How I Met Your Mother

Neil Jackson fearlessly walks through memory lane of being told no various times, to writing his own musical that caught the attention of a profound theater producer that allowed him to study the craft of acting. This man has had some lucky breaks but they all came from the hand work and relentless preparation of owning his craft and creating his own content. Ten years ago Neil’s interview for a prestigious acting school was cut short due to lack of professional training. Ten years later, with several highly notable roles under his belt, he shares his most prized moment of receiving an offer for the 2nd season of Westworld after driving Uber. This man is tenacious and doesn’t take NO for an answer. The NO’s led to the creation of hunger and passion for performing.

Currently, Neil can be seen in the second season of HBO’s WESTWORLD and Robert Zemeckis’ THE WOMEN OF MARWEN.

Tune into our Interview on iTunes HERE

Resources

LINKS:

• Neil Jackson on IMDb
• Neil Jackson on Instagram: @theneiljackson
• Neil Jackson on Twitter: @theneiljackson
• Neil Jackson website
• Nigel Williams Coach
• RADA
• OFF RAMP
• Westworld

QUOTES:

“Set your level of compromise on every single job.” | CLICK TO TWEET

“It’s just great to be hungry for something. If you are hungry for something then you have a passion for it.”

“I call them my DREAM FUNDers job: doing a job that doesn’t necessarily push me towards the way I want my creative career to go but at least I’m doing a job that “funds” me to continue pushing towards my that dream.” | CLICK TO TWEET

“Getting laughs in theater was instant validation for a nervous kid who thought he hadn’t had validation.”

“I didn’t shift my sports mentality to acting to a little later in my career. I didn’t realize the marriage between the two of the output versus what you gain from it.”

“I just need to be told no and then I overachieve.”

“Paper dragons: everything seems scary from a distance. It seems like a huge scary dragon. As long as you keep walking towards it, eventually you get close enough to see its made out of paper…and you just push it over.”

“For me, one of my Paper Dragons was…Am I going to work in this industry.”

“Oliver Stone wanted a guy that could head of Alexander’s infantry and I walked into the audition with a black eye and three stitches.”

“As long as someone is passionate about you and get you, you are in good hands with your representation.”

“A year and a half ago, I was flat broke and driving Uber…that 6 weeks gave me a perspective redirect on my ego.”

“There is no shame in owning any situation.”

“Owning my situation and conquering my ego…was so empowering that it no longer operated out of fear.”

“The fact that I wasn’t working at the level that I would like to be isn’t a reason to be scared or be embarrassed, its just a nature and par for the course.”

“It is a job. And you are working at your job continually and there are drought periods and there are dream funder jobs.”

“My approach isn’t wrong because it can’t be wrong because there isn’t one formula for making it.”

“I like moving forward with passion and humility.”

“My barometer for success or failure is about the level the of creativity that I work on in every project.” | CLICK TO TWEET

“I had pulled myself in so many directions trying to figure out what they wanted that I had forgotten this sense of self and my own creative truth and authenticity.”

“We live by comparisons in this industry.”

“Your job is to be charming because if you turn up on set and people like you, you will continue to work.”

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