Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Grayson Niles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Grayson thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

Of all the great advice/lessons I’ve learned from work I always have one I think about on nearly a daily basis. I wish I could remember who I originally heard this from, but the idea is that the only two things you can ever really control in life are your effort and your attitude. Everything else relies on a number of other factors and variables, but how much effort you give any given situation, and the attitude you have towards it, are entirely our own. This has helped me personally by alleviating some negativity after I don’t book an acting gig so long as I know I gave my best effort. If you try your best and lose, you can always be proud that you gave it your all and left nothing on the table. It really sucks when something doesn’t work out, AND you know you could have tried harder. Give everything 100 percent. It won’t always work out (as is life), but knowing you gave your all and cared about it, truly means the world.

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

I am an actor and comedian originally from Ottawa, Canada. I went to film school in Austin, Texas with the full intent of becoming a sound designer/mixer, but as Gandalf says “things change my dude”. I moved to Los Angeles after school and about a year later I signed up for an acting class to try something new. I immediately fell in love and pivoted my priorities to acting. I’ve been pursuing it ever since and find it the first thing in my life I’ve never gotten bored of, which is pretty amazing. It’s definitely not always easy, but I’ve had a really encouraging year so far which has been delightfully validating. I’ve gotten to work on some very cool projects and pay multiple bill cycles through just acting for the first time in my life which has been huge. Regardless of status or accolades, my marker for success is that if you can pay your bills through your art, you are successful. And it’s been really special and rewarding to be able to do that and feel like a professional for the first time!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started making TikToks early last just as a way to get dumb bits and ideas out of my head. For the longest time I would think of something funny and then just let it dissolve out of my mind, never to be heard from again. So as a practice of staying creative and just trying stuff out, I started making videos and to my surprise, other people also seemed to like them. But truly truly truly the only advice I give people is to just make stuff. Some of it might suck or go nowhere, but that’s okay! I’m a big advocate for trying stuff and failing. It makes you resilient and helps sculpt your tastes and talents. Find out what works and what doesn’t. And if you love something you make and it goes nowhere on socials that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means the almighty algorithm wasn’t amused for one of fifty million reasons. But keep making stuff and keep trying things!

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

I’ve actually thought about NFTs a lot over the last couple of weeks, mainly wondering if they still exist. I’m just old enough to kind of remember the Beanie Baby boom in the 90s and it feels kind of similar. I’m sure for a very select group of people, NFTs mean a lot, but for the dumb dumbs like me, I truly cannot see their value. And I’ve had it explained to me between 5 and 6000 times and I still can’t get on board. But hey if they’re not for me that doesn’t mean they’re not for someone else. So by all means enjoy your digital license of a non-tangible piece of art? Is that what they are? I honestly still don’t know…

Contact Info:

• Website: graysonniles.com
• Instagram: @graysonniles
• Other: TikTok: @graysonnilescrane

Image Credits
Jonny Marlow Tori Chancellor Skye Smith