We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Max Marshall a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Max, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I grew up in a household where we loved music. From an early age, my dad would take me to see all of his favorite rock bands. I remember when I was six, Ringo Starr shouted me out from the stage because I was the smallest fan there. As far as acting goes, I’ve always loved film, especially comedy. I naturally started gravitating towards entertaining. However, I realized early on that it’s going to take more than just admiring and loving a craft. You have to give it 110 percent. I don’t think I would have done anything differently, it’s all trial and error. You have to take all the baby steps and embrace the growing pains. Everyone has their own process, and for me, I made the move from Seattle to LA and just started grinding. I started taking acting classes and practicing the craft. It was a lot of staying up late on the weekends and running audition scenes with my actor buddies. Sometimes it was waking up early to study more of a script before heading to work to wait tables.
Early on in my acting career, there were many auditions that didn’t go well because I was unprepared. I was also very young and naïve. I realized early on how competitive this industry really is. The most essential thing really is to just be prepared. It takes a lot more than just showing up for an audition and expecting to land a role.
A big obstacle being a working artist in Los Angeles is always money and time. You have to have a day job, while working on your craft, to pay the bills because you don’t make much as an artist when you are just starting out. Other than normal day to day life needs, acting classes, music sessions in the studio, music videos, you name it- all of that comes out of my own pocket. It can be tight at times, but the goal is that it will get me one step closer to achieving my dreams. You could just be one audition away or one song away from making it big. All it takes is one.
I started to take music more seriously when the pandemic hit in 2020. I wasn’t really getting any auditions, and everything was at a standstill. I was feeling inspired and decided to release my first song called “Be Okay” which I had written right before the pandemic hit. After that, I continued to roll out more music and eventually started finding my sound.
Practice and patience with both crafts have gone a long way for me. I’ve had my fair share of moments where I’ve had some self-doubt, or where I’ve procrastinated, or where I’ve had writer’s block. But hey, who hasn’t? We’re only human, but I really try to practice gratitude and taking full advantage of this life and the opportunities it has. You’ll never know what the outcome of something will be, if you quit, so keep going. That’s what I’m doing.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Max Marshall. Not Maximus, not Maximillian- just Max.
I was born and raised in Seattle. I’ve been a huge sports guy since I was a kid. I played football and basketball all 4 years in high school. As much as I loved playing sports, I loved entertaining my friends and family. I was always the goofy kid, and all of my friends were funny too. That’s followed me into my adult life. I still love improvising, making stupid voices and characters up, and overall making people laugh. People always told me I should be an actor, so in my junior year of high school I enrolled into drama class. It was the most fun I’d ever had. Ever since then, I knew if football wasn’t in my future, acting would be. I moved down to LA in 2014 after graduating high school and enrolled into Santa Monica College. I practiced with the football there and quickly realized, my heart just wasn’t in football anymore. It was during that time I realized I wanted to take acting seriously.
I started taking acting classes, casting workshops, and went to a worldwide talent showcase in Studio City. That’s where I landed an agent and my now manager. A few weeks later, I got my first audition and it was for ‘Modern Family’. Since then, I’ve booked a few tv shows and a Lifetime movie. I also did a voice over job in a 6-part drama podcast show with Demi Moore during the pandemic called ‘Dirty Diana’. I’ve had some amazing opportunities so far.
I’ve always been a writer and in 2020 I started releasing music. You can stream my music anywhere under my artist name, Maxyboy, and watch all of my music videos on YouTube. Some of my most recent songs are ‘I Deserve That’ and ‘Magic Touch’.
As of recently, I am still living in Los Angeles, writing, producing, and going out for auditions. I have incorporated more of my acting and comedic bits into my music videos to show more of my personality. I am merging my two passions together now.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I want to continue to make the music and create the films that I love. Anything creative stems from my own experiences. So, all of my experiences in life, the highs and the lows, they’re all great. It’s all a part of the journey.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being creative is the relationships you make along the way. I’ve made lifelong friends who are also artists and creatives. It gets rough at times, so having a support system that totally understands what you’re going through can help guide you through different situations is amazing. Support your artist friends.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Ohitsmaxyboy
- Facebook: Max Marshall
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ohitsmaxyboy
Image Credits
Ben Bashor and Hunter Acheronti
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