We recently connected with CALLIE BUSSELL and have shared our conversation below.
CALLIE, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an actor. I’ve always had big emotions and loved performing as my outlet for them. My parents were very traditional and weren’t very supportive of my passion to pursue art professionally, but I was very blessed that they were willing to help me pay for my college education. It came with the caveat that I get a degree in something that would provide financial stability. This resulted in me getting a degree in Economics and Management that I have, to this day, never used, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre.
Upon finishing my fourth year of schooling, in which I was spending up to 10 hours a day in the theatre between class, working in the scene shop, and rehearsals for the four plays I did each year, I still didn’t fully believe that it was possible for me to have a career as a creative. It was still “just for fun”. It wasn’t until one of my professors sat me down in her office and very sincerely said to me, “You know, you’re good enough to do this professionally.” Those words set the course of my life. This woman was truly a take-no-shit person, and I know she would have never said that to me if she didn’t feel it was true. She was the first person I felt who TRULY believed in me like I did, and with her encouragement, I committed to an artistic life.
CALLIE, 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 am an actor and a creative writer specializing in sci-fi, dark comedies, and commercials. I started working in film when I partnered with Tommy Kraft, creator of “Star Trek Horizon” – a Star Trek fan film garnering over 15 million views on YouTube. Tommy and I started our film company, TK2 Films, where we produced award-winning short film, “Runaway” and our flagship project and science fiction world, “Electron Blade”. I’ve since gone on to work in production and casting, starred in multiple feature films including “Camp Murder” which is quickly gaining popularity in the independent world, “Saturnalia” a dark comedy about a man living with Satan as his roommate, and I’m featured in the internationally acclaimed World War II film, “Wolfhound”. I think I am most well-known for my work with Whisker, as the quirky, yet charming Kizzy the Cat Lady in my National Commercial Spot for Litter Robot.
I am very excited for my upcoming leading roles in the dark thriller “Thy Will Be Done” where I will be playing Detective Stefani who has a sixth sense for solving crime, and starring alongside Michael Alan Herman in the touching dramedy “American Swelling”. Additionally, one of my favorite projects to date, “Sydney” will be hitting the festival circuit soon. Sydney follows a group of friends recording a podcast, but truly nothing is as it seems.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I think that a lot of actors are taught early on to live and die by their art, which I think is a deeply noble cause, and how I approached art for the majority of my life. Art is everything. It’s what makes us human. I have sacrificed hours, dollars, and so much time in the pursuit of an artistic life, and I will never regret that. However, there is a lot of toxicity that comes from learning that you must do ANYTHING for your art. I’ve wound up with my heart broken over my art more times than I can count or in situations that left me feeling taken advantage of, and while it made me extremely resilient, it’s also not how I want to feel all the time.
So now I hold a little stronger boundaries surrounding my creativity. When something doesn’t feel safe, you don’t do it, even if you’re afraid you might make your reps or production upset. You show up for your art every day and grind, but don’t kill yourself over it. There will always be more opportunities. And there are always more chances to welcome in the light because if it isn’t inspiring joy or igniting your passion, what’s the point?
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?
About a year ago, one of my best friends was job hunting. She would message me about how frustrated she was that she wasn’t getting any bites, and worst of all, no feedback from the hiring managers. She kept getting ghosted from companies and was starting to get very down on herself. I hold a lot of compassion for that journey. Being an actor means that that journey never ends.
Actors are always lovingly (and sometimes not-so-lovingly) portrayed as extremely sensitive drama-queens, but it takes a true warrior spirit to put yourself on display weekly, naked and bleeding as we say, for audition after audition (if you’re lucky enough to get one) and be rejected. Being an artist is one of the only professions in which you are told “no” every single day, and you get up and you keep going. There is so much preparation for that one lucky chance where your hard work lines up with the director’s vision. It even costs money to display our work in places where it will be seen by people who can hire us. Trust me, it is totally worth it. It’s just very hard sometimes.
So if you have any actor friends, give them a little extra love. We’ve bared our souls and been rejected already six times this week.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.calliebussell.com
- Instagram: @calliebussell
- Other: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/calliebussell https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5318801/
Image Credits
Jackson Davis Photography