We recently connected with Teig Sadhana and have shared our conversation below.

Teig, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

Earning a full-time living from creative work can be really hard to make happen. It’s honestly a tremendous privilege I found myself in that position so quickly out of Conservatory. I graduated from the world renowned Professional Conservatory program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City, and was fortunate enough to have several options of representation when I did.

This lead to an influx of auditions and attention from casting directors and eventually, I found myself on my first US film set. From that point, its just about being a professional. The training must take over the work side of things and you can allow yourself to be as present as possible. With the people, with the work, with the experience.
I believe that’s when good work happens – good work leads to more attention – more attention leads to more jobs.
Thats the cycle of things if all is going well.

In order to end up in that cycle, I found myself in a situation where I had to quit my day job because I was being offered numerous week-long shoots, and felt bad that I was having to renegotiate the roster with everyone all the time. That was an insanely scary choice to have to face. I had a sense of financial security with that day job that I was required to sacrifice.
And I am ultimately glad I did, but this industry offers very little in the way of guaranteed employment, so it really did feel like a total leap of faith.

I went on to have an immensely busy few months, almost constantly shooting across 4 different projects – and then came the inevitable lull in the aftermath – the sleepy, cold Holiday Period acting as a calm bookend to my crazy year.
But it can be hard to navigate mentally. You work so hard and move so fast for so long, then all of a sudden a few weeks of stillness can feel really intense and scary. And then, eventually, the wheel starts spinning again, and projects get released, and job offers start coming in again, and onward you go. The cycle continues.

Its unstable in its nature, this work, so going full time (at least for me) was a really big and scary decision I made, but one that has taught me a lot about my own head, and my capability of self-belief. It was the catalyst for what has been an incredibly successful 2024.

Teig, 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?

Well, firstly, I am Teig – I was raised on Ngunnawal country in Australia. I have been a professional actor for over a decade now, and have worked on projects across several levels of the industry.

I come from a large family spread out across the world, which is a great privilege, and yet simultaneously can be really emotionally difficult. My family is full of really wonderful and artistically minded people – they are a huge reason I am an artist myself. It can be quite hard to live so far away for so long, but there is something to be said for the importance of an artist’s surrender to the work – acting has always followed me around – it became clear that the art form was trying to speak to me, and eventually, I was brave enough to listen.

I decided to undertake my Professional training here in The USA, at the Stella Adler Studio – this decision altered my life wonderfully and set me off on an amazing trajectory. New York City is a playground, but it is also a harsh place that makes you grow up pretty fast – I think the growth I’ve gone through here both personally and artistically has deeply shaped who I will be for the rest of my life.

I worked really hard at the Studio, and ended up graduating with straight A’s and an offer of participation in the Professional Showcase. This launched me out of graduation and into the real world on the best foot possible.

Since then, I have spent the last year filming Vertical Dramas here in New York, and have had a great time learning to fill the shoes of the “Leading Man” roles I’m cast in. I found a lot of comfort in this process by making sure I am assessing my energy on set and trying to always offer as much love and light to those around me – I think sometimes concepts like “Leading Man” can get to peoples heads a bit and make them treat others a little different – this is not something I will allow in my headspace, so I make a concerted effort to maintain healthy, positive and collaborative energy with all my peers, on screen and off. This has been a beautiful process of self-assessment and ego management. A great lesson to learn at this point in my career.

I truly delight in the work we do, so I never take it for granted and love the process of helping clients/producers/directors get exactly the product they need from me. I love the push and pull of collaboration, and have proven myself incredibly useful in this way to the clients I work with. When hired, they know they will get a high quality product from my work, and that I am excited and enthusiastic to help them get it there. I think this has made clients I’ve worked with really pleased that they brought me onto their projects – they know they will get a deeper engagement with the work than just showing up for the pay check – I love what I do, and work really hard for the people I do it with.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is relatively simple in theory –
I want to get out of bed each day and look forward to what’s ahead.

That sounds simple enough – and I purposefully keep it that way. I honestly believe that the actor who is in best connection with their wellbeing, their intentions, and the expenditure of their time is in the best position to create work that will affect other people. We are trying to connect across time, space and reality to our audiences – the cleaner you are as a canvas, the more of your characters can shine through. It is also just healthier. This is an industry that feeds on ego and gives very little back soulfully. So as an actor, you have to really manage yourself wisely in these spaces. I think you have a personal responsibility to hold yourself accountable for your own wellbeing – the insecurity of the work can kinda rob you of that. Holistically, I believe that when an actor is truly in dialogue with their lives – when they truly understand that they are an active participant in the poetry of their lives, not having it simply enacted upon them – they then have the best platform to create the best work.

The Stella Adler Studio motto comes to mind:

“Growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous”

My goal on this journey is to never stop growing.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I have been receiving numerous messages from people all over the world lately. I will wake up each morning to a series of wonderful dm’s from China, India, other parts of The USA, Europe etc. It is a pretty beautiful reminder of the time we are living in and the impact of my work therein. I am incredibly grateful for it – I am finding myself having really sweet discussions about art and spirituality and the effort towards living in kindness with people whom I would never have had the privilege of knowing if I didn’t do what I do. That is so rewarding. I feel like my world is expanding, and I am making friends all across the globe. I am actively learning about the people I share this life with, and I am amazed at how beautiful they all are. It keeps my battery well charged.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://classes.stellaadler.com/showcase/teig-sadhana/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sadhat8/
• Other: Check Out My Current Work:

  After the Awakening Sibling Strike Back (GoodShort)

  Come Back for you (Dramabox)

  Hurt Me, Love Me (Dramabox)

  Glory of Revenge (currently being optioned)