeper inside me wouldn’t let a negative opinion of me take me down.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @janaleehamblin
• Facebook: Jana Lee Hamblin

Image Credits
Snaps by Jade Matt Kallish