Meet Sarah French

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah French. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience is something you learn over time with the experiences you have in your life. For myself, working in the film industry and being an artist, I have to be resilient in order to keep moving forward, there’s just no way around it. There is so much rejection, so many lows, so many hard times, it’s easy to get depressed and feel like you’re not good enough. I’ve learned over the years you need to use those lows as fuel to your fire to stoke the flames to keep that fire inside burning bright. When you get knocked down, you have to get right back up and keep fighting. I’m a taurus and I’m very stubborn. I don’t stop until I’m satisfied and even then, I keep going and striving to be better. I never want to stay the same. Thats my motto in work and in life.

I get my resilience from my mom, hands down. She raised two little girls on her own and her strength was immeasurable. Being raised in a single parent household was really hard, but it’s a part of my life and has shaped me to be who I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an actress based out of Los Angeles, CA. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota. Melrose is a farming city in the middle of Minnesota with a population, at the time I lived there, of about 2,500. We were surrounded by lakes, wildlife, farms, blue-collar hard-working families, and lots and lots of mosquitos! I feel very fortunate to have had grown up in Minnesota. It taught me many core values including work ethic, the value of a dollar, how important relationships are, being friendly and genuine is a good thing but don’t let others walk all over you. I grew up in a single parent household. My mom raised 2 little girls on her own. She taught us the life lessons of hard work and dedication. I also learned about struggle and to appreciate what I have. I wouldn’t change my upbringing for anything, because it’s made me who I am today. I am very strong willed and have always worked hard for what I want in life.

Strong work ethic has led me to where I am today. I started acting in 2006 and have been in over 80 feature films, tv shows, and music videos, including starting a production company in 2022 with my wonderful partners Joe Knetter and Marcel Walz called Neon Noir. I say this and I’ll always say this. When you’re on set, give it your all no matter the size of your role or character. Come prepared, have a smile on your face, show up on time, and don’t forget how lucky you are to be doing this in the first place. If you have a bad attitude, act like you’re better than everyone, are not prepared, etc. you WON’T get work again. You never know on set who is a future director, a future producer, a future anything. This is a big industry, but a small world and kindness and preparedness goes a long ways. I don’t have a manager or an agent, I never have. But each job has always led me to the next, and I will never take anything for granted. I treat everyone with respect, and we are all in this together as a team.

I’ve also learned over the years of working in this industry is, if you want something done you have to do it yourself. This is a very hard and competitive industry and it’s very important to surround yourself with people who are supportive and have similar passions and goals as yourself. People that will help you grow and you can work together as a team to succeed. That is something that is very important to me and that is why my partners Joe Knetter, Marcel Walz, and I started our own production company together.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
One thing I’ve learned along my journey is how important it is to build relationships. Quality over quantity. Build them with people who are like minded, goal orientated, have dreams and passions, people you want to grow with, and most important, people who will support you and you support them back. This is so important in life in general, but especially in the film industry. It’s really hard to make true friends in LA, so when you do, you hold on to them tight and having support for each other is key so you can all learn and grow together.

Another thing I’ve learned along the way is to take risks. No risks = no rewards. If you fail, that’s okay! You just get back up and try again. But the key is you went for it. Do you want to be looking back and say, “I wish I would’ve done….., but now it’s too late”. Life is too short, so take those risks and at least try, because you never know what could happen. I took the risk back in 2015 to move across country from Minnesota to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Was it scary? Hell yes it was but I did it and I’ve been in LA for 9 years now and have accomplished more than I would’ve ever imagined.

Lastly, nothing happens overnight. It takes many years of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to get where you want to be and that goes with anything in life. My goal is to keep learning, growing, and elevating with each project I do. The sky is the limit and there is no limit to what you can accomplish. When I first started working in film, I did a lot of no budget/low budget projects, worked for credit (free) or for really cheap, I just wanted to get my hands on anything and everything to just dive in, learn, and build my resume. I didn’t have family or friends in the industry who could guide me, I was on my own. Luckily over time I was able to meet so many amazing people along the way to help me learn and grow.

It’s okay to say “no”. If a project or character isn’t right for you, don’t do it. There are projects I wish I would’ve said no to back in the day, but it is what it is and the way I look at it is, its all lead me to where I am today. Life is a journey and you have to learn, nothing is easy and it shouldn’t be. If something with a project doesn’t feel right, if it’s just not right for you or doesn’t help you grow, then don’t do it. I turn down a lot of projects but the projects have to be right for me and where I want to go with my career. When I turn down the projects I’m always professional and let people know why it’s not right for me. Unfortunately some people wont understand your personal journey and that’s okay! If others have a problem with that, that’s on them, not you. In the end, you do what is right for you.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
My biggest advice for feeling overwhelmed, I take a breath and I get lost in nature and fitness. My motto is when I’m not working, I’m working on myself. Health and fitness are a big part of my life, it has to be especially just to keep going physically and mentally. I do intense hikes with lots of incline throughout the week along with HIIT/weightlifting type of workouts as well. I was born on Earth Day, April 22nd, so that’s where my love of nature comes from. I’m an earth baby. You wouldn’t think living in LA you’d get a lot of opportunities to enjoy nature, but it’s everywhere. I need it especially spiritually and mentally. It’s a beast living here and it’s very important to find those Zen moments you can have to just take a breath of fresh air and to center yourself. I don’t think I would’ve lasted as long out here as I have if I didn’t have somewhere in nature to escape to. It’s very important to me.

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Image Credits
Dan Kennedy, Steven Shea, Kane Blust, Chris Bates

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