Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Olivia D. Dawson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Olivia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Risk.

Choosing a life in the arts is a risk.

It can be challenging, at times difficult and fraught with anxiety.

I have walked away from being an actor many, many times but always there was a sign from the universe that would say, “No, this is your path. Get back on it and don’t give up”.

Years ago, there was a point in my life when I completely gave up acting and decided to move to a place where I wouldn’t be tempted to get back into the business: Tucson, Arizona. However, a series of events let me know that acting was not done with me.

But first, there was the grind.

I decided to get a regular job.

I put in applications all over town but nothing was breaking through, not even the job I really wanted, working for the mayor’s office. I received the “thanks but no thanks” form letter. I finally went to a temporary agency. Part of the intake process was watching various industrial films on workplace etiquette, company policies, etc. I was watching an industrial on sexual harassment in the workplace. As I watched the actress on the monitor, this was the dialogue in my head: “Hmm, her haircut is cute…I remember when my hair was short….I should cut my hair like that again….She kinda resembles me…..She kinda sounds like me….OH MY GOD THAT IS ME!

I was watching myself in an industrial film I’d done a few years back. I asked the woman at the desk for the tape (since I’d never gotten a copy) and took it as a sign that maybe I should continue forward with acting…somehow.

The second sign was that a director I’d worked for in the midwest offered me a job at his theater. “Where are you? I’ve been looking for you. What are you doing in Arizona?!?”.

The third sign was that a colleague of mine was a professor at a state university and just happened to want to recruit me for their MFA program.

The forth and last sign was that I got a call from the mayor’s office. They wanted to offer me the job for which I’d applied.

WHAAAAAAT?!?

I told them I’d just accepted a job offer (from the director in the midwest) the previous day and that I’d gotten a letter from the office saying the position was filled.

“You weren’t supposed to get that letter!”

The universe had other plans.

I WAS supposed to get that letter.

I did the show.

I got my MFA.

I recommitted myself to a life in the arts.

I was willing to roll the dice one more time and bet…on myself.

I took a risk.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Sure. My name is Olivia D. Dawson. I am an actor. It took me a long time to be able to say that and now I say it with pride! I am less interested in where I am right now and more grateful to still be on my journey and looking forward to the lessons I will learn next! The thing I learn with every production in which I perform, every piece I write, or show I direct can be summed up in one word.

Empathy.

When I act, write or direct, I get the privilege of living other people’s lives and to experience things I otherwise never would.

Mostly, I get to understand.

I understand that no one is an island and we all are here together. A wise man once told me, “We are all one big organism. We think we are separate individuals but we are not.”

That is a gift.

In an interview with Cillian Murphy he mentioned that it takes 30 years to become an actor. 30 years. The things that I learn get deeper with my life experiences, insight, the people I encounter, and the passage of time. And that is making me a better person.

More resilient.

Kinder.

More patient with myself.

More patient with others.

I see it in the characters I get to portray, the cast mates I get to work with, the stories we get to tell, the tethers we create.

Empathy.

Walk a mile in my shoes and I’ll walk a mile in yours.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As an actor so much is out of our control, what took me years to learn was very simple: don’t stress.

Early in my career, every audition was life or death.

I lived in a constant state of anxiety and I always felt scared and overwhelmed. It felt like I walked around with my fists clenched all the time.

I knew I didn’t want to live my life that way. So I prayed to God to help me let go and release. I wanted to live my life with my hands wide open, not my fists clenched. If your fists are clenched, nothing can get out and nothing can come in. With hands wide open you are ready to give…and receive.

Now, whenever, I get an audition, I tell myself: “I get the chance to act today”!

During that audition, the part is mine and I can do whatever I want with it, make choices and have fun. I do it and I let it go and continue with my day.

In a business where approximately 2% of the people are employed believe me when I say:

Don’t stress and open up those hands!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I get to do what I love everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oliviaddawson.com/

Image Credits

From top left to right:

Photo #1: Volunteering with National Hook-Up of Black Women (Credit: none)
Photo #2: Folks at Home (Credit: Zach Rosing)
Photo #3: Henry V (Credit: Jeff Watkins)
Photo #4: The Tempest (Credit: Ning Goff)
Photo #5: The Three Musketeers (Credit: Jeff Watkins)
Photo #6: Judgment Day (Credit Liz Lauren)