The Struggle to Stay in Hollywood: Kristin Carey’s Story | CLIP | Bay Area Innovators

[Music] who's your uh favorite actor and actress i have to ask you this I know Oh that's a really tough one Um I'm just going to do the first person that pops into my head was Rafe Fines Okay I just remember the the English patient Mhm And I don't know what it was That film just enraptured me Robert Redford too Sorry I can't have two I I love some of the old older gentlemen Yes Paul Newman all those guys Um obviously Pacino Dairo I mean we could go on and on with there's so many great actors Um even younger ones now So I know we it's a 30-minute show here Um women Scott Thomas Uh gosh so many women Uh Kate Blanchett Nicole Kid I mean my peers I think were all around the same age They're I just love people doing incredible work Amy Adams Um it's just fun to see people go outside the box and challenge themselves and don't play the same roles you've always played They're choosing really interesting provocative sometimes dangerous roles Yes It's fun How do you deal with um with the pressure in Hollywood you know the you need the next role You know there there's always something going on It's not like you go to n 9 to5 right you go to work and everything is the same every day right it Yeah How is how is that life to you for you i I when I was younger I remember it was more stressful and now as I get older you have to live your life You have to have other interesting things happening in your life hobbies or uh things you love to do I started the nonprofit because of many reasons but it fills another need Acting is not the only thing It's it's a job that I do but it's not who I am if that makes sense Um you know piano uh I I love to just keep learning And thank God I'm married to someone who's the exact same way He's very curious And I think it helps keep you grounded Also my spiritual practice keeps me grounded And and I realize um I'm here to do many other things not just be an actor So while other people I my friends are kind of they they get upset about oh I'm not working I haven't booked a job and it's I I don't I don't do that anymore I used to I used to but I've grown I think in that area that there are so many other things that I love to do So less stress you're able to enjoy life more Yes Travel or maybe try to write I admire writers so much so I'm trying to start that Do you sing i do I think you sing right to at what level you have a Well it's been a while Uh I remember doing a movie called The Black Rose where I played an Irish singer and we did a CD and it I mean it was fun but it's not I'm okay I mean I can sing I can carry a tune Um and that's how I got into USC so but it's not something that I might get back into it I don't know because I'm starting the piano again I played my whole life so I'm doing that and I've always wanted to write a onewoman show Mhm about stuff because some really cool stuff happened to me in my life Um I have a sister that I never knew I had So she found me a full-blood sister Wow She found me 12 years ago Wow And so that has been one of the most incredible things in my life is having that's got to be Yeah I was only child That's amazing So Wow Yeah It was really I have a niece I have a nephew So how did she find you was it through a through a movie or how did she actually Yeah Well uh my parents had were were in college and they couldn't have the child Mh And so my mom went to Catholic Charities and put the baby up for adoption And so in Catholic Charities they won't tell you who your real parents your birth parents are until one of them dies which is a it's a terrible Yeah policy I think Yes So my father passed away unfortunately very young um in 2006 and she got the letter in 2007 and that's when she really started her search because she had no information right so uh she started the search and dead end dead end dead end because it's she had his name and I didn't put an obituary because it it's a long story but I hadn't so he was nowhere and that was pre- internet I mean you I have to start to think what we have now and searching people and finding people and you see but back then it wasn't as easy So through my grandfather's death after my father same name but he was a second then she started looking and cluing in and saw my name and said oh I have a halfsister That's that's a pretty amazing story It's it's a happy ending It's a happy very happy ending Very she's an incredible doctor in uh Pennsylvania How important is faith in that sense in in your life and how is that translated into your work yeah that's you know uh I was raised Catholic so I've been since birth and and I've expanded on that meaning I have a spiritual practice Um and I think it's really important I think you you know sometimes I have to play roles that maybe I don't that are not likable but I myself cannot judge my the characters I play I like to pick roles that I feel will inspire people again help people I feel that's my job here on earth is to be of service So my service is acting but also not my nonprofit But um yeah that's a it's a tough question because I do there are things that I look at scripts I get sent and I'm like I don't know if I really want to do this I don't know if this is needed Yeah Right So I that's kind of how I look at it Well in conclusion I'd like to ask you what would be your advice for young people who want to get into acting for kids like you were you know and they want to they want to make it big in Hollywood What would you tell them well things have changed obviously dramatically you know with internet social media A lot of people are doing social media and and doing very well becoming influencers and whether they're comedians or dancers or singers they're people are coming to they are Hollywood's coming to them and going "We we like her Let's make a show around her." Um but if that's not your thing um because you know social media isn't for everybody uh get a good education do theater I think that's the foundation of everything is being on stage So if you want to be an actor I think that's if you want to be a true actor I feel my career is is about longevity Yes But if you just want to be famous I guess go you know there's a that's a different path Yes I I never thought about that when I was a little kid loving acting and going to play uh to rehearsal and playing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz Nothing about being famous It was about I love doing it I love being on stage right i love the audience reaction Um so yeah I think getting an education and nowadays uh you can audition really from anywhere Mhm Um if you can't afford to move to LA or maybe you just want to stay and there's Atlanta has a lot of filming New York Chicago Florida There's so many When I was growing up you had to be in Los Angeles or New York and that was it And maybe Chicago and now you can self tape which is really nice So the net is wider now um with casting directors seeing more people right and it's cool Everyone's getting a shot Everyone's getting opportunity Now still you you have other things you're doing and I think that's fantastic Do you think most other actors are in in the same position and the reason I'm asking that is because I'm assuming there's a lot more actors than there's roles for in in in Hollywood you know because there's a lot more people who want to do less movies So what do they do how do they fulfill their life you know or survive well a lot of people have the survival jobs I would say also write something That's why I'm trying to if write something that you want to play Write something that you want to do and go shoot it A lot of people do that right or like independent right independent movie Yeah Yeah You can shoot a movie on an iPhone now Back when I was You couldn't We couldn't do any of that Yes Um I used to have to drive I remember we would get our stuff We had pagers We get faxed to us right yes Yes Or I'd have to go pick up the stuff at the casting office on Wilshire You're like now it's it's right in my phone I shoot on my phone because we're all doing self tapes still right which is I'm in my living room doing self tapes It's It's weird I miss the collaboration being in person being with people I miss that I think you know this in person there is you can feel the energy Yes Um through a zoom through whatever something is missing there It feels like it's two-dimensional or one-dimensional you know Um I kind of went on a tangent And back to the advice for kids uh or young adults Um if you really want to do it I think you just need to do it Don't let anyone dissuade you right have the confidence keep going create things that you want to create shoot them get with friends get with your people You know I always say improv too Uh I was at studied at UCB Um so improv also is great for um just life just being able to talk and and and have a conversation but educate yourself and have other interests you know So during career if you had ups and downs and then you know how did you come out of you know when you had a a desperate moment or you had like a really big issue what was the thing that you did wow Uh there's a lot of obstacles Obviously there can be Um you're too tall you're too short you're too this you're too that you're not pretty enough you're too pretty you're not thin I mean it's it it runs a gamut What really helped me was I found out I went to this Actors Network group and I it was called a type me class and it if you don't know what you're selling and who you are it's really difficult You will you will bypass the pain and suffering You know everyone wants to be a leading actress Mhm Leading lady Not everyone's a leading lady Not everyone's a leading you know Um it's kind of that thing of as I'm growing older sitting into I'd rather be a character actress with wearing no makeup losing my hair and give me a nose prosthetic You know let's do it Let's have something uh fun Uh how I would I cried I'll be honest You know in my 20s it's very difficult to understand because you feel it's so personal at you you know and you're left out You're not right Why is he making it what I'm not right or there's something wrong with you what's wrong with me or what you know or am I talented enough or this you finally get to a point where it's like producers and in sitting behind the camera and watching casting sessions because I've produced and I've uh plays and and short films and you start to see what you see actors walk in that are sabotage excuse me you have actors walking in that are sabotaging themselves as they're walking in and you see it It's the way they walk or it's the way they walk You see the lack of self-confidence You see they're nervous You see and that's fine Look we've all been nervous There's been times where my script is shaking right it's a you know because you there's such a passion We all want we all want to do well We all uh take it so seriously So like they said it's 31 flavors and some days I'm the flavor they want and some days I'm not Yes And that's okay It's now I just don't take it as I don't take it personally I get it I don't fit the look of the show I don't match with that man as a husband and wife or you know what I'm saying it starts to become more you think about it as a business So I put my passion elsewhere I'll do theater To get that fulfillment and or whatever piano singing whatever I want to do It's that thing of not putting so much on each job Yes That's what I've learned you know because it's if you want to do this but I get it It's heartbreaking Um I don't know if I answered the question I think that's a that's a great way to to approach this and and speaking of the confidence I I remember people you know sometimes you watch a tennis match it's a final right and you see the two players coming onto the field right and you just look at them and one of them is more confident than the other and he has that look like you know I'm just going to win And the other one is more hesitant or whatever you know and most of the time the guy who's confident is going to win right and especially like at some level like most of these players in tennis probably in acting the same they're pretty much the same skills right they're one you know 100 or one is almost the same skills right but it's like that day or power of the mind or whatever that differentiates them And that you know the meditation and having a foundation and a practice and it helps all of that the focus the clarity your mind and not to let things um upset you like they would or I'll speak for myself like they did in the past Um so yeah it's it's taken many years but I finally I think I've gotten to a place where it's okay Well you look like a well-balanced person so that's fantastic Thank you