Meet Christine Brunner

We recently connected with Christine Brunner and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

Creativity, I have found, is always sitting right on my shoulder. I actually become restless and anxious if I go too long without creating something, whether that be working on my lines, painting a wall, or organizing my closet. I look back at my childhood and remember those who always said “she is so artistic,” and I see how clearly they saw me! Today, as an actor and teaching artist, I am very inspired by three things: the work I see my students doing; collaboration; and appreciating other artists. These three things continually help remind me of the value of exploration, making big choices, taking risks, and knowing that growing happens in the moments of discomfort. As I grow older, I am more apt to seek out ways to work with, champion, and support other actors, and other artists. I live in a city that is filled with moments of inspiration, and art of every medium and type, and I am so very glad to call myself a member of the art community here.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have both the challenge and joy of continually reinventing myself. I am currently seeking (well, perhaps I am always doing so) the next balance in my career between teacher/director and performer. And I am giving myself permission, as needed, to take the time away from one or the other to focus more and be less stretched. I used to burn myself out by trying to do all the things, but now I see that I can coordinate my life to allow some space, and some focus. Recently many students and colleagues have asked when I will be offering classes for groups, so in the next month I will be offering 9 different workshops in addition to private coaching, and I am so very excited to get back into the rehearsal hall with groups of actors. I am also shooting a short film coming up, and the writer, who created the story based on his own life, is starring in the film. I am honored that he cast me to play his mom, and the film itself is about making art! As artists we continually gauge our worth through not only our own sense of accomplishment, but by the cultural and even financial (and let’s not forget viral or popular) success that we achieve. It is a metatheatrical experience to be an artist who will be in a film about artists, the popularity of their work, and what constitutes ART. I am very much looking forward to the process!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Being over 50 has changed my perspective when looking back. A few things stand out as being important to share! The first is that I absolutely knew, as a teenager graduating from high school, that I wanted to do art as a career. But I had no guidance or mentoring to help me understand how to connect the dots from young talent to sustainable career. I floundered, and changed course, explored, failed, lost my creativity in an effort to make a living, and then matured and found my way back. So now I work as a consultant with families of students who hope to study performing arts, and help them bridge the life skills they need and the creative outlet out of which they want to make a career. I made all the mistakes so I can help others before they encounter them. Secondarily, I held myself to incredibly high standards. So much so, that I was very alone in my efforts. I see now that enjoying the ride with others along the way makes for a more TRULY fulfilling experience. I was working so much that I never took the time to enjoy others’ work. Now I know that is a very important piece of the full puzzle. And lastly, I want to urge artists to value themselves and their work. I look back and realize I never took a moment to appreciate what I had accomplished while I was doing it! I was always thinking ahead, how to improve, how to get the next success, but I never had a moment to see how much I had accomplished! I do wish I had taken more moments to see and appreciate all that I had created! I wish I could go back to my younger self and encourage her to pause, look around, and be proud.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

For all of us, time is advancing, for sure! But for someone whose value is continually based on what age she can portray, it is a daily reminder that I am aging (gracefully, I hope!) A few months before I turned 50, I decided to stop coloring my hair. I am represented by different agencies who submit me for acting jobs, and they began to give conflicting advice about what to do with my hair, which was needing to be colored more and more frequently to cover the blooming silver roots. I had been coloring my white hair that framed my face since my early 30s, actually. When I finally decided on the best decision for ME, for my health, for my sanity, and for my budget, I never looked back. And though it took a couple of (sometimes incredibly frustrating) years to grow it out completely, I saw that not only was I helping to set a trend for Silver Fox FEMALES, I could and DID find my niche in the acting and modeling world! My hair looks completely different. It has gotten me stares, and compliments. It has made young people think I am much older than I am. I has caused me to literally throw out the majority of what I used to wear, because those colors look horrid with my new coloring. I still do a double take when I pass a mirror. I had to relearn how to do my makeup, how to shop for clothes, how I looked against certain backdrops, what characters I could pull off, which I could never again pull off, and what NEW role types I was suddenly considered for! It has been an adventure, and I would not change my decision for anything! Recently I was asked to dye my hair for a role that needed a 20 year span of age from the beginning to the end of the story. Even though they offered temporary color, I knew it would never truly come out, so I asked them to find another way to create the effect, for sure! They found a way, and I still got the gig!

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Image Credits

Gabriel Goulding