We recently connected with Ryan James and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan , thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

If I could go back in time, I def think I would have preferred to have started my acting career as a child. I was always so fascinated watching shows on Nickelodeon and Disney and seeing the child actors doing their thing on camera! Learning the craft at that age is priceless because it puts you ahead of so many others who wait until adulthood to pursue this dream.

Even though I knew at a young age that I wanted to be on TV, it didn’t feel like a tangible dream to accomplish being from Memphis, TN. Memphis wasn’t exactly the land of opportunity for people who wanted to work in the TV industry and I knew that in order to make it happen, I would eventually have to move away to a city where the work was happening.

After highschool, I went to Middle Tennessee State University and majored in Electronic Media Production (TV Production) with the mindset that I would work behind the scenes and use that as segue into the talent side… And that’s exactly what I did.

I think that starting at a younger age would have afforded me the opportunity to build my resume with credits and get that much needed experience on set that helps us as actors get to the next levels.

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 background and context?

I think one thing that sets me apart from others is my resilience. Life has thrown a lot of things my way that would make a person want to give up but I always kept my eyes on the prize. I’ve been telling my friends and family since I was a little boy that I was going to be an Actor on TV and anytime I start to doubt myself or get discouraged, that younger voice of mine whispers in my ear to “Keep Going”. In this type of business, you have to have the faith that regardless of how long it takes, that your time is coming because its very easy to want to quit. You get told “No’ very often but it only takes 1 “Yes” to change everything.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A couple of years ago, I had to UN-learn comparing myself to others. Its easy in this industry to see others booking jobs more frequently and getting discouraged wondering when your time is coming but in hindsight, never knowing what that person has gone through to get to where they are now. .Everyone’s journey and road to success is different but its important to remember that its only one YOU and that is what makes you unique and special. What’s for YOU is for YOU and nothing will stop what is predestined in your life.

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

We now live in a “social media age” where so many opportunities can come from our social media profiles alone. Instagram has become an updated version of your “business card” so I always advise others to make sure to keep it updated and always promote yourself and your projects. You can create content, post it and tag casting directors and you would be surprised at how many of them actually look at that stuff. My following grew organically from me being consistent with posting on my page. My brand is Actor/Model/Traveler/Influencer and that’s what you primarily will see on my page.
I’ve been posted on “The Shade Room” 3 times and Supermodel Tyra Banks also posted some of my modeling pics on her Model Land page so lots of followers came from being posted on those verified pages.

Brands and Casting Directors have reached out to me via social media for work as well as commercials due to me posted so often. I’m very proud of how much my social media following as grown over the years and my advice to others is so stay consistent, always engage with you followers by replying to comments and ALWAYS PROMOTE YOUR WORK.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm4764001/?ref_=m_recent_view
• Instagram: @Ryan.James
• Facebook: Ryan James

Image Credits
Marie Thomas Alima Albari Nikki Rumph