You know what’s the worst?
When you try so hard to do all the “right” things to get noticed by the industry—the dark (or light?) blue self-tape backdrop (that takes FOREVER to set up… and don’t get me started on the lighting), the high-tech reels that cost you an extra 1K (but hey, it helps you “stand out”), the swanky seminars that guarantee a meeting with an Agent or Casting Director (when really, the lil’ asterisk at the bottom suggests otherwise) and then your friend Sally (who just joined your acting class… yesterday) comes dancing down your IG feed celebrating her series regular booking, leaving you totally defeated, depressed and full of doubt.
What’s an actor to do?
It doesn’t matter that you have one-of-a-kind acting training. And a resume that has Casting Directors always asking for more. And that you performed your self-devised solo show on Broadway. (Though, that was a happy accident).
Alas, the dirty, low-down truth is this: the best actors—the true, hidden gems of the art—struggle to fit into the industry, getting overlooked for actors who just learned who Stanislavski is, or are cookie-cutter copies of models, or actual social media influencers who have “moved into acting,” when really, it’s just another opportunity for them to flout new pouts on their IG stories as they wait between takes and sip their green juice. Oh, so you’re working with Timothee Chalamat when you have zero acting experience? Is that so? Well, I’ve got a...I’ve got a… I’ll show you what I’ve got! I’ve got two acting degrees, 8 years of professional stage to screen experience, and multiple languages I can perform in! Oh, yes, indeed. I also have a smoothie blender, so take that overrated on-set green juice with perfect IG filters! The right people will find me, when it’s time! But, are you so sure? <strokes imaginary mustache>
Because here’s what we often see happen with our clients:
They spend a ton of money investing in the things they’re told will get them in the door: headshots, reels and seminars (with no actual progress in their careers)
They take acting class after acting class but still show up to auditions in desperation and doubt, hardly able to think about the work because they’re more concerned about booking the role so they can pay their bills
They assume “their time will come” while wistfully gazing off into the future, opting to spend the night dozing off to Netflix instead of questioning what needs to change
Even if you know what makes you a unique actor, you don’t know how to express it, let alone embody it (effortlessly)
Or, even more difficult, if there’s virtually nothing that makes you different—everyone in the industry is competing for the same roles, the same spaces—how do you ever stand out at all? (Good news: there’s a way.)
And you know what that means?
Constantly giving your power (and money) away to Industry necessities everytime a new “guaranteed success strategy” comes out (there’s a better way, we promise)
Being held prisoner to fear and doubt all day everyday (but especially in your acting classes and auditions) that make you feel like you’ll never be #bookedandblessed
You don’t even know what you need to change—let alone how to change —and your career is going nowhere fast
Your friends are making visible strides while you are still unsure if what you have to offer is enough (hint: it is)
And a stressful, painstaking career that’s stressful and painstaking in ways it doesn’t have to be, so long as you know how to do a few things right
This is precisely why we got into business: because we know that we can fix all of that, and more.
We’re Actors with a big Wish that specialize in Rebel-Actor training systems, and we know two number of things to be true:
(1) You don’t need to dim your unique light, question your artistic worth and throw a bunch of money at random things that “guarantee success;” (2) You don’t to be a need a carbon copy of successful actors workin’ their stride (in fact, you don’t want to be a carbon copy of anyone, even if they are successful in your eyes)
But what do we have?
The Magic IF.
Yup, that’s right! Stanislavski was—and is—on point.
The Magic IF is the one thing that can be implemented instantly, in any situation, at no cost, with very little effort, and dramatically changes the outcome. The Magic IF you put in front of yourself—and your career—can determine whether or not you get the callback, book the role, create the work that’s begging to come through you… or not.
Because that’s the thing about this #actorslife, isn’t it? All you need to do is use conscious tools as the gateway to the creative subconscious (aka drop your logic, sidestep “reality” and use the magic IF like the natural lever—that provokes an authentic response—that it is: onstage, onscreen and all the in-between. That’s right my friend, all the tools you learned in theatre school can be used in life (but we’re Rebels, and the Russian method takes it a few steps further).
So that’s why Actor to Artist was developed. At first blush, this seems unconventional. But rather, the concept here is simple: you don’t have to renovate your reel every 6 months, you don’t have to max out your credit card on new headshots every time you get a haircut, you don’t have to compare yourself to other actors who are “making it” while you stream their show on Netflix from your laptop at 2am.
All you need to do is harness the Magic IF.
The Magic IF leads the way.
I’m Sera (she/her/hers), and I’m the proud founder of Actor to Artist. (Hi!)
I am also a Canadian-American International Performer, Rebel-Actress (Russian-trained), Published Writer, host of The Actor’s Wish Podcast, EFT Tapping Coach (250 hrs) & Reiki Practitioner based in Los Angeles.
Naturally, it all started with a wish and a Magic IF. (Where all good stories start). When I was 19, a play—yes, a play—performed by the Ilkhom Theatre of Mark Weil in Seattle, WA changed my life.
From that moment onward, I signed a contract with my instincts. I propelled myself across the globe to become a student of Inspired Acting at the Ilkhom Theatre Studio 7 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Yes you read that right: Uzbekistan).
There I was: 21 and alone.
A Western Jewish woman in an Eastern Muslim ex-Soviet country trying to figure out how to barter for lepyoshka bread steaming from an old baby pram with broken Russian. (Don’t worry, I still managed to get a good deal).
But the work, the work of the Ilkhom’s 12 hour days, 6 days a week kept me vibrant and hungry: this is where I am supposed to be. I can only equate the sensation of studying at the Ilkhom to breathing fully and freely for the first time in my life. The work of inspired acting brought me to life. And it gives me life to this day.
1 year of study turned into 3.
I finished the program, graduated, performed in the Ilkhom Theatre’s repertory in 5 mainstage shows in English, Russian and Uzbek. (Yes! My Russian got super good, I bought all the lepyoshka I wanted, and my Uzbek had some… shall we say… romantic help :)). That’s right, I met my favourite person (Russian phrasing for lover or partner) the 1st year, who also happened to be my Studio 7 classmate, Akmal. Mhmmmm. At first we could not communicate (#languagebarriers) so we used a scene to get closer to one another (as innovative actors do).
At the Ilkhom, I had finally found my voice. It was gut-wrenching to leave. I went back to Seattle to finish up my BA at the University of Washington, the Ilkhom’s magical methods of creating kept me going. So much so that I devised a solo performance alongside Andrew Tsao, associate professor at the UW School of Drama.
After a sold-out run at the UW, I took my solo show (Tochka i Vselennaya // The Point and the Universe) back to the Ilkhom stage for the Festival of American Culture. Within a year—my first in NYC—I landed a slot at the United Solo Theatre Festival on Broadway.
Now, almost every actor has a dream of being on Broadway. And it was spectacular, truly. Especially because it was my own work, devised from the ground up, pulsing with the life of Magic IF.
But in NYC, I was miserable.
I found myself trying to appease the industry, squeezing myself into boxes, doing all the “right things,” from headshots to classes to reels to showcases. And yes, I got traction. I worked with amazing people and ensembles and bi-lingual films (the Russian stuck) but I was empty. More empty than I had been in years.
I felt completely lost. As if my artist could no longer breathe. When an short that I was the lead in that got into the Cannes Short Film Corner, and the director withdrew it, that’s when I said:
ENOUGH.
Enough of giving away my personal + artistic power to external forces
Enough of my whining and finding some kind of glory in the struggle.
Enough of wanting to be validated of who I am in the industry, by the industry.
And that’s when my Russian-training whispered: what’s your wish?
That’s when I felt the magic: what IF there was a better way? What if I could share all the life-changing Russian techniques with other actors? What if I could create a system of on-going acting training—and ensemble support (vital)—that would help actors in a constant process of growth, stand out from the crowd, own their gifts, create their own work and become the Artistic Directors of their careers? What if we could build the ensemble all the while creating our dream #actorslife (aka bask in abundance, exquisite success and creative fulfillment on our own terms)? What if our continual success was just a byproduct of how much, how often, how deeply we committed to our Magic IF over and over again?
Enter: Actor to Artist.
We’re still in the early beta-stages, but if the above describes you & your artist in any way?
I’m personally inviting you to activate the most important tool you have in your arsenal (that most Western actors either ignore or under-flex) that you can do today to put your Magic IF into action, tune your technique, call back your creative power, and hone your energetic signature on that leaves you unforgettable when you step into the room—any room—so that you can stay in the hearts (and minds) of Casting Directors and Industry Professionals.
I recommend that all new Actor Rebels start here—you in? (Resists making bad in “the room where it happens” joke.)
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