My big break was becoming the spokesperson for Texas Instruments. Casting directors really started giving me a chance to read for projects.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I realized I liked being in the studio and working on translating the ideas into recordings.
Out of nowhere, I became a fairly well-known director with a penchant for opera, which I did for 10 years. Then I realized I was taking myself out the theater channel, and so I re-focused on theater.
I started acting almost on a whim to help my music career.
Being an actor started me writing, and that led to directing.
I was heavily involved in musical theater.
I started out being a stand up and writing my own material. That took me to 'Talk Soup,' where I was writing and performing for TV.
I randomly went to a casting session in my hometown in North Carolina, and the casting director introduced me to my manager. I really lucked into it!
I really wanted to go onstage. Not movies. But I ended up under contract to Paramount. Now I adore film work.
I guess my first big break was getting the hit show 'Cavemen' on ABC. People made fun of it, but it was a huge opportunity for me and moved me out to L.A., where I learned a ton about acting and how much I didn't want to be in makeup for four hours a day.
My first break wasn't professional - I was in 'The Sound of Music' when I was five. I played Gretel, the youngest one, because that was what kind of took off for me in terms of loving acting.