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

Ellen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I was a social worker for the Welfare Department in New York . It was right after college and I visited 90 cases every month. I liked my job. I liked visiting my people on my case load. I was very diligent. After six years of doing this job and a few years of psychotherapy I was at my therapist’s office… Dr. James Spingarn, I had an incredible revelation… I realized I wanted to be an actor. My huge fear was, I won’t be successful! Dr. Spingarn told me about success, he said, “Success is doing what you want to do!” So many people are doing jobs that they don’t want to do.
So, I left my very secure job and took a RISK. I learned a monologue and went right over to the Lee Strasberg Institute and auditioned for Lee’s class and got in. That was one of the best things that happened to me. I studied with him for five incredible years.
‘The phone call home!!!’ I explained how I left my secure job and I am committed to being the best actress I could be. My mother was on the phone and my father was on the extension phone. All I could hear was my mother’s painful gasp for about fourteen minutes!

Ellen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a filmmaker I am interested in every day heroes and people on the edge of society. Connecting people and not having them feel isolated is so important. I have a through line of humanity and humor in my scripts. I wrote and produced and directed an international award winning short film, ‘Waiting For Ronald’, about a thirty six year old man with developmental disabilities who leaves the facility where he has spent all of his life, he takes his suitcase fears and humor to meet his best friend and start a new life. I shot on film which was so exciting and I had a blended cast of actors with disabilities and some without. Then I made a documentary interviewing the actors and their family talking about the ways the film changed their life. Mostly they felt important and proud of the fact that they were not only actors but did a great job. I am still in contact with them today. It was a wonderful experience. Directing is a love of mine.
I also adapted, produced, acted in, directed and wrote the song for an international award winning short film, ‘Come Away With Me’. A woman goes to her fifty year high school anniversary in hopes of reconnecting with her high school sweetheart. It is a beautiful heartfelt film. He has dementia and only remembers her after she leaves.
I have a feature script that has just won best script at New Media Film Festival and is a finalist at the NYC Film Festival called ‘Big Al, Hip Hop and Her’, a brilliant Psychotherapist on the verge of media stardom when her estranged father, a charming trouble maker lands in her lap. He becomes best buddies with a young street rapper who teaches them how to be a family.
I have many other scripts, a feature,’CookieFace’, a pilot, ‘Just South of Normal’, a musical, ‘Finding Dr. Jeannee’, a Solo show, ‘My Psychotherapy ComeBack Tour’.
I love acting and studied with Lee Strasberg. Recently I worked on some wonderful shows and with incredible directors, MiMi Leder, Martin Scorsese, Mark Rydell , Rob Marshall to name a few. I have acted with Robert DeNiro, Tom Hardy, William H. Macy andJeremy Allen White to name a few. I am a member of the Actors Studio.
To teach and coach actors is also a love of mine. I am one of the top teacher of script analysis and am very successful at building confidence.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After a few years of being an actor I took on something that made my parents very happy, especially my mother. My parents loved owning a furniture store, they were business people. I loved vintage things and opened up a antique store called Pearl River. I had it for about a year and had a partner. One day I was carrying a heavy lamp into the store and I had an awakening… What was I doing for gosh sakes. This is not what I am supposed to be doing and it is something I don’t want to do. I realized it made my mom so happy, but not me!
I immediately went back to acting and teaching acting. I decided to go to grad school for Psychology and became a psychotherapist but did NOT give up the acting. I even did stand up. I gave up the store.
THEN, knowing where my heart and passion always was and will be and that is acting and filmmaking. This is what makes me happy and I have stories to tell that people can relate to and I can give people hope. My career choice just has to make ME happy and I am happy and I always have hope!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There is a story I am going to tell you to help explain my resilience at an early age. My older sister rode and showed horses and her classes at the shows were judged on the riders form. I wanted to ride like her but the only problem was I was afraid of horses. My mom would take me twice a week for riding lessons. My mom would say, “You don’t have to ride horses if you’re scared.” I would be crying in the back seat, but I never missed a lesson. I kept riding and I rode 5-gaited horses… show horses, in my classes at the horse show I would be riding against professional trainers. When I was eleven and twelve I taught myself to visualize the class right before I went in the ring and became Florida State Champion in 5-gaited division. I am still the youngest to ever win that award. I never gave up!
So, I never give up! Concerning acting and script writing and filmmaking, I LOVE the process and that is so important. Who knows what the result will be so you have to love working on your craft and continue to refine it. There have been times when I didn’t get a part that I wanted SO BAD and it can be depressing. In that case I get under the covers… with cookies, have a good cry and when I finish I wipe the crumbs off and ONWARD!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ellengestin.com
• Instagram: www.instagram/.ellengerstein
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/.OfficalEllenGerstein
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/.ellen-gerstein-8o1aa158
• Youtube: https://.www.youtube.com/.channel/.UCvFUVCBPHPL5vqYLj3cvi-w
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.htt:www.yelp.com/biz/ellen-gersteins-acting-workshop-los-angeles-2?osq=ellen+gerstein
• Other: IMDB www.imdb.com/.name/nm0314910/.
  Wikipedia:
  https://.en.wikipedia.org/.wiki/Ellen_Gerstein

Image Credits

Charlie Robinson (Actor in my International award winning film, Come Away With Me – Newport Beach Festival)
Polly Morgan, DP (She’s featured in the photo of me walking in the pink suit)