We were lucky to catch up with Bjorn Backman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bjorn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us 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?

The biggest risk I’ve taken was not starting to pursue my creative career earlier. I truly believe all of us human beings are capable of living out our fullest potential, and it saddens me to see how many people tend to die before they turn 30 (as in giving up/not pursuing their dreams) only to live a 9-5 they hate and be buried at 90.

I’m confident that the biggest risk in life is not taking one. We are all here for such a short period of time, and there is no way out. So we might as well play this game as its most glorious.

My point is, that I waited so long to pursue my acting career due to self-doubt, other people’s opinion, imposter syndrome, etc. thinking that me going for such a leap would be too risky. Eventually, I had to ask myself: “Compared to what?” I got to a point where it was “do or die” or I knew I’d regret it forever. So, there I was, at the age of 24, making the decision to leave all my friends and family behind and move to another continent to pursue something I knew nothing about. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an actor first, model second, and brand ambassador third. After being a high school drop out, failing the GED three times to then failing math class two times, I recently graduated with my BFA in Acting from the University of Central Florida. I am now going all in, auditioning for what I can, have signed with multiple agents and am currently in rehearsals for a couple of theatre productions as well as filming both short films, commercials and independent feature films locally here in Orlando, FL while building up my portfolio so that I can eventually move on to a bigger market. Better to be a big fish in a small pond before venturing out, as the saying goes.

My main focus is towards building up my brand as a film/TV actor. I’m doing that, by taking acting classes, dialect classes, improv classes while at the same time managing my brand, builidng it up constantly by updating my reels, resume and headshots. I have my own self tape studio in my room which has made auditioning a breeze, although I do miss auditioning in person. Nothing beats the thrill and neves of being in the room. I believe nerves are excellent to have, because if you’re still nervous, it means you care!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Yes! This was extremely hard in the beginning. To start from scratch, promoting myself as a brand was a new concept to me. It was uncomfortable and felt weird. I think the impostor complex kicked in. Who was I to talk myself up on social media, and to who?

But, the more I learned about the craft and myself, I learned to stop caring about the numbers and the likes. I realized that as an actor, you ARE the product and part of the job is to sell yourself and show off what you have to offer as a talent. I’ve build my following base tremendously since the beginning and I feel it keeps me accountable now, which is the main reason I post, to share my journey with people for me, but also in hope that others can see it. Because if I came from nothing and can do it, so can anyone else. As the great Denzel Washington said, and I might be paraphrasing here, but “Once you make it, it’s your responsibility to reach down and help others up.” That is my biggest motivation and what I hope my legacy will be. To have inspired others through their adversity, to persevere and reach their goals.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

What drives me the most is knowing how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position. I’ve worked for it, for sure. But if someone saw where I came from and where I am now, they’d say that it would be impossible to go from that, to where I am now. I would say that, too. Looking back, I still can’t believe how I made it from a small, rural, yet beautiful town in the middle of Norway (it’s called Oppdal, you should definitively visit, the people are amazing and so is the scenery) to getting to act and pursue this dream in the USA.

Because of this, I feel I owe it to the people who believe in me, to succeed. I owe it to my mom, who has done absolutely everything for me, to succeed. To let her know she played such a huge part in making me into the man I am today, and to all the people who are supporting me during this journey. I owe it to them to make it, because they believe in me, and I refuse to let them down. This, I believe, drives me more than anything.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bjornbackmanofficial
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bjornbackmanactor
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/backman_actor

Image Credits
Headshots by JC Stuart Photography, Orlando, FL