We were lucky to catch up with Julia Purdy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on has been a project where I was working behind the scenes. A little over a year ago I wrote, directed, shot and edited my own short film. I was taking an online course through NYU called ‘Film and TV Industry Essentials’ where I learned all about the film/tv industry and where it started. The final project at the end of the course was to create a short film of my own. I spent a few weeks writing the script, planning out locations and logistics and getting my sister and her boyfriend to star in it. Since I don’t own a professional camera, I used my iPhone to film it. Throughout this project, I learned a lot about the whole process of creating a movie. I was the writer, director, cinematographer and editor. It gave me a lot of experience wearing different hats which I think is something that’s very important, especially when starting off in this industry. I was able to learn about every part of production.
Overall, this project was really meaningful to me because it was my first short film that I created and it made me want to create more. Ideally in the future, along with acting, I would love to become a film maker and help tell peoples stories on the screen. I want to be the kind of director that I would love to work with as an actor. The kind that has the actor in mind and really helps bring intricate characters and important stories to life. My short film experience was a glimpse into the kind of work that I hope to get to create one day.

Julia, 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?

Hi! My name is Julia Purdy and I’m an actor currently living in Charleston, SC. I’m originally from upstate New York and I moved to Charleston a little over 2 years ago. I’ve wanted to be an actor for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I would always do the school plays/musicals and I would go to theatre summer camps. When I went to college, I studied theatre performance and that’s where I really started to learn the craft of acting. The great thing about acting is you can take classes your whole life and keep learning new things. I think that’s one of the things that makes acting so unique and exhilarating. College classes were my foundation but my skills really developed outside in the real world. I took classes in NYC with Ted Brunetti and from there I started to realize what techniques worked best for me and my acting. I was almost a year out of college when COVID hit. After that I took a break from acting, as I know many people had to, but I didn’t come back to it for a little while. I tried other things, but ultimately I realized that I don’t want to do anything else with my life.

I think something that sets me apart from people is my demeanor and my work ethic. I pride myself on being very personable and easy to talk to. I genuinely enjoy talking to people and getting to know them. I want everyone to feel comfortable and welcome with me. That’s one of the most important things to me. I’m also a very hard worker and if I commit to something, I’m giving my all to it. Even if I don’t know how to do something, I’m going to figure it out.

I am most proud of my determination to keep going. Acting is a hard career and you really have to put yourself out there and make connections. Over the past year I’ve made it a habit to reach out to different production companies in my area and to keep following up. It’s something so simple but it really does make a big difference. I’ve made a lot of connections with great people this way and I’ve gotten to work on some cool projects.

The main thing I want people to know about me is that I am passionate about bringing intricate, complex characters and relationships to life. I want to help tell stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told. I want people to be able to connect with my work and see themselves on the screen.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

It’s not necessarily related to management or entrepreneurial thinking but The Artists Way by Julia Cameron has helped me look at my creative journey in a different, more positive way. It’s a 12 week program designed to help people get back in touch with the creativity inside of them, consisting of morning pages, artist dates and a variety of different exercises each week. It helped me put less pressure on perfection and just learn to be creative for the sake of being creative. One quote that has really stuck with me from that book is ‘Progress not perfection’. It has really helped me to take the pressure off of myself when working on projects, auditioning or writing scripts. Not every project needs to be perfect, and more often than not they won’t start out great. But you have to keep creating and try to enjoy the process.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me is getting to collaborate with other creatives and learning things I otherwise wouldn’t get the chance to learn. Recently I’ve been lucky to be able to work with some really great people in the industry. This summer I got the opportunity to intern for 6 weeks on the Greens Department of Outer Banks, the Netflix series. The Greens department is responsible for all the greenery that you see on the screen, so they work closely with the art department to make the set look how the art director wants it. Over the 6 weeks I met and learned from some really great people. On day one I was helping build a tree using silks, which are artificial leaves so that they don’t wilt by the time they use it for filming. I learned a lot about the Greens department in movies, which is something I had no prior knowledge of and I developed new skills and resilience to being outside in 95+ degree heat in the middle of Summer in Charleston, SC. The heat here is no joke. But I did it and I really enjoyed the experience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: juliarose_6
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-purdy6

Image Credits

Dan Doyle Photography