We were lucky to catch up with Austin Greene recently and have shared our conversation below.

Austin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

December 31st, 2023 is my last day of work before I get laid off from my day job. My natural inclination is to immediately rebound and get another day job to support my family. Instead, I’ve decided to try and go full time as an actor. I’ve worked on enough projects last year that I began to realize it may be possible to survive off of my dream. But a lot remains uncertain, and I have my fears. It seems that this might be the push that I’ve needed all along.

Austin, 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?

I’ve always known I wanted to be a performer of some sort. It wasn’t always obvious whether my path was towards music or acting, for a while I thought It was with music because acting just seemed to far fetched. I began my creative pursuits because of a good friend, who pressured me to play the music that I showed him in confidence at a local open mic night. I had been writing songs since my early childhood, and was only a few years into being able to play guitar over my vocals. Needless to say I wasn’t yet confident enough to play for a crowd.

This crowd was made up of maybe six other people; and two women in the audience who were friends with the host, took great joy in playfully heckling the talent. Once I played in front of people that I knew might heckle me regardless and independent of my actual ability I realized that I could actually do this. I was scared, I tried, and I survived. Suddenly a whole new world of opportunity opened up for me. I soon began taking Improv classes at a friends suggestion, and another friend mentioned auditions for an original musical written by some local creatives. Over the next few years I continued taking Improv classes, and acting in a number of shows at the community theater. Some friends I met at the Improv theater asked if I would be interested in acting in a short film for the 48 hour film festival that they were organizing; Vidjam.

48 hour film festivals are great for aspiring creatives because by design they require you to be as resourceful as you can possibly be because you only have 48 hours after hearing a prompt, and you have to make a short film based off of that suggestion and have it turned in before the two days are up. It takes away the pressure of expectation because turning anything in after 48 hours is quite an accomplishment. I took absolutely every opportunity I could at these festivals, made great connections that I still hold dearly, and I also got great demo/reel footage, some of which I still use. I acted in 15 short films for that festival over the next few years before realizing that it was time to start taking the next step.

I began seeking out new acting classes, I wanted to refine my skills in front of the camera because it turns out that acting on stage and working in front of the camera are two different things. I took a local acting for film class in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and I became fast friends with the class. In person classes are the best places to network, because you get a chance to play and get to know each other in a way that is much more organic than simply walking up to someone at a marketing event and trying to see what you have in common. I made one friend in particular who has been some my greatest support both professionally and personally. Suddenly I’m acting in commercials, short films, feature films.

We all think at some point that we just wish someone could give us an opportunity to prove that we have talent, but I now know to be patient, because it turns out we’re right were we’re supposed to be, and If an opportunity comes before you are actually prepared, than it is worse than never having the opportunity at all. The most important thing is to constantly try and educate yourself, and try to be prepared for whatever might come your way. I’m constantly trying to learn; I’m constantly reading books on acting, watching actors talk about their craft and trying to figure out how I can implement that into my craft, and being involved in classes is one of the only ways to get feedback from people who actually know what they’re talking about. The big thing is trusting that you are doing the best that you can, and offering up what you have as truthfully as possible.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think some people require a certain amount of stability to be happy. They need to know exactly where their next paycheck is coming from, they need to know exactly how much money they have in their account at all times, they need a routine to be content. If you are someone who is creative I think you have a different threshold for the amount of stability required to feel comfortable.

I need a certain amount of chaos to feel comfortable, and I feel similarly uncomfortable to the way the person mentioned above does when things are to mapped out and orderly. We’re just different types of people, and thank goodness for that. I’m happy that there are people who like that they know exactly what their week looks like before it happens, and they control for the unpredictability as much as possible because they don’t like surprises; I get it. I guess I’d rather have life surprise me, even though not all of the surprises are pleasant.

I need to feel that my future is different from my present. My present is currently great! I would change nothing upon my own volition. But I like to live in a way in which change is inevitable, because the best things in my life currently, are things that I was once much to afraid to allow in.

Life is impossible to control, I’d rather not pretend that I can. If I get comfortable with chaos, than I can learn how to ride the waves of it’s unpredictability, and I think that can be the pathway to a certain kind of wisdom. It’s a burden I’ve chosen to bare and I completely understand why someone wouldn’t understand that.

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

I have four children, and I’m married. Naturally, the philosophy where I grew up was that once you have children, it is no longer about you; and I believe that is true. So there is a part of me at all times that feels guilt whenever my pursuits and my dreams threaten the stability of my household. If you are an entrepreneur you HAVE to take chances, but as a father those chances don’t only effect me, and that is really scary as a father.

This last October I received a phone call from upper management from my day job, I work as a Licensed Massage Therapist in a hospital setting, and they decided that in 2024 they would be discontinuing the massage practices. I was laid off from my reliable and functionally convenient day job. This job had been a source of positivity for me and had helped me to have a healthy amount of time off for my acting gigs. This was the second job I had lost since the pandemic due to circumstances completely out of my control. So you would imagine that I would be torn up; but instead I got really excited as she apologized to me on the phone, I was even joking with the person on the other end of the line about my continued misfortune. I realized that this was just the motivation that I needed to get my butt in gear. It was time to become a full time actor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theofficialaustingreene.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austin_conner_greene/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@austingreene9367?si=9AMpNXWDfclARsAx
• Other: IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm10556923?s=c4c658ae-9f06-4f11-de3c-1d9037f5a049&site_preference=normal