We were lucky to catch up with Jai Surles recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started learning in my freshman year of high-school just watching fresh new people get in front of the class and perform. I did have the raw talent to act/perform, it was just more so how to manifest it and become better at learning the craft. I got better just by watching experienced people, somewhat experienced, and non-experienced people show their story of performing. You take in knowledge like a sponge, and always be open to learn no matter how much experience he or she has over or under you. If I could speed up my process, I would go back in time and start at a very young age, and start getting as much work in at a young age, so I can be able to compete with the greats as I continue on the journey. The most essential skills is always being open to learning, never being afraid to show who you are, and having fun with it. You won’t be believable if you don’t look like you enjoy sharing a story to the audience and to yourself. My ego definitely stood in the way of me learning more. All artists know that our biggest enemy is ourselves. Sometimes we’ll be afraid to take criticism, express ourselves, or just think we are better than everyone. You CANNOT think like that! Always always, be open to hear what other people have to say.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Greetings everyone, my name is jai surles, I reside in New Jersey and I am currently 22 years one. My performance name is jai czar. Czar is my middle name, and I choice this as my stage name because it has a ring to it. I got into my craft in my beginning stages in high school, taking acting classes, doing school plays, which eventually led to me enjoying and loving the art of acting, and I decided I want to do this for the rest of my life. Which led to me getting into the next level, which is performing in college. I attended rutgers university for 2 semesters, and transferred to rowan university to get a more diverse taste of performing arts. I soon later felt as college was getting in the way of me booking more professional work, so I made the decision to drop out and really focus and do this full time. This decision comes with big risk, but if you love what you do and you have a dream, nothing can stand in your way. I have had my fair share of struggles, money wise, feeling like I can’t do it, but I kept striving and not giving up and everything turned out smoothly for me. I’ve booked plays such as raisin in the sun, being on set of manifest, doing an audio book called Solomons adventures, and much much more. It”s only the beginning and right now the next step is getting signed with an agency and making it to the big leagues. I will be starting a brand called “claim your throne”, I believe we are all young kings and queens in this world and claiming your throne means follow your dreams. I want to solve the problems of people being afraid to take risks for what they want in this world, and truly being able to grasp their full potential as a human being. What sets me apart from others, is being able to smile through the worst of times. My 2022 has been rough ever since I decided to do this full time, but you have to keep pushing, and we learn from the downs in life, so we can be prepared for the ups. I am so beyond proud of myself for never giving up, and making it this far. I want to accomplish so many things before my time is up in this world, and to make sure my future family and myself can live comfortably, and being able to change the world with all the creative ideas I have waiting to bring to life. I want my future fans to know about how I am a living manifestation of dreams come true if you believe and work hard. I want others to know that myself and my brand is a way for you to take the lead in getting and achieving anything you put your mind to.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I feel as though people only see the success, material items, wealth and fame of creatives and not the journey that led them to that status. On social media, I see this picture that has an iceberg, and the tip of the iceberg is the stage of fame that you got to, and under the iceberg is all the sacrifices you had to to do to get to that. I feel like society more so understanding the journey of an artist, can open up to more understanding that we are still human, and the fame does not get to our head(most of us). We struggled, and fought to get to the top, and we want our story to be heard. Having more gatherings for artists to connect would be amazing as well to. There are so many underground artists(including myself) waiting to be discovered and I feel there isn’t enough easy reliable resources around our corner for us to access. Of course we have the internet, YouTube and many other things at our fingertips, but things like agencies to help you book those huge roles, you won’t find that in certain areas like New Jersey. California, and Atlanta being the big places for artists, have everything you need, and I feel society should give more chances and opportunities in areas that don’t have certain necessities for underground artists.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect is seeing the hard work you put in come to life. It’s like raising a baby from when they are first born, and seeing them grow into an amazing human being. Being able to see people adore your art, compliment you, give you notes and directions and help you find you next step in your journey, it’s just so amazing. We as artists love to share our story not just for the applause, but you never know who is watching and how it could impact their life in so many ways. It’s all about connecting with people, and connecting with ourselves and being able to reflect back and say I did that and I love doing it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jaiczar
• Facebook: @jaisurles
• Twitter: @jaisurles
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/bm9llxcMKLQ

Image Credits
@rjlewisphotos X.meeshell photos