We recently connected with Jodie Bentley and have shared our conversation below.
Jodie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?
Nothing like getting to the heart of it immediately! Am I happy? Short answer – yes. I can’t imagine my life if I wasn’t an actor and entrepreneur. I’m a Gen X’er. I was just looking up characteristics of the different generations. And it said Gen X’ers are independent, resilient and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Check, check, and check.
I love that everyday is different. I love that I’m in charge of my own schedule. I love creating and problem solving. I love freedom and flexibility. All of those things fuel me.
Right before sitting down for this interview, I got a pretty big audition for a TV show due in the next 3 days. I had to move everything around in my calendar, decide when I’m going to film it, and get my acting coach scheduled to support me. I love that!
I think most people are afraid of change, even good change. We’re all creatures of habit and find comfort in that. I find that I thrive on change. I can’t do mundane repetitive tasks or the same thing everyday. It depletes my energy and I just don’t enjoy it.
Now on the flip side of that, being an artist, I never feel satisfied. For my Hamilton fans, that song ‘Satisfied’ really hit me. There’s a discomfort and a constant striving as an actor.
When I book an acting job, I’m now wanting to get the next. There’s always more. More goals to reach, more heights to climb, more jobs to audition for, more jobs to book, more connections to be made. That can feel exhausting.
My husband works in production as a lead accountant for Disney Television. He goes to work, comes home and leaves the work behind. We’ve had many conversations where I’ve asked – “But what’s next? Don’t you want to be a producer?” And he always says, no. He’s happy and content where he is. My brain does not get that!
So yes, I am happy in the career I’ve chosen. And no, I could never have a ‘regular’ job. I’ve also had to learn to manage my constant striving so it feels joyful and in alignment with my goals, values, and vision. The alternative is being burnt out or jaded. You can’t create from that place.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a working actor & audiobook narrator with a musical theater background having been in projects at Netflix, Hulu, ABC, CBS, Apple TV, TIFF, Cannes & more.
No, my parents weren’t famous actors. Mom was a nurse and dad was an electrician. We were as lower-middle class as they come and far removed from the entertainment industry.
No, my BFA in Acting from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, though a top tier acting program, did not prepare me for how to run my acting business successfully.
After struggling in NYC trying to be an actor for about 8 years, I became tired of my career feeling like a roller coaster…so I taught myself all things business.
I read every freakin’ business book I could get my hands on. I started taking business principles that worked in the real-world regarding branding, marketing, and sales and morphed them for the creative career of an actor. That’s when I achieved success in my own acting career in NYC.
Then after about the 40th free coffee date where other actors had asked to ‘pick my brain’ on how I did what I did, I realized I had a skill set and a knowledge that most actors didn’t have. In 2008, I created the first ever branding system for actors.
Since then, I’ve taught workshops at SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity, Comicon, and over 50+ colleges and training programs. I’ve been an adjunct professor and built the Business of Acting Programs at four universities and colleges. In 2022, I was named one of the Top 20 Coaches in Los Angeles by Influence Digest.
All of that has culminated into my company today, Actor Insider, where I’ve helped over 2300 actors in 17 countries get the acting career they want.
I pride myself on the fact that I understand my clients innately. I know what actors go through. I’m in the trenches with them daily. I’ve created systems to support actors in every area of the acting business.
I believe that holistic business skills, strategy and systems are NON-NEGOTIABLE for an acting business. Not only do I give my clients strategy and business fundamentals to really move the needle, but support them in limiting beliefs and self-sabotage in their careers and their life.
Actors come to me for branding, that’s what I’m known for, and they stay for marketing, how to get an agent, goal strategy, networking and relationship building strategy and mindset work.
My signature membership is The Actor’s Think Tank, which moves actors from outsider to in-demand in a year or less. On my website, actor-insider.com, I have a free on-demand masterclass where you can learn my 5 proven steps to book more work.
I also created a software for actors called The Actor’s Office which is an intuitive all-in-one management tool to track your auditions and relationships to build your career faster. It’s what I’ve always wanted to run my acting business efficiently.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I grew up with a sister with cognitive disabilities – her mind will forever be 2 years old. Laurie was the older one and I was the bossy one.
Laurie completely shaped who I am as a human. My deep core values of integrity and belonging stem from my 10-year-old self yelling at the boys who’d make fun of her playing in the front yard.
It was also at 10 years of age that I discovered acting. That feeling of being seen and heard was thrilling and most importantly, healing. I felt like I was home when I was on stage.
Instead of choosing Brown’s Pre-Med program for cardiology, I decided to be an actor when I got early acceptance to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Even at 17 years old, deep down I knew that acting allowed me to fully express every part of my being that I was not allowed to do as a child.
And now I act to help others heal, to raise social consciousness, to allow people to relate, grow and recognize we are all connected.
That’s also why I’m a career coach for actors. To allow my fellow actors to be seen and heard for who they are and what they want. I believe all actors deserve to belong and find their place in this industry
Watching the changes in the entertainment industry during the pandemic, it got me thinking how often actors feel on the outside. I realized that what I teach is taking your power back and moving actors from outsider to insider. In January 2024, my business went through a rebrand and is now called Actor Insider.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
This actually ties into my mission as an actor and a coach.
I lost my dad in 2018. He was only 70. A week prior to my dad passing unexpectedly, my mom, who was just 69 at the time, was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. She was hallucinating and unable to take care of herself.
During that time, not only did I have to grieve the passing of my father and grieve my mother and the loss of who she was, I also got to put my 69 year old mom in a nursing home, sell my parents house, have an estate sale of their belongings, and set up a special needs trust for my sister. I did that all by myself. It was 4 months of wrapping up two people’s lives who had more debt than assets and nothing organized AT ALL. It was a lot.
A friend told me at the time that I had ‘sisu’. It’s a Finnish word that means determination and courage. Not a moment of courage, but being able to sustain that courage.
At first, I was flattered. Who wouldn’t want sisu? To always keep going no matter what, striving, achieving, fixing….but on the other side of it all, I found something was missing in that.
Remembering my mission to help others heal and recognize we’re all connected, I decided to write a screenplay about my experience with my parents.
In 2023, my writing partner and I got to work telling my story with the universal theme being that time in your life when you parent your parents and the deep loss, grief and yes humor that comes with that.
Writing this screenplay was a cathartic way for me to heal and I trust it will allow others to heal as well.
It reminded me of the power of art. And how something universal and relatable can be created from something so challenging and difficult.
I think that’s resilience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.actor-insider.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jodiebentley/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theactorsworkspace
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodiebentley/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JodieBentleyOfficial
- Other: https://jodiebentley.com/ https://www.instagram.com/actorinsider/ https://www.theactorsoffice.com/
Image Credits
Photos: Andrew Russell David Muller