We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sean Gunnell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sean below.

Sean, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to thank Kristi Shah and the entire CanvasRebel team for this feature! It’s an absolute pleasure sharing pieces of my journey with your readership, Voyage and Shoutout alike, and I’m grateful to be gifted this new opportunity for connection! Today, I’d like to speak to being misunderstood/mischaracterized as an actor. In my experience, as I can imagine every thespian will be able to relate to this, many people base our successes on talent reps, who we know, performing in major productions, earning big paychecks, receiving accolade nominations, etc. And sure, these are all well and good goals to achieve; however, I see them as great compliments to our integrities, rather than being the only acceptable merits in societal value. I define success by choosing to live from my heart’s deepest callings, and to never let fear and doubt defeat my passions. From facing the dragon on the daily, to taking the good with the bad, constantly learning new forms of motivation, and coming from happiness, gratitude, and love for the gift of life, I firmly believe these qualities will always help us win the day. I understand that life can be difficult, that circumstances and support and alignment varies per person, and our willpower may get eaten away by countless obstacles and closed doors, but that’s why it’s vital to trust the process. What we envision for ourselves is already out there, meeting us halfway via our hard work and universal faith, so as long as we maintain the forging of our paths through authenticity, commitment, and tenacity, success will forever be ours. Be you, every second of every day, and see yourself fly high!

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?

Of course! I have 30 years of stage and screen acting experience, and I’ve been building my professional film & television career in Los Angeles since 2014. I began my journey when I was six years old, in the musical theatre production “How to Eat like a Child”; my first legitimate film role was during my undergrad studies, starring in the crime drama short “Larkin”; and I got my start in the industry performing as a supporting character in the TV movie “Drone Wars,” which aired on SyFy Channel International across three continents. I’m a craftsman to my core, since the very beginning, unearthing the voices of my passion through theatrical expression. And I carry this word with pride and joy: craftsman. It’s a lifestyle and discipline that requires immense patience, self-awareness, and humility, plus a calm mind when embracing rejections, chaos, and silent times, like a dear friend. It’s vital, because to gracefully weather turbulent storms is to appreciate the rewards that manifest when we least expect them. In the process, my craft has gifted me treasures beyond imagining: I have played countless roles that have aligned beautifully with my vision, especially when challenged by tough character transformations; I have utilized unwavering patience during long droughts of no work, along with healing my spirit whenever the negative nature of this industry consumes me; and I have been blessed by the magic of instructing and private coaching young actors, channeling my passions into a guidance of spiritual radiance, exuberance, and peaceful serenity for their own developments. I would say that I am most proud of my ability to adapt to my surrounding circumstances; to nurture my craft with a mixture of curious wonder, humor, and unbreakable fortitude, believing full force that my voice is purposeful, and that every missed opportunity, rejection, and “almost” is just means to prepare me for something truly amazing that’s right around the corner. It’s unknown, somewhere in the artistic ether, and yet it’s truly known in my spirit’s depths, arriving when the time is right. Be proud of who you are and how far you’ve come. No one can write our chapters but us, so write them well, write them honestly, and write them because they matter!

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

I’d be happy to share. In 2021, self-tapes had become fully embraced by the industry as the new norm, and it was a muscle I was still struggling to strengthen. I auditioned for a bunch of productions from March-June, and along with it came the reality that casting directors were now handling a higher multitude of movies and shows than ever before, thus constraining time they once had connecting with auditioning actors in terms of feedback and redirection, something I had been used to during in-person settings. The lack of communication after every rejection, like an empty and hollow void, started to eat away at my positivity, and I began experiencing several emotional breakdowns from July 2021-March 2022. I fortunately signed with my first talent manager and joined the union in August 2021, and slowly but surely began self-taping for major productions. Still feeling the heaviness of my anxieties, and letting social media affect my mental well being, I contacted my manager about submitting to agencies across the country, in order to bolster a standing in their markets, but he shut it down, respectfully of course, advising that my lack of bookings and momentum would work against me. His response, blunt in email format, came through when I was doing background work on a movie, and I was surrounded by hundreds of other extras in holding, so I excused myself to the only empty corner I could find, and let myself have the largest breakdown of my life, feeling like I had hit my lowest low yet. A dear friend of mine, Mark Haptonstall, detested seeing me withering like this, and he encouraged me to re-enter therapy, which I used to practice from ages 12-25. His wish was for me to regain my equilibrium, and my goodness did it save me. From April-December 2022, I chatted with a counselor monthly over the phone, and he pushed me exactly where I needed to go spiritually: getting back into meditation, journaling my anxieties, learning through the Calm app how to pacify my internal storms, and coming from an abundant place of joy again. The results? Three new talent reps in different markets, my first Shakespearean production in 15 years (as Laertes in HAMLET, February 2024 in LA), attached to several movie roles in announcement and pre-production phases, instructing acting students online via one of my agencies, private coaching, and auditioning for some truly inspiring productions, all the while reducing social media intake for my overall and renewed health and vigor. I rediscovered the power of my vivacious joy, I harmoniously regained my equilibrium, and I let go of what was no longer serving my growth and prosperity. It’s okay to let go, it’s okay to release, and it’s okay to say “I’m not okay.” To me, resilience is about taking the longer road to achieve a goal through falling down and getting back up, with each fall hurting less and less and less because it’s my choice how I choose to feel about it. For today and all days, I choose to feel the love for all that I am, and I hope you all can bask in that for yourselves as well!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my view, society can start by best supporting artists, creatives, and a thriving creative ecosystem with deeper levels of compassion and empathy. During the strikes, I read far too many comments from people laughing at, ridiculing, and demeaning struggling actors for the simple act of doing what we love, which many individuals see as “not real jobs.” I feel like a big part of the problem revolves around what we consume in media. As a society, I find that people love to build individuals up to celebrity status only to then tear them down, and the ones to be torn down are a minuscule percentage of those working to earn a living. Actors are some of the most resilient, driven, and courageous beings I know, because our day in and day out reality is bringing human beings to life, presenting them to the powers that be, being told NO, and then starting ALL over again, millions of times in our lives. I heard the other day that we suffer a loss of ourselves every time we don’t book a job, and I think that is beautifully poignant. Most people who aren’t actors, or artists for that matter, don’t see all that we put into the craft. I don’t speak for everyone, I feel that I speak for people who grind 1000%, who analyze a script over and over again until it flows, who authentically bridge the gaps with their roles, and who tap into their wells of vulnerability, emotional sustainability, and willing openness to make fools of themselves for the love of our work, day after day after day. It’s messy, it’s frustrating, and it’s downright thrilling to find ourselves breathing the lives of people from paper, because I love giving voices to souls that writers have conjured up with deep care. If society can take a few moments to understand that the majority actors live for the love of creative passion over desire for fame and fortune, to compassionately take into stock all that it takes to put ourselves out there stark naked to the world, and to remember why we all fell in love with storytelling in the first place, rather than mocking, belittling, and tearing down artists because of a billions reasons none of us are privy to, then I think we could all be a bit more empathetic and supportive of one another as we live our lives in peace and harmony. That’s a start. Another thing I’ll say is, despite how everyday people felt about the strikes, and whether or not they said that there are far more important problems in the world than film artists standing up against the AMPTP, please don’t diminish our plights. Like I said before, we’re all fighting for equality in different ways, and the strikes represented a fortification of no longer being given scrapes and being told it’s a feast. Protections, fairer wages, and a more equalized way of living is not asking for much, and we still have some ways to go, so please ask us your questions, be open and curious to what we say, and remember that we all want to be able to follow our hearts, live our lives, and feel seen, heard, and understood. An aligned, symbiotic, supportive, and thriving creative ecosystem the world over sounds divine to me, and I truly hope that can be a reality soon enough!

Contact Info:

• Website: starstalentstudio.com/portfolio/sean-gunnell/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/seanalexandergunnell/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@SeanGunnell
• IMDb: www.imdb.me/seangunnell

Image Credits
Matt Kallish