New York is a great place to be as an unrepresented actor because there are so many 'open auditions' that you can show up for without being submitted by an agent.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I don't even think places like the National Youth Theatre (NYT) are necessarily about wanting to be an actor when you grow up. They're about meeting people from different backgrounds and different religions and different cultures, and mixing with people that you wouldn't ordinarily meet.
There's something so wonderful about being an actor in New York.
I don't think of myself as a New York actor; I think about this guy who's an actor who happens to be from New York.
Between New York and L.A., and all of us who are actors, I feel like we're just one big, cast repertory company, all running back and forth between the coasts and between different shows. There is a wealth of great character actors, who show up, here and there, on different shows. I love the fact that we're allowed to do that.
I think the choice of actors that we have is a little more varied and rich here in New York than in L.A.
Everyone said that if you want to be a real actor, go to New York. If you want to sell out, go to LA. And I thought - I want to sell out!
I live in New York and I love it, because it doesn't make me feel like my life is always just about acting and that world of acting. I don't have expectations.
When you audition for shows in Hollywood, you go in, you do your scene, maybe you get an adjustment. It's sort of easy, and a lot of times it just feels sort of rote and simple. Whereas when you go to New York and you audition for plays, you walk out sweaty and intimidated and nervous and doubting yourself as an actor.
It's not every day people fly you to New York for auditions.
I live in New York, where people don't tend to go up to actors as much.