We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful E-Kan Soong. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with E-Kan below.

Alright, E-Kan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

So funny story – my name’s E-Kan (pronounced Ee-Kahn, like Econ class), and I actually was an Econ major in college. No joke. Despite all the jokes, I actually double majored in Math and Econ because I figured, why not. I always excelled in school and knew I could do a more conservative job than acting, but thankfully knew early on this is what I wanted to do with my life. Eventually I got to the point, it was time to live my life. After graduating, I remember showing up to interviews for high profile banking jobs wearing my ill-fitting suit and thinking “What am I doing here?” It was like a scene out of a bad 90’s movie. So then I moved across the country to Los Angeles without any money or a job with my friend from college and never looked back. I’m amazed how simple it was for me. It was the perfect combination of confidence and pure ignorance.

Being able to see the other side and having sniffed what it would be like to have a regular job helps me appreciate the creative life even more. I love the freedom and that each day is different from the next. They aren’t easy necessarily, but I’d take that over being in a cubicle. I always had side gigs – working retail, bartending, catering, and eventually tutoring kids, which were crucial because I was never desperate for a paycheck and was able to keep my dream going. I never thought having a side job compromised my artistic career, but only helped it thrive. All I wanted to do was survive another day and that was what I considered “success”. Sometimes actors can be a little too idealistic. I feel what blocks a lot of creatives is finding this balance of what they need to do for their career and craft and also living their life, and on top of that, paying the bills and being an adult. Whether you have a regular job or not, all that matters is you’re still creating.

It’s healthy to explore all possibilities. I regularly check in and ask myself, “Is this what I want to be doing with my life?” And in five years, maybe the answer will be different. And that’s okay. But for now, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else and still love this crazy life of an actor.

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

I would say my main focus has always been on acting first and foremost, but I have explored all aspects of filmmaking like writing, directing, and editing, more so now I’m creating content on Instagram and YouTube. Not exactly sure when my first desire to perform happened, but growing up, I was always captivated by films and tv. I would often entertain my friends in school and disrupt class by reenacting lines and scenes from tv shows I saw the night before – anything to escape the boredom.

Acting-wise, I’ve been directed by and acted alongside Tom Hanks, worked on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, Bosch: Legacy, and New Girl, as well as many national commercials, including one spot running right now. I have been studying acting for years here in Los Angeles and believe it’s a never-ending journey to get better and sharper.

Recently, I’ve been creating and producing videos for social media breaking down complex and interesting things but in a (hopefully) humorous and simple way. The ultimate goal was to create something I would enjoy watching myself but also serve others by teaching something useful and maybe have a laugh or two. I started to find an audience particularly during the actors’ and writers’ strike last year because a lot of the negotiation process was very complicated.

I’ve hesitated for years doing social media but now find it incredibly rewarding and empowering. It’s great practice being on-camera as an actor but also using the filmmaking skills I’ve accumulated over the years producing my own projects. Teaching myself how to edit was kind of a happy accident, and I’m so grateful it happened. What started out as making no-budget sketches with friends turned into starring and producing a no-budget award-winning webseries (Born Losers) and directing an award-winning short (No Laughing Matter: Tears of a Clown) with my writing partner.

Those self-produced projects are still what I’m most proud of today, but the content I’m creating online is quickly catching up.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

People don’t believe me when I say this, but I went in to see producers for a very popular network tv show over 35 times. It was probably much more, but I stopped counting after 30. These were when in-person auditions were more common and were call back sessions, so that’s not even including the first audition “pre-reads” I did. On top of that, it might have been the most intimidating room in Los Angeles. You have no less than twelve producers squished together on two sofas staring back at you while someone’s reading with you behind the camera. So over the course of eight or nine years (it is a very long running show), I was going back into the same office, seeing the same producers every time, wondering if I was ever going to book this show. Some roles were a great fit, some roles not at all, but I kept going back, determined one of these were going to hit. I wasn’t sure if it started to feel like a curse or a badge of honor.

Eventually a great role came up that required me to speak Chinese which is not my first language. I had my mom translate it for me and drilled it over and over again. I was called back to producers and it was going great except when the Chinese lines came up – I completely blanked on the lines. I hesitated for a second and just went with it. I uttered anything, not even remotely resembling Chinese. Of course, when I finished the scene, I saw an Asian producer sitting next to the camera and thought, “He knows I’m full of it.” I walked out of the room with my head held high and assumed it wasn’t going to happen, yet again.

Sure enough, I got the call the day after that I booked it. It was more relief than anything. What I took from the experience was we aren’t in control of when things happen in this career. It takes a lot of trust and patience and that’s a beautiful part of our career. It’s also a victory being called into the same office over again. They believed in me as an actor and wanted to see what I could do, even though the role might be a stretch. Building relationships like this is rare because now we’re mostly sending in self-tapes. And lastly, it helps to have a short memory as an actor. Each audition is a fresh opportunity and you have to let go of the other roles you didn’t book and focus on the one right now.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think more so than ever before, it’s important to support artists and creatives that you believe in. Funding for the arts is being cut across the country, but beyond that, we are in an attention economy. The smart phone in your pocket is fighting for your attention and probably winning, and now that AI is entering into the mainstream of entertainment, there will be exponentially more things to watch.

I recently did a video on how someone supposedly used AI to generate a George Carlin stand-up special and what it means for entertainment. I hope people understand how much of a say we have in what things get made and succeed. If you have a problem with AI taking over Hollywood or bands being recreated using AI type holograms, don’t watch it or buy their tickets. Go watch an indie film in the theater. We vote with our clicks, we vote with our attention, and we vote with our dollar. If you want something to succeed in this crowded marketplace, it’s even more important to support it anyway you can because the studios and corporations would give it the axe assuming there’s no money in it. We have more power and our choices matter more than we think.

Contact Info:

• Website: ekansoong.com
• Instagram: @ekansoong
• Facebook: @ekansoong
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekansoong/
• Twitter: @ekansoong
• Youtube: @ekansoong
• Other: https://beacons.ai/ekansoong

Image Credits
Amanda Edwards for the Getty image. I’m not sure if those are allowed for these purposes.