We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paul Addison. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paul below.
Paul, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
For the last few years, my main vocation has been acting. Most people associate actors with rich, famous, or simply aspiring — I feel like I’ve reached an intermediate level that people have more difficulty grasping. I pay all bills from my time on set, yet very little has made it out into the world on platforms people actually watch. That being said, it doesn’t take away from the art and the creative fulfillment I receive from the experience.
To complicate my titles further I’m foremost a musician (an electronic pop artist) and although I make more money and spend more time on set, I identify more with being a musician. I was raised in Austin, TX, my dad is a musician, and I’ve been performing on stage since I was 12.
Paul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
* I dug myself in a hole by self-proclaiming 2 identities in the first question… But we’ll stick to my time on set as an actor since that is what I’ve spent most of my time pursuing lately.
I was no theater kid growing up… Acting truly happened by accident. In an effort to pull myself out of a long-lasting party phase, I went to a community college, and for whatever reason I chose to study film. Instead of studying say; a 3-point lighting setup, I was always asked to step in as the test subject. By the end of the 2-year program, I was every thesis project’s main actor. With my newfound reel, I was able to book just enough projects to land me on bigger and more official film sets. I quickly realized there is no place on earth as creative, chaotic, and stimulating as a film set. After every 12-hour day I think to myself, I could do this for the rest of my life.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
In the early years of my creative journey, I used to have a good amount of concrete goals — Some of which have come true and others that still pop into my mind now and then. But nowadays, my driving factor is made less from goals and more out of habits.
I’ve burnt all the pragmatic bridges in my life so that the only one to cross is that of a creative journey.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of making art is being able to connect with people from all walks of life who also deeply resonate with whatever it is that your art was aiming to express.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.link/pauladdison
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyelidkid
Image Credits
Kylen Chen-Troester Ryan Stach Nick Tribuno Peter McCain