Josh Feldman is an award winning child actor who has been in many films, such as Insidious and Santa Paws 2. HPHS Media caught up with the actor to learn his story and see what advice he has for aspiring thespians.

“It’s a lot of dedication, planning, memorization, and even though you’re still a child they expect you to act like an adult on set, to bring everything to the table,” Feldman said.

Additionally, auditions are often nerve wracking and stressful. Sometimes actors will be expected memorize 10 pages of dialogue in just a few nights. However, the payoff for the endeavor is worth it. Filming for a major production can take months, and the actors bond over the experience. By the time they leave, most have made connections that will last for many years. Feldman feels like these experiences lead him to this crowning, life advice.   

“I just like to say, if you have a passion, even crazy as it may seem, pursue it, try it,” Feldman said. “Because you never know what’s going to come of it. When I first started acting, I didn’t believe I was going to do anything remotely like I was doing.”

He feels like people will never know what will happen if they don’t work for it. Acting is a business filled with many talented people and roles are extremely hard to procure. Therefore, actors and filmmakers have to get creative to make a name for themselves. Creation creates opportunity.

“Make the role for yourself,” Feldman said. “You can’t wait for things to happen, you have to essentially build yourself up as a filmmaker because if you’re not going to get the audition, then you shouldn’t just sit around.”

Furthermore, in acting, there is always something to improve upon. It is seldom that an actor is perfect in their role. It is a craft of experimentation and dedication.

“Most actors, that I know at least, don’t like to watch themselves on the screen because, just as a person when you see yourself, you tend to criticize yourself and how you look and how you talk and how you move,” Feldman said. “People may like it, but the whole thing is, is you’re always going to think you can do better.”

Acting is Feldman’s passion and he wouldn’t trade it for anything else. The years, months and hours of hard work to him have been in pursuit of excellence, in showing the human condition on screen. When you love what you do, you rarely ever work.