We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful AJ Newman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with AJ below.

AJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is actually the last major project I did called “Sue Inside”. Acting is fun for me but I love to push myself and take on roles of characters who are complicated or maybe even misunderstood. For Sue Inside, I played the role of a young, suicidal man suffering from depression and other mental illnesses. The reason it was so meaningful for me is because I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety before (amongst other things) and have had people close to me deal with similar mental health issues that my character had such as being bipolar, or something in and around that field. It was important to me that I got all the little things right when playing this character. I wanted to represent this group of people who suffer from mental illness in the most accurate and telling way possible, and luckily the writing and directing helped steer me in the perfect direction to get it right.

AJ, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I broke into the film industry my senior year of college after stepping away from football. I always loved acting but football consumed most of my time, so I never got to act much since high school. But once I was finished playing, I decided to take an acting class at my university, and that one class ended up being the spark I needed to go all in. I love any and all kind of acting but my focus is on film and television at the moment. Although I consider myself a funny person and all my friends and family would probably agree, for some reason I always always ALWAYS get cast in dramatic roles. I’d say about 90-95% of my acting work is in drama, but I’m always ready for the next comedy to come my direction! I know that being an actor in Los Angeles is risky and not all that unique to the location, but I think the main thing that sets me apart from the thousands of other actors around me is why I do it. I act, first of all, because I love it. It’s one of the most fun things in the world to me and I couldn’t imagine never doing it again. But also, I act because I love bringing emotion to people. I think its important for all humans to feel things- good, bad and everywhere in between. There’s nothing I love more than making people laugh. Laughing is food for the soul and I try to make someone laugh every day. Being an actor, that gives me the pedestal to touch people on a much larger scale. instead of making a room full of my friends laugh, I can make an entire theater full of strangers laugh. And not only laugh, but also cry, get angry, feel anxious, excited, thrilled, and everything else. Acting gives me the tools to make so many people feel so many emotions and that’s what really makes me love it so much- being able to touch so many people on a personal level.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

In my experience, many non-creatives haven’t been able to understand why I am willing to struggle to make it. And just to clear things up, I never intended to be a struggling or “starving” artist. If I could make it over night I would, but the reality is that its very rare to do so. The reason, though, why I’m okay with the “struggle” is because I know the pay off once I achieve my goals and I know how it makes me feel day to day being able to do what I love. I would rather be a homeless actor than a six figure 9-5 office worker any day of the week. I don’t mind fighting the hard fight for a little while as long as I can always do what I love doing. So many friend or even strangers have told me they hate their job but they need the money. Or that they don’t like the work they do but it’s what they got their degree in. I got my bachelors degree- which I’m very proud of- but I still don’t work in that field. it’s greta to have something like that in my back pocket if I need it but if I have a chance at making a little less money for now by doing something I love every day, then I’m taking that opportunity every single time. Life is much too short to not do what you love and for me, acting is that love. Not sitting at an office desk, or filing paperwork or anything like that. Make no mistake- those are great jobs if you love that work and I would 100% encourage it if you enjoy it. But for me, I have to do what I love, and it looks a little different than most people’s jobs.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

NFT’s are weird to me. No offense to anyone who got into that! I just never really understood the point. To me it’s just a lot more simple to have regular money and currency hahaha. I think NFT’s were just a product of popularity among social media users and that’s why it became such a big thing. In the end, though, I feel like it will fade just like all the other trends do.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundoutaj/
• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9801620/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_5_q_aj%2520ne