We were lucky to catch up with SETALEKI MANU recently and have shared our conversation below.

SETALEKI, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Hollywood is always fluctuating, market wise. The creative arts is probably the most inconsistent profession there is, which explains why 90% of actors maintain another career/job while pursuing the craft. For me, there was maybe about 2yrs where I was booking consistently enough to be able to make a viable living, and take care of my family. Besides that, i learned that until i make 6-7 figures on big projects, then i should always maintain another job as consistent income. There was actually one instance where, after I landed my first national commercial, I ended up with a buyout check for over maybe 50k, I thought I made it, quit my job and all. And didn’t book ANYTHING for the next 9 months haha. If there’s any advice I have, keep your day job, until the income from your creative career is consistent.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi!! my name is Setaleki Manu, i am an actor/Aerospace Technician, from Southern California! Ive always been a theater kid, but growing up in an era of very little pacific representation in the arts, i didnt know that acting was a viable career i could pursue. I went off to college, played football, and ended up dropping out, and was homeless for about 10 months. As i ended up finding work in the manual labor industry of construction, and eventually Security, it was by fate that i ran into a director who asked if had done any acting. I said no, and he ended up putting me as an extra/background player in the intro of a comedian who was shooting his netflix special at the venue where i worked as a security guard. Afterwards, that same director encouraged me to look into acting, and during the covid pandemic when i was sitting at home on unemployment, i decided to give it a shot! googled “how to be an actor”, followed the steps, and now 5yrs, dozens of major artist music videos, 3 major film/TV credits, and several national commercials later, im here!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

No one respects the hustle of a creative. The arts is the only industry where unless you’re a star, you’re a nobody, there’s no in-between. In any other profession, police officer, electrician, doctor, etc., people will always give you the benefit of the doubt that you work amongst the highest level of that industry. But with acting, unless youre Brad Pitt, when you say you are an actor, they assume you’re some loser trying to make it, when you’ve actually done some respectable work.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My acting story is no different than any other, and that’s REJECTION! no one has to deal with hearing “no” more then actors. when you see one of us book a major role/commercial, just know there was dozens of “no”‘s before finally landing that booking. The life of an actor is the definition of resilience, especially when you first start out. In an industry of reputation, building a career as a no one is like climbing Mt. Everest. Throw into that mix the struggles of balancing a regular day job to pay the bills, and the lack of support from people who think we’re wasting our time chasing a pipe dream, and you got a hot mess of mandatory perseverance, just to get through the day.

Contact Info:

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