We recently had the chance to connect with Oswald Hunter and have shared our conversation below.
Oswald, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
At its core, I’m chasing a life that feels aligned. A creative path where what I do every day connects directly to my sense of fulfilment and belonging. I write books, screenplays, and make films, but the center of gravity is acting. Stepping into a character, carrying a story, and using imagination to reveal truth feels less like a career choice and more like a calling. It’s one of the rare spaces in my life where there’s no resistance, only a quiet recognition: this is what I’m meant to do.
On a deeper, more personal level, that chase is also about staying honest with myself. I’ve learned that when I ignore that inner pull, something in me slowly shuts down. For years, I lived a different version of life. Steady jobs, predictable income, decisions that made sense to everyone around me. I followed the safe route, the educated route, the expected route. And while it looked stable from the outside, internally I felt displaced, as if I was living in someone else’s life rather than my own.
What I’m chasing now is not success in the traditional sense, but presence. The ability to fully inhabit my life. There’s something profoundly human about creating, about telling stories that allow others to feel seen, understood, or less alone. Acting gives me access to that exchange. It reminds me that vulnerability isn’t weakness, but a bridge between people.
If I were to stop chasing this path, I know exactly what would happen. I wouldn’t suddenly find peace or relief. I’d return to that quiet sense of being lost. And for me, that would be devastating. Not because those earlier lives were failures, but because they required me to betray something essential within myself.
I don’t believe life is meant to be lived according to someone else’s rules or expectations. I believe it’s meant to be explored, questioned, and experienced in alignment with one’s purpose. Chasing this path keeps me awake, curious, and alive. Stopping would mean choosing safety over truth, and I’ve already learned what that costs.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Oswald Hunter. I’m an actor, filmmaker, and writer, and I didn’t arrive here through a straight line or a carefully protected plan. I arrived here at a moment in my life when everything I thought I had built fell away. I had lost the material things that once gave me a sense of security, and strangely enough, that loss gave me something unexpected: freedom. When there was nothing left to lose, I finally allowed myself to choose fully.
That choice was storytelling. Acting, especially, became the place where things clicked. Bringing a character to life, stepping into someone else’s inner world, and telling a story through emotion and imagination felt natural. Like returning to something I had always known but hadn’t fully trusted yet. Writing books, screenplays, and making films grew out of that same place. They’re all different ways for me to explore people, relationships, and identity with honesty and care.
What guides my work isn’t ambition as much as alignment. I don’t ask myself how a project will look on paper. I ask whether it feels true, whether it challenges me, and whether it’s worth the time and emotional investment. That way of working is very present in Faces, the film I’m currently developing. It’s a deeply personal story about a professional musician living with visual agnosia, and about how connection and rehabilitation don’t just change one person, but everyone around them. It’s the biggest project I’ve taken on so far, and the one that feels most representative of who I am as an artist right now.
Alongside my own creative work, I’m also involved in building spaces I believe in within the industry. I’m part of the team behind the Golden Reel International Film Festival (GRIFF), which was created to support filmmakers in a meaningful way. Through real feedback, visibility, and a sense of community, not just awards. That spirit of care and intention matters to me.
If there’s one thing I’d want people to know about me, it’s this: I didn’t choose this path because it was easy or safe. I chose it because once everything else fell away, it was the only thing that felt honest. And that sense of freedom, born from having nothing left to lose, still shapes how I create and move forward every day.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
That question assumes I always knew who I was before the world stepped in and the truth is, I didn’t. For a long time, I let the world tell me exactly who I was supposed to be, and I shaped myself accordingly. That started early. I grew up in a damaging household, without a real sense of safety, and I didn’t have friends in the way most kids do. I was bullied, isolated, and learned very quickly that blending in or pleasing others felt like the only way to survive.
So I became adaptable. Quiet. Agreeable. I learned how to read a room, how to anticipate expectations, how to shrink parts of myself to avoid conflict or rejection. Looking back, I don’t judge that version of me. He was doing the best he could with what he had. But he wasn’t living, he was coping.
It’s only been in the last few years that I stopped listening so closely to the demands of the world. I stopped asking who I should be and started asking who I am when no one is watching, approving, or measuring. And that shift wasn’t loud or dramatic. It was uncomfortable, slow, and at times terrifying. Letting go of external approval meant facing parts of myself I’d never given space before.
What I’ve learned is that finding yourself isn’t about uncovering some untouched, original version of who you were meant to be. For me, it was about unlearning. About stripping away the survival strategies, the people-pleasing, the fear of taking up space. Only then did something honest begin to surface.
Today, I no longer allow the world to define me. I listen inward first. I build a life that feels true rather than acceptable, aligned rather than approved. And that choice, to stop performing for the world and start living for myself, has been the most freeing and defining decision of my life.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me things success never could because it stripped away illusion. One of the first lessons was about expectations. Especially the ones I placed on other people. For a long time, I moved through the world expecting certain reactions, understanding, or validation in return. And when those expectations weren’t met, it created frustration, resentment, or disappointment. What suffering showed me was that those expectations were often rooted in the fact that I wasn’t fully being myself. I was negotiating my behavior based on how I hoped others would respond. Letting go of that changed everything. It allowed me to meet the world more honestly, without conditions, and to interact from a place that felt truer and more grounded.
Suffering also revealed a strength in me that I didn’t know existed. If success had come easily or consistently, I don’t think I would have discovered what I’m capable of when there’s no safety net. Struggle forced me to keep going without guarantees, and in doing so, it quietly raised my sense of what’s possible. It gave me the courage to set the bar higher, to dream bigger, and to pursue things that once felt out of reach. Not because I was fearless, but because I had already survived what I thought might break me.
The last and perhaps most important lesson was perspective. Suffering reshaped my understanding of success itself. It taught me to value and appreciate success deeply when it arrives, but also to recognize that life is larger than achievement. There’s a balance between growth and comfort, between effort and reward. Struggle plays a necessary role in shaping character. And while it might sound uncomfortable to say, I believe that hardship gives depth. Not in a romantic sense, but in a human one. It expands empathy. It sharpens awareness. It teaches you how to see others more clearly, because you’ve learned what it means to carry weight yourself.
Success can be motivating, but suffering is formative. It doesn’t just show you what you want, it shows you who you are, what you can endure, and how deeply you can understand the people around you. And that knowledge stays with you long after the struggle has passed.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
No, the public version of me isn’t the full version of who I am. And saying that out loud still feels a little uncomfortable.
I’m aware that from the outside, people often see me as confident, self-assured, sometimes even arrogant. I’ve heard that I look like I have everything figured out, that I move through life with ease, or that success somehow just “finds” me without much effort. Some people even assume I don’t take things seriously enough. The truth couldn’t be further from that.
Internally, I struggle with self-doubt in a way that can be overwhelming. I’m deeply critical of myself and sometimes even to the point where it almost paralyzes me. Crowded spaces, loud environments, or situations with a lot of movement are genuinely difficult for me. In those moments, I often act my way through them. Slipping into a version of myself that knows how to function, how to blend in, how to perform what’s expected.
The true version of me that very few people get to see is much quieter. It’s the part of me that feels most at peace far away from noise, from expectations, often in the company of animals rather than people. I carry a lot of emotion, and more often than not, it doesn’t find a clear or conventional way out.
That’s where acting, writing, and directing come in. They aren’t just creative outlets, they’re tools for survival. They give shape to feelings I don’t always know how to express otherwise. Through story, I can say things I don’t yet know how to say as myself.
So yes, the public version of me is real. The kindness, the curiosity, the genuine interest in others are absolutely true. But it’s also an adapted version. Part of it is what I’m able to give, and part of it is a protective layer. A mask that shields the parts of me I’m still learning how to show. And I think being honest about that gap is the most truthful answer I can give.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes. I could, and I do.
When you’re truly working in alignment with what gives your life meaning, giving your best doesn’t feel like something you negotiate. It’s not about applause or recognition. It’s about knowing, internally, that you showed up honestly. When the work is tied to purpose, effort becomes natural. You don’t need anyone watching to care deeply about what you’re doing.
I’ve noticed that the more fulfilled I feel, the less I rely on external approval. Praise can be encouraging, of course, but it’s not what keeps me going. What matters more is the quiet knowledge that I stayed true to myself, even on days when progress feels invisible and no one notices the work being done.
There’s a kind of freedom in that. You stop performing for validation and start working from your own standards. The work becomes calmer, deeper, and more sincere because it’s no longer about being seen, but about being honest.
In the end, giving your best without needing praise isn’t about discipline or sacrifice. It’s about self-respect. And when you respect the path you’re on, you’ll give it everything whether anyone is watching or not.
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