Meet Charles Constant

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Charles Constant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Charles, 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.

For me, it’s not really a question of keeping creativity alive. I think it just an innate part of who I am and it’s just there and I think it’s there in everyone to a greater or lesser degree.

We tend to think of creativity in terms of “The Arts” only, but I think it is everywhere. I think creativity is always alive in everyone; that’s part of being a human being. Look where the human race began and where we are now. It wasn’t just a few Homo habilis creating stone tools 2 million years ago that got us to where we are now. Humans are just naturally creative. Obviously, some people are blessed with perhaps a greater degree of creativity.

Some people get paid to be creative. Others create for fun or relaxation, Still other create out of necessity. And what IS creativity anyway? I think of my mother, who was the “typical” 1950”s/1960’s housewife. Now THAT woman was creative! Running a household with there children, a husband and a father-in-law in it, preparing three (very tasty) meals every single day of the year, cleaning, organizing, keeping my father on track, keep my siblings and I on track. Amazing! The amount of creativity that that job required is staggering.

Maybe “How do you stimulate your creativity” is a question I can more easily answer. I mediate twice a day in addition to spending time in bed when I wake-up, just letting my mind wander in that Theta-Alpha state. I keep a digital recorder next to the bed, so if I come up with anything that seems worth pursuing I can make note of it. I can’t even count the number of “Million-dollar Ideas” I lost by not recording them while they were fresh in my mind.Going to museums, reading, just walking outside and not focusing on anything concrete such as my current problems or challenges also help.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have been an actor for most of my adult life. I started in high school and haven’t stopped since. It has been a wild ride and I have loved (almost) every minute of it.

It’s a long story, slightly less long here; freshman year of high school, I wanted to perform in the school talent show. I was a magician, and planned to do that in the show, but I needed the classic white tie and tails, and I knew our school had several rooms full of costumes they used for the school plays.

The teacher who directed most of the plays was a close acquaintance of my best friend’s dad, so an introduction was arranged for me to meet with this teacher, Doug Murphy, and ask if I could borrow a tux.

I was told that I could, but it was on the condition that I audition for the next school play. I auditioned, got cast, was totally hooked, and I have never looked back!

I know work primarily as a voiceover actor and have narrated a lot of audiobooks, but I still do on camera work as well. Earlier this year I help produce a feature film that has since screened at many prestigious film festival and has won many Awards. It’s called All I’ve Got and Then Some and it will be in limited release in through Laemmle Theaters in September. Please go see it!

At times I am still amazed that I have actually managed to make a career of it all, and never gave up on the dream. It has been a very, very long and difficult road getting to where I could actually pay my bills with money from acting, but it has been so very worth it!

Several years ago, having been a real estate agent and a mortgage broker as two of many side-jobs often required from actors, I decided that I knew enough about real estate to start investing. I partnered up with a good friend, Mariel Suarez, (an actress you should keep your eye on!), and we formed Epitome Investments. We now own few properties around the US and other countries. After years of unstable, intermittent work, it helps to know that there is money coming in.

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?

Well, I think the main quality that helped me is my stubbornness! I wanted to be an actor and I refused to give up in spite of the constant stream of negativity from people close to me. There was a lot of “I’ll show them” in my journey.

Whatever it is that you want to do, I say just start doing it at whatever level you can. School is great, but I don’t think you really learn anything until you start doing it repeatedly. Keep learning about your chosen career or interest; there is always something new you probably don’t already know.

Perhaps another quality would be curiosity. I’ve always been interested in performance by other people and other cultures. Whether it’s singing or dance or music, I believe that curiosity and learning or willingness to learn are very important. As actors, I think we tend to learn one “technique” and stick with that without familiarizing ourselves with other wats of doing what we do or watching how other people do what we do. There’s always more to learn and being curious helps.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

As a new producer, I am always looking for new projects. We have two in development at the moment, but we are open to others as well.

As an audiobook narrator, I’d love to talk with any authors who are considering turning their work into an audiobook; it’s the way it’s done now in the publishing world.

In the real estate world, Mariel and I are always looking for properties and potential investors.

Finally, as an actor in general, I’d love to do more on camera work.

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Image Credits

LAUREN DESBERG

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