We were lucky to catch up with Stephen Solomon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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 moved to New York, by myself, a month after I graduated from Point Park University with a degree in Theatre Arts. I had signed with a modeling agency here and knew that New York was where I needed to be to pursue the career I am passionate about. It definitely was difficult leaving my twin brother and his girlfriend juliette. Those two are my best friends and I have never been this far away from them ever. I also had just gotten into a serious relationship which he and I both decided that we were going to do long distance. I also have never been this far away from my family, so not having that sense of protection and love is definitely difficult. I feel like it was easy to make the choice to move here but the actual moving itself was difficult. It was such a huge risk for me to leave that entire life behind me. I barely knew anyone in New York, didn’t have a job lined up, met my roommates through a Facebook housing group, etc. It was definitely worth the risk though. The first few months were very challenging, I was very homesick and missed Jesse, Juliette and Dylan beyond words. But the creative opportunities that I have had since moving here have really helped me through that. I finally am here in New York doing what I love. Yes I also work at Starbucks and have had other side jobs, but that doesn’t even matter to me because one acting gig or one modeling gig a week makes it worth it, because it’s my passion. I love it. Although it was a risk moving here, following your passion, in my opinion, is never a mistake.

Stephen, 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?

I have always been a performer. As a kid I used to make music videos with my twin brother where I would be the star, of course, and be lipsynching to the top pop songs. I think the first one we made was a video to Firework by Katy Perry. As I got older the performance path moved along with me, I was in chorus in middle school and then ended up going to Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School where I studied theatre. I am forever grateful for Lincoln Park, I think that school is definitely what inspired me to grow as an artist and as a person. I studied theatre as well as photography and filmmaking. After graduating from Lincoln Park, I had a change in career paths because I felt that acting was too stressful for me and I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should’ve been.

I went to Carnegie Mellon University in 2017, where I majored in Fine Arts. I think that the name is definitely what drove me to go to college there. I don’t regret going there. But I do wish my experience could’ve been a little bit different. After being there only a few months I felt that my life was lacking something. It was theatre. I missed it already. I quickly decided that I wanted to add a drama minor to my schedule, so my sophomore year I was an art major and a drama minor. And yet that still wasn’t enough for me. I then tried to become a student defined major where I would be allowed to take more than just the acting for non majors courses. I spent about 8 months working on my course schedule and planning out the entirety of my last two years there. Everything seemed to be going fine and everything was slowly falling into place. Then over the course of the summer before my junior year I was told that my student-defined major wasn’t going to work out and that I should either take a semester off or transfer. This was a month before classes started. So I really was blindsided. I had already signed a lease in Pittsburgh so my options were quite limited. I was lost. I reached out to the head of the costume department as CMU because I was just trying to find a way to stay there. I asked her if I could become a costume design major and she said we should video chat. I am forever grateful for Susan Tsu, the head of the department, she helped me realize that I needed to be studying theatre. She asked me where I see myself in five to ten years and I said acting in a tv show. She said there’s your answer. Now before I conclude my section about Carnegie Mellon I have to bring up my professor Kim Weild. She is such a mentor to me. I had the opportunity to be an actor in her directing ii course and without that class I don’t know if I would be the performer I am today. I also had so many conversations with her about wanting to be a performer and wanting to be more involved in the drama department. She even wrote me a letter of recommendation for Wesleyan University, I unfortunately did not make it into their program.

However I did make it into the BA theatre program at Point Park University. Although I wasn’t in love with the University, I definitely gained a lot of knowledge about the industry.

If I could change my college experience I would like to say I wouldn’t but I am not entirely sure if that’s true. I think I needed Carnegie Mellon to help me realize that I was a performer and this is what I was meant to be doing for life.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I definitely worked hard to get where I am on social media. I constantly was messaging local photographers in Pittsburgh to collaborate. This helped me build my modeling portfolio as well as connected me with more artists in the area. I also am a big fan of hashtags. I know some people think that they’re cringy or whatever but they are how my modeling agency and I got connected. I also have been reached out to by other agencies and casting directors due to hashtags so I’d definitely say hashtag your work!! And follow and support other artists. If you support them they are going to support you. We are all out here trying to make a living as an artist, so let’s hype up all of the amazing artists that are out there!!!

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

I want to inspire other people. I want to inspire other up and coming artists to be resilient and continue on their journey. You don’t have to be on Broadway to be an actor. You don’t have to be on the next big Netflix series to be an actor. You’re acting aren’t you? Self tapes every day, small theatres off off Broadway, short films, etc. You’re acting therefore you are already an actor.

Contact Info:

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Image Credits
VHNY michael thomas Patrick Donovan katie grammes Adam Smith Nat Lacek Chi Ilochi