Do not EVER compare yourself to another, everyone’s acting journey is so different. “The world belongs to those who dare” is my personal motto. You have to learn to think outside the box, you can’t expect greatness by being like everyone else. Find out what makes you different and make that your brand!!! Lastly, NEVER STOP.

If you seek a career in the performing arts I say you and your well-being matter. Take care of yourself, and honor your needs and boundaries. You can only build a sustainable career if you treat yourself as worthy of care. It is very hard: you have to give yourself that care while also working at your art, while also finding a way to pay your bills.

A performer who wants a career in the performing arts should study, study and study all facets of the performing arts and the business and public relations aspects as well.Be prepared and open and grateful for opportunities large and small to exercise the creative muscle.

It's never too late. I moved back to New York City in my 50s and in the middle of a pandemic. Life is short. There are enough people pushing paper but do have a flexible jobs. Understand that as an actor you are a small business person. There is room for everyone, so really, why not you?

It was truly an honor to be a part of the new version of The Tick. Knowing that what I was helping to bring to life would have the same impact on others as it had on me, is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

I think for me it's the drive to work on projects that I watch and that excites me. There is so much being made and so many new stories being told and I stay motivated because of the excitement I feel. I am a south Asian Actor and a lot of what is being made now is representative of the culture I grew up in or of other minorities. Looking at things like Ms. Marvel, the variety of possibilities keeps me ambitious for the future.

“To me, the phone is everything. It's such a good tool. When I started out, you had to rent an expensive camera. Now everyone's got a really good camera that shoots in 4K. Use it.”

“Regardless of how often you’re working or not working, there is always time to take a breath and listen. Listen to how you’re feeling but also listen to the world around you.”

“Research is always an enormous part of my process. It’s really what fuels the design. I go in with an open slate and let the research send me down rabbit holes.”

“Every single acting teacher that I’ve trained with has given me something that I apply to my work (and life) today.”

“Make art to heal and to inspire, and do it in a healing and inspiring way. Now is the chance to make a new entertainment industry. Do it.”

“Create. It doesn't matter if it's lines of dialogue on a piece of paper. Create something for yourself, and if you're brave enough, share it.”

“If you haven’t already, now might be the time to give a look to Eighty 12, a new indie anthology series streaming on Amazon Prime created by Louis Rocky Baciagalupo. We spoke to series regular Jason Lee to tell us all about it.”

Shawna Khorasani is a screenwriter and director from California. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to act in her first web series, The Adventures of Serena Berg. She just wrapped her second short film, LoverGirl. It’s a romantic comedy about two teenage girls in which the main character, a high school senior named Dakota, stages a bunch of grand romantic gestures to ask out her crush, Danny, and hilarity ensues every time. Shawna describes it as a “funny, happy, sweet love story about two young women.”

The entire cast is part of the LGBTQ+ community, something that Shawna feels is very important as a queer creator.  I had the chance to catch up with her and talk independent filmmaking and the importance of queer representation.