We were lucky to catch up with Yassin Adam recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yassin, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Surprisingly, I got into writing just this year. I had no prior intentions or goals specifically to write any screenplays, but some odd things happened to me this past year that led to me taking directions that I would’ve never really imagined or envisioned myself taking. I’m extremely grateful, regardless. I think it has led to me becoming more of a well-rounded and passionate artist and actor, altogether.

To shorten a long story as much as possible, without leaving out key events or points, I basically met and talked with filmmakers at a film festival that I happened to be attending here in Atlanta. It was my first time ever attending one, and it was thanks to a project I worked on as an actor, that also happened to me my first ever on-screen role, with a friend and collaborator, Eli Saliba, titled “STAY.”

At the event, my long-time acting teacher also had a short film that he had worked on titled ‘CHIPPER’ that was being screened. So many films that were shown that night were well crafted, but this particular film had caught my eye. The cinematography was amazing, the story was one that resonated and felt personal to me, and the acting was phenomenal. I ended up meeting with that director, Shaun MacLean, and after that conversation, he mentioned to me that he would also be shooting another short film the following weekend and invited me to participate. That short film was titled ‘EATING 38 CHEESEBURGERS.’

After working on this short film, he and I kept in touch, and he sent me an email regarding local events to meet other filmmakers and actors, and he introduced me to a group called “Kick The Ladder,” which is essentially a weekly film festival, or as they call it, “a filmmaking game,” where you create one minute short films and screen them. I ended up attending. That following week, I ended up participating.

The feeling that I had of nervousness, anxiousness, but also in the end, the feelings of relief and creative fulfillment, and the passion of wanting to go through the process of organizing a team and creating a script all over again, week in and week out, was something I had never experienced before.

It reminded me of my early YouTube days, where I would have an idea for a specific kind of editing trick, or an idea for a funny bit or compilation series. I was experiencing it, but in the form of filmmaking. I realized then that I didn’t need to wait, as an actor, for someone to write me my own dream role when I could create it on my own. I began writing in the form of small sketches, and then went into writing out ideas for short film plots.

I found myself sending scripts for revision to my friend Eli Saliba, and as a writer himself, he would give me feedback, or critique things that could be fixed. I was unintentionally practicing writing simply because I wanted to make a short film for the first time.

Ideas would come to me at random times, and I found myself greenlighting them more often than not, and writing them out whenever I’d get the chance. I could simply be listening to a song, and an idea could pop up, or I could get an idea for a scene, and then write around it.

I have a short film that I’ve written and will shoot early next year titled ‘MY PLEASURE,” and the story actually came about due to a specific character type that I wanted to explore and portray, and I wrote the character into a scenario that would allow for me to bring specific traits of the character out that I was initially drawn to.

I like the idea of writing towards ideas that interest me, rather than starting with a preconceived idea of what a target audience may like. It is a uniqueness that will be present in your work, and it will be the driving force for you when it comes to holding onto the idea and story when people around you aren’t convinced that the story is worthwhile.

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 got into acting in 2021. I decided to use my last paycheck from my job to pay for a class, and I ended up really enjoying it. I found gigs to work background roles on many major television shows and films, and through those experiences, I became more knowledgeable on the industry and continued to make connections with others within the community. My passion to continue to learn and grow, and my curiosity towards seeing what it was like to be an actor on a set, led me to taking more classes, training more, learning even the technical aspects to on-screen performing, and was the driving force behind me continuing on with pursuing this dream and my goals during some of the lowest points in my career and life.

I used social media to document my journey. I am a pretty passionate fan of a pretty talented group of musical artists by the name of BTS. I had a fan page that I used to run, and soon it shifted to a more personal page that documented my acting journey. Many of my followers on social media at the time decided to stick with me, surprisingly, even after the shift, and remained supportive, often sharing words of encouragement and wisdom whenever I had doubts or shared the sentiment of feeling as though my career was stagnating. Many of my friends to this day are people who I’ve met through the BTS ARMY fandom.

In particular, I have a friend who is an actress based in Los Angeles by the name of Bryana Salaz. Since 2019, we have remained friends and have kept in contact with each other. She has offered me some very important pieces of advice during early pivotal points in my acting journey, and most importantly to me, she has always offered an open ear to me when I needed it most. It was thanks to social media that we had been able to connect. I remember seeing her upon immediately opening my Netflix app at times. She remains a big source of motivation and inspiration for me.

There are many things that I am most proud of accomplishing thus far as it pertains to my acting journey, and at the top of the list, I’d say I’m most proud of my growth and confidence in my technique that I have honed, in big part thanks to my acting teacher Mr. Jayson Warner Smith, who has introduced the Demidov school of acting to me. I’m also most proud of my driving force, which is my passion, which has only grown much bigger and stronger since my start only a few years ago. I believe I have come very far, and that I also have much more to learn, experience, and explore ahead of me.

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

At some point much earlier on in my acting journey, I was at a point where I was doing background roles in film and television, but I had felt as though I was nowhere close to where I had envisioned myself being. I questioned my purpose. Desperation began to seep into my acting pursuit. I was becoming impatient with myself.

Without noticing it, I had put a timer on something that should never be timed, which was my career, and I had set unreasonably high goals and expectations for myself. I did not understand that there were so many aspects of this industry and of my career in relation to that, that I do not have any control over, whatsoever. I was comparing myself to those around me, whether it be other background actors, or fellow classmates.

You have to pursue this career out of pure love for the artform of visual storytelling. You have to love the art and the continuous act of honing your craft, even outside of any set. If you base your happiness and are driven by things such as getting an agent, or booking a speaking role and getting a film or television credit, then you’d be setting yourself up for a long life of constant disappointment, and then if and when you do ultimately reach those goals, you’d find that you would feel completely empty. You must have a true love for this artform, because that would be what keeps you sane, fulfilled, but also content during times of drought and uncertainty.

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

My journey in pursuing a career within this industry can be characterized as a series of trial and error. There is not one correct way to act, nor is there one solid first step that every actor must take in order to pursue a successful career in this field.

There are classes that could be misleading for beginners. I was unable to discern between good classes to invest my time and money into and ones that I probably shouldn’t.

I remember taking my first few acting classes that taught acting for the camera, and I remember an instructor who insisted that I remain somewhat still, and physically refrain from making any movements, specifically for my auditions.

Looking back now, I don’t have any idea whether or not they meant to say that I should try to limit movement in regards to tight framing versus wider framing, but all I remember is that I took it literally and was still in my early auditions. I would’ve appreciated it if I was corrected at any point later on in future classes and encouraged to be natural, rather than to be as still as a statue, but I was never corrected.

It was a class that I found to be more suitable for students who have a solid foundation for their acting, but needed to fine tune their technical knowledge and skills. I had no foundation, and I had no technical awareness or skill. I had to unlearn this habit, which forced me for a while to be conscious of myself and my physicality during auditions, which at times led to an awkward feeling of not knowing where to place my weight, or where to place my hands, and so on and so forth. This was just one example of when I had to unlearn something I was previously taught.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yassinjamaladam.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yassinjamaladam/profilecard/?igsh=YWh5Z200ZmhmZnhz
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yassinadam?feature=shared
• Other: https://linktr.ee/yassinjadam

Image Credits

“Portrait” – short film by Pranav Abraham

Athens Film Festival photos by Merrielle Gatlin & Athens Film Festival

Birthday themed photo – my short film titled “SURPRISE!” which is available on YouTube – https://youtu.be/_jMNuPM83jo?feature=shared

Eric (My Strange Fears) portrayed by me in my short skit titled “KIDNAPPING PRANK GONE WRONG” – also available on YouTube:

Headshots by Brad Carter of Brad Carter Studios (permission granted to use for promotional and personal reasons)