Meet Jeremy Thompson

We were lucky to catch up with Jeremy Thompson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeremy , appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I’m fully aware that is cliché to say that the world around me keeps me inspired, but things are deemed cliché for a reason. New York City being the place that I’ve lived all my life has made it easy for me to find layers among every experience I’ve had here. Too many things happen daily for me not to ruminate and find the deeper meaning of why I experienced it the way I did. A recent example would be my recent visit to the dentist. It was my first time at this dental clinic, and I was surrounded by men and women of all ages who looked like me waiting their turn to be seen. The shared struggle of not meeting the criteria for affordable dental care was being communicated between all of us with just our eyes. The eyes of Miss Meijas, a lady to my left, were the strongest. Immediately, I opened my Notes app and began writing. I hope to one day express those feelings in the film format.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m Jeremy Thompson and I am an actor from Brooklyn, New York. I’m currently enrolled as an acting for film student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. I’ve been involved in storytelling since a child, my first experience dates back to preschool. Performing on stage or screen has been my main goal for years now despite having small dreams of being a chef or an interior designer in the past. I love being involved in all aspects of performing arts. I am a part of the AV department at my school. I’ve had the opportunity to work as a PA, a camera operator, and a sound mixer/boom op on many projects. I also directed a short film titled “Nails,” which was written by Jazzlyn Newton and co-written by Samira Anderson, Maria Jose Romero Coy, Jason Doyle, and I. I plan to write a few short stories to gain more experience in that area.

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?

The three qualities that have impacted me during my journey are being optimistic, reliable, and open-minded. I believe these are the most important qualities to have because they affect the way you work with others and the way you work with yourself. Acting is a team sport, you need to be there for your cast and crew. Having that strong spirit can change the way a project is developed. Your body and mind are a team as well, you have to be there for yourself just as much as you are there for others. I strengthen these qualities by surrounding myself with high-energy/highly motivated people. iI’ve always believed in the saying “You are who you hang around” and I’ve used it to my advantage.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I do believe that it is better to try to be more well-rounded in areas that you aren’t strong in. Camera acting is fairly new to me, most of my performances have been on stage. There’s a comfortability there because I took the time to understand it. At the start of my first year at my conservatory, the camera was the most intimidating thing in the room. After taking the time to discover the unknown and learn the ins and outs of the camera, what it sees, what it doesn’t see, and how it can work with you, and against you are all concepts that have helped me in front and behind the camera. Throwing yourself into the deep end and being uncomfortable with what you don’t know is the key to learning anything in life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @igotjermss

Image Credits

Chandia Chansrisuriyawong, Ximena Uribe, Bella Pearson, Maria Jose Romero Coy, Sofia Campanella, Gracie Mccallum, Ruben Frischeisen