We were lucky to catch up with Justin Andrew Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Justin Andrew, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
You Look Great was both my first short film as a filmmaker and a narrative based on my personal experiences with eating disorders. As you can imagine, the anxiety of only ever being in front of the camera as an actor, coupled with the anxiety of publicly sharing my struggles with mental health, made for a thrilling yet very panicky headspace.
I had no idea of the time, energy, and resources (financial or otherwise) it would take to create a compelling movie, let alone how my friends, family, and peers would respond to me revealing my longstanding battles with diet, exercise, and body image.
Still, I had this subconscious confidence cheering me on. Every day, something inside me was screaming: this is your story, only you know how to tell it, and not only will this help you heal, but it will also make others feel less alone. Eventually, confidence became conviction, and soon enough I was on set revealing everything I had spent so long keeping secret.
What followed was pure lightning in a bottle.
A dream cast, ambitious locations, friends and family volunteering time and talent and resources, an explicit showcase of my disordered thinking and behaviors, and a personal performance I couldn’t be more proud of. And even though this story clocked in at 25 minutes – a runtime which MANY of my contemporaries would tell you is wayyy too long for a short film – it had an incredible and far-reaching film festival run, earning numerous nominations and awards along the way.
More importantly, however, is the way in which You Look Great started so many frank, vulnerable, and connective conversations about mental health – particularly with men. I was floored by how deeply this film resonated with audiences, artists, and festival organizers, and how confidently and frequently they approached me to share their own struggles and stories. It was breathtaking; so, so many people hurt, but they’re also now speaking up and asking for help and healing. In ways that I had never seen publicly before.
I can only hope that my future work continues to prove how we’re all the same when we pause to look long enough.
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?
I definitely didn’t set out to be an actor – let alone a filmmaker. Immediately after college, I got my MFA in creative writing (poetry specifically) from the New School, and the plan after grad school was to become an adjunct professor, publish fiction and poetry on the side, and work my way up to tenure as I enjoyed my time as a New York Times bestseller.
Thankfully, exactly none of this happened.
No college or universities called me in for interviews, next to none of my poetry got published, and I quickly became the writer who didn’t write. In the most reductive terms, I had “failed.” All of my education and internships and work experience were in or revolved around writing and books, and yet I had no professional or personal success to show for my investment. So what to do?
There was no path imagined or worked toward that didn’t involve me clacking away at the keys and entrenching myself in academia and contemporary literature. But now all I did was silently climb into bed after work, pull up the covers, and stay hidden as long as possible.
Depression followed.
I flirted briefly with therapy but I wasn’t committed enough for it to produce any great revelations or change (my commitment to my mental health wouldn’t come until a few years later, but better late than never). I was existentially stuck, desperate. I needed to at least TRY something new. I wracked my brain until, strangely, I landed on acting.
I was always curious about acting growing up, but besides an “acting for non-actors” course in college that served as an easy elective, I had never performed before. I’m not sure what it was, but the idea of doing something SO outside of my comfort zone and experience was thrilling. Nervously, I typed “acting classes nyc” into Google – and The Barrow Group appeared. Call it fate, call it SEO, but I clicked their link, read their mission statement, and shakily found and signed up for “Beginning Acting 1.”
Worst case scenario, I embarrass myself and have a funny story to tell people about how I once tried acting in New York. Best case scenario, I have a little fun, get myself out of a deep rut, and maybe make some friends.
The abridged version of what happened is my entire life changed. And I couldn’t be more grateful.
Ten years later, I’m a professional, working actor while also creating films of my own. And while I may have “started late,” I think my coming to the craft as an adult freed me from potential bad habits, as well as cemented my dedication to the path, because it was something I intentionally chose and WANTED to do.
Since starting, some of my most life-affirming experiences have come from acting and filmmaking, and some of my closest, most treasured friends have come from the projects and work I’ve had the honor of making or contributing to. Performance will always be my first and foremost love, but the three short films I’ve wrestled into existence are some of the deepest extensions of myself and my artistry. They serve as reminders that despite impossible obstacles and odds, there’s always a way to create and share magic.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
As an artist, the biggest reward of my work is a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. I would like to consider myself an empathetic person, but creating and living through stories beyond just my own has given me a safe way to expand my mind and heart; it has helped me hold and balance the complexities of life, to forgive myself and others through grace. The act of creating ANYTHING that wasn’t there before is such a human triumph, because it is so easy to move passively through the day. We are all worthy of patience and understanding, and creating and sharing work is an active way to give yourself and the world the love we all undeniably deserve.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I find myself most fixated on and fascinated by the everyday lives of people – because no matter how mundane something may seem, there’s always so much complexity beneath the surface. There are universes of frustrations, desires, contradictions, and so much more inside ALL of us, and I’m hypnotized by the immensity of this beauty and pain. While I enjoy car chases and dragons, spaceships and zombies, I don’t get as activated by those worlds as I do with people just trying to figure out themselves and their relationships to one another. Whenever I see something on-screen that truthfully represents a feeling I’ve had or a situation I’ve experienced – no matter how sad or painful – it makes me feel seen, and connected to something much larger than myself. Because while the specifics might be different, our struggles and our joys are all the same at heart. Moving forward, I want to be a conduit for such universality in any and every project I endeavor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.justinandrewdavis.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/justinandrewdavis
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinandrewdavis
