BFA, Drama, 2009
Los Angeles, CA
www.brandonkylegoodman.com
What is your Career Sucess Story?
I recently made the move to Los Angeles, and booked a series regular on a new NBC pilot and secured representation with The Gersh Agency.
What aspects of your education, including internships and/or student projects, do you think best prepared you for your career?
So many. I worked for the Tisch Career Development office, so I became familiar with the business side of pursing a career as an actor. In studio, I learned how to hone my craft as a performer, writer, comedian. When I wasn't booking in New York, I decided to write my own shows and create online content. The success of my shows and having footage from them, in addition to having really well-produced video content, was used as material to pitch me for the pilot and ultimately book the job.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to accomplish this same achievement?
If you're not booking, make your own work. Take classes that are of interest to you. If you produce online content, make sure it looks good and that it is good. Better to have one really amazing video, than three mediocre ones. Don't be afraid of how talented you are. You paid a lot of money to be trained, you put a lot of hours to make it count, so you deserve to be in any room you walk into. Most importantly, in order to get what you want, you'll have to take a risk. For me, that risk was finally learning how to drive (at 28 years old), leaving my hometown of New York, and facing my fears of moving to Hollywood. Best decision I ever made.
What would you tell your freshman self if you could do it all over again?
You're enough. You've always been enough. You will always be enough. Keep your drive up. Keep your hustle alive. Keep taking chances. Keep trusting yourself. When you falter (which you will), when you make the wrong choice (which you will), learn from it and move forward. There is no such thing as perfect, so stop trying to be. Perfect is boring. You're interesting. You're enough.