We recently connected with Ramsey Thoms and have shared our conversation below.

Ramsey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I believe this is the most important question in an Artists path, especially for me. I grew up an athlete and my whole life was centered around basketball I never once thought of being an artist. Now when I look back on my choices and my life, when I was younger every time I would go see a film I was in this big hurry to come home and I would lock my door and be as quite as possible and I would reenact everything I could remember, especially if it was an action film. I would make the machine gun noises with my mouth and the car noises but I was extremely embarrassed to ‘perform’ in front of anyone. It was my little secret but I’m pretty sure my mom caught me several times. When I was 18 I told my Mom I think I want to try acting and she took me to an acting school and I remember I had to audition with this scene that they gave me maybe 10 minutes before hand. I was beyond nervous, but after I was accepted and my “training” began. My first week I quit, I didn’t want to learn to apply make-up and do all these extra things I felt weren’t necessary, I just wanted to learn acting. I felt horrible cause my mom paid good money for this and I just quit because at the time I wasn’t willing to embarrass myself or take any risk for what I wanted. When basketball fell through after college I wondered around for a couple years not knowing what I truly wanted to do and then I felt the need to go back to college and study film. Going back I got a BA in film but I found my true passion, which was acting. I took the biggest risk of all and told myself I wouldn’t quit this time. I was currently living in Washington State when COVID struck and my dream of moving to L.A was on pause but I didn’t let that stop the dream. I researched and with some help from a dear friend of mine, I found, to me personally the best acting coach and he was now offering online classes. I took them ALL for three years. I studied and believe me when I tell you I FAILED a lot, I still “fail” but I took the risk. I moved to L.A almost two years ago and I’ve landed several projects, including my first lead in a feature film. There will always be hard days but I believe the hardest days are when you want to take a risk but never do.

Ramsey, 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?

My name is Ramsey Thoms and I am an ACTOR. I tell that to myself everyday, it is a constant reminder of who I am. It took me years to fully say that with confidence because I didn’t come from a family who was creative or in the industry by any means, it was a choice for me, maybe more of a calling that took me some time to figure out but i’m glad I did. Growing up I never did theatre or I never really had a dream to be an Actor, I was focused on basketball so even now sometimes I feel “behind” and I am only saying that because I believe that people will find their own courage in this craft on their own time and thats ok. For me I hope to inspire others around me to have or gain the motivation to go for what they want or at least try and say that they tried. I also want those to understand that this craft demands a certain level of discipline and mental capacity that I personally had to learn and grow but it will teach you empathy and you’ll start to notice your own feeling towards things will shift because you may or had to justify someones actions to be able to understand them as the character.
This craft will also surround you with beautiful people, welcoming and understanding people because you guys are all in the trenches together. Don’t get me wrong there will be those who will show their true colors when the time comes but what I’ve noticed is they tend to go away after awhile because the demand is far too much. I could talk about the craft all day but I also think another important thing about being an actor is that it’s not all about acting, I am a basketball lover, a gamer, a MASSIVE SNEAKER HEAD, an entertainer because its so important to live your life as your own homework. How great is that for a job?

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe it’s learning the lingo or having respect for someone who’s just starting out or they haven’t been on a hit show or movie yet cause the reality of it, it’s extremely HARD. By all this I mean I’ve had people question me so many times about being an Actor for example a good friend of mine pointed out you wouldn’t question a doctor if they wanted to be a doctor would you? “Are you sure you want to be a doctor? years and years of med school and debt..”. For so many years I would just say “oh it’s just a student film or its a short film” but that reality is those are also HARD to get. When I moved to L.A I booked a ‘student’ film and when I asked how many audition tapes they looked through until he came across mine, he said over 200. I was always told every opportunity is a great chance to be able to showcase your craft is a celebration, every audition, every call back is a celebration because someone is giving you an opportunity to do what you love to do. So I think it’s not downplaying an artist that hasn’t ‘made’ it yet cause we all are working towards landing something big for ourselves.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

For me it’s proving to myself I belong. I always have self doubt and I have thoughts about how ‘bad’ I am or imposter syndrome most of the time. But every audition, every chance I get up in acting class is a chance to prove to myself that I can do this. I am at a point now where I not looking to prove anything to anyone other than my creative self. To wake up every day with the same calling and the same journey, I am an Actor and every day I do something to reinforce that in me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.me/RamseyThoms
• Instagram: @Ramsey.Thoms
• Youtube: https://www.pureflix.com/insider/ramsey-thoms-interview

Image Credits

Jordan Halland
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