We recently connected with Elissa Croslin and have shared our conversation below.

Elissa, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

A question like this can be really tricky for me sometimes. I sometimes wish that I had picked a different path- maybe accounting, maybe social work, or a work as a therapist. So that I could actually have a savings account, etc. But the problem is that I have always wanted to be an actor. I have always wanted to perform/put on a show. When I was a kid my friends and I would make news shows about our neighborhood, or my mom would film me cleaning my room in order to get me to actually clean my room, and I also used to do whatever it took to make other people laugh. I don’t think any other career path would have ever worked for me or have ever fulfilled me. Granted, this is not an easy path by any means. But I think that when your goal is to be an artist that is compensated for their work while working with friends and creating things together as opposed to your singular goal getting to be “famous”, you’re in a better place to find success in your goal. I am happy as an artist. Do I wish I was getting gigs where I was paid for my work? Yes, of course. I also know that this part before the getting more fairly compensated for my work and booking bigger jobs is just one part of my career! And I am in the part that comes before that in my career. I am okay with that, so long as I continue striving towards my goals as an artist. I am laying the foundation of a career I plan to be in for the rest of my life! I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, even on the days where maybe I feel like quitting. Quitting is unfortunately not an option for me. It would be an easy way out, but like I said there is nothing else that I believe in for myself quite like acting.

Elissa, 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?

You may have seen me in a commercial for a chain of hospitals in San Antonio as “yoga teacher” or maybe you’ve seen me in my multiple university short films, or maybe from season 4 episode 8 of acts as a blurry background actor. I’m an actor! A writer! A comedienne and improviser! I am a “other part of production so long as it’s fun and I get paid or at least IMDb credits”-er! I kid, I kid. I’ve been jazz hands and a goofy face as long as I can remember, does that count? I guess truth be told, I didn’t get “serious” about acting until high school. I think I thought the idea of being a really serious actor was a farce until I had to start thinking about college majors and knew that it had to be acting because I didn’t want to take any more math classes than I had to. I originally attended OU (University of Oklahoma) my freshman year of college and then ended up taking a semester off and transferring to Pepperdine University my second semester of sophomore year- quite a change, may I add. I studied theater there and graduated in 2020, a perfect time to be a broke actor! I had to move home back to my hometown of Austin, TX where I did lots of Zoom acting classes and then eventually did improv at Coldtowne Theatre where I was in multiple house teams there on top of auditioning for as much acting stuff as I could! My husband and I moved on up to LA in 2023, and I’ve been trying to build up my career out here since then. I would say I’m still so in love with improv and have studied out here with both Groundlings and UCB, but I am also wanting to work on nitty gritty things like dramatic plays and films. I am hoping to have a career that will support both my love of comedy but also my desire to share stories with heart that resonate with people. I am learning that writing my own work could really be such a beautiful step in the right direction. With more and more actresses doing this, I feel like it really shows that we CAN do it all as actors if we want to! I think something that is different about me is that I care about others whole lot, and acting as storytelling feels like a way to support the people I care about (and sometimes even myself and my own stories). I feel everything I feel so deeply that it can be overwhelming at times, but as an actor, it is a superpower in a way. I strive to be authentic in myself and in the work I choose to do! I am so proud of all the connections I have already made out here, along with my continued study of acting in classes and such. It can be such an isolating thing to devote your life to at times but I applaud my ability to keep it as a focus and to slowly chisel away at the work it takes to be a grounded and real human along with a good (hopefully great) actor.

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

Society can best support artists and creatives by watching, sharing, and enjoying our work. I also think having a more supportive society for everyone would be helpful. If you have a friend that is an artist or creative please go to their art shows, film premieres, improv shows, etc. You don’t know how much it means to them. As an artist, we are meant to open ourselves up to a vulnerability level that can be scary at times, and for people we care about to show up and support us can really mean the world. I also wish creatives were more supportive of each other too! It’s not a competition, I believe we all have a seat at the table. We all have a completely different perspective on life and our work is like that too!
I also hope (especially in the current time we are living in) that art could be seen as an expression of hope, truthfulness and light- and that we could support the creatives in our lives to lean into their creativity as healing as opposed to shying away from it.
Also, to anyone thinking they aren’t a “creative person,” you are. Society has maybe told you that you are not, but you are. Maybe it isn’t as apparent as me doing something wacky on a stage but trust that you are creative and you use that creativity every day even if you don’t notice it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is getting to be myself. It is so freeing to me. I think that aspect is tied with making life long connections with people that are like me. You slowly, over time, create this network of creatives that you have collected that support you in your work as you cheer them on in theirs. It is so heartwarming and honestly helps me to keep going when things are difficult. As far as getting to be myself goes, I was and always will be a weird kid. I used to think that was a bad thing. Weird = bad. But now? Weird = unique = really good. Now I get to have a career in which having a different view of the world and my place in it, and what it all means is a great thing. Doing strange voices and dancing goofily is all in a hard days work around here. I love getting to be me and watching other people be fully themselves too!! It rocks!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elissacroslin.com
• Instagram: yourfriendelissa
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elissacroslin