We recently connected with Russell Sams and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Russell, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

One of the challenges I have faced in my business as an actor and acting coach is how to get my work seen. Just because I build it, doesn’t mean they will come. How do more directors and producers learn about the work I have done and can do as an actor? How do I get more actors to know what we do at my acting studio, The Actor’s Way In, and how we can benefit their journey and careers.

On the actor side, the only thing I have control over is the work I put out to the world and auditions. So it is a must that I use every opportunity I get to put forth my best work. Imperfect as it may be. I am not a fan of casting workshops (where actors pay to have their work seen by a casting director), however there is one I have been a part of for many, many years and is the only one I attend.  There I can get my work seen directly.  Not all workshops are as beneficial and reputable as this one.

As for the studio, I am collaborating with other teacher/coaches that specialize in areas I don’t. I am accumulating testimonials. Also, I offer free classes so that an actor can get a feel of how we work, but also offer a space for someone to come and practice.  Finding a place and community to practice your acting process can be a daunting one.  However, we can find the one that speaks to us, we just have to keep looking and reminding ourselves that we love what we do.

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?

My career as an actor was barley breathing to the point that it might have been mistaken for roadkill. I hadn’t worked in years, the bank account was too embarrassing to quote, and I had a collapse of creative vitality. I felt alone and terrified. There was also that wonderful gritty dirt taste I was chewing on called bitterness with a seasoning of resentment. Delicious, right? The question of “Who am I?” was swirling around. Maybe I wasn’t cc’d on the email the Universe sent out that answered that question. I remember sitting at my desk in my Hollywood apartment in Los Angeles and weeping. The kind of weeping that only grief and love can conjure. How did I get here? Where was that joyful actor that loved what he did and took risks in his art?

I did the thing that I didn’t want to do, which was ask for help. I asked my lovely partner, Julia, to help me reorganize my acting reel, which is the calling card for an actor. I asked my friend, Marty, to help make a video with me about why I act, and I asked the Divine/Universe/God or whatever you use, to show me the the next step. Just the vulnerable request to other people, to other artist, initiated an internal opening for me.

I cleaned up the neglected wreckage of my career and decided to start my own acting studio, The Actor’s Way In. It forced me to acknowledge two things that would ultimately feed each other…that I was an accomplished actor who has done some stuff, and that I have the skill to help other actors find their “way in” to reigniting their creativity and joy of acting.

I rededicated myself to putting up good work in my auditions and treated auditions as opportunities instead of inconveniences. It put a fire in my gut to share my experience and training with other actors through coaching. Auditions started to come, my studio had its starts and sputters, but I kept building it. Momentum was building as I swam through 2019.

“When is the last time you bet on yourself?” That was a question my acting manager asked me. It was May of 2019, the creative flow was going, and I had an in-person audition in Atlanta for a big show that was casting. Memorial Day Weekend was coming up, prices for flights to Atlanta were through the roof, and I had a small amount saved from a remodeling job I did on a house. I worked hard for that money and the fear of being “broke” again loomed if I bought that $900+ dollar last minute flight across the country. What about a hotel room, food, and I’ll need to take an Uber, can I afford it?

I was offered to self-tape for it, but to get in front of a major southeast casting director was a rarity. I was frozen with indecision. I had to decide that day. Then, during a phone call with my manager, he said something to me that I have held ever since. “When was the last time you bet on yourself?”

My body surged with heat, my armpits began to sweat, and I knew what he meant. After all, didn’t I packed up my busted down red Nissan Sentra and drive across the country to LA when I had just turned 23 years old to be an actor? Sure, that was years and years ago, but where was that guy?! He was bold and ignorant, I’m sure he is still there inside of me somewhere.

I said to myself, “Buy the ticket, take a gamble, and do something brave.” So I did. I bought the ticket, asked a friend if she had anyone in Atlanta I could stay with for one night, booked a hotel for the other night, and off I went.

I remember sitting in the hallway waiting to be called in for the audition. That little gremlin of doubt crept in with its unsolicited false wisdom, “you better not mess this up. Are you sure you are ready?”

I made the choice to not listen to it, I had come too far, literally, to have doubt kick me in the shin right before my big moment. In the end, I had a great audition. I didn’t get the part I auditioned for, however I got a even better part. I spent 2 weeks in Virginia filming. It worked out. Want to hear something funny? I was in two episodes of this show, amazing right? However, when it aired, my part got cut so much that I was barley in the show at all. Haha!

I told everyone, I mean everyone, “Hey, check out this show, I have a great part”, but when it aired, I only saw myself for a brief moment eating a chicken wing. Now, it took some time to swallow that jagged little pill. Ultimately, I was able to have gratitude for the win as it gave me an amazing experience, worked with talented people, put some money in my pocket, and would help me out down the road in ways I never could have foreseen. So, let me ask you, “When is the last time you bet on yourself?”

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Contact Info:

• Website: russellsams.com
• Instagram: @russellsams and @actorswayin
• Facebook: @russellsams and @actorswayin
• Youtube: @russellsams
• Other: thank you for this opportunity to hopefully inspire someone

Image Credits
teaching photos by Claudia Jurt acting footage from NCIS:LA, The Rules of Attraction, The Flock, and Kindred