Meet Drake Aasen

We recently connected with Drake Aasen and have shared our conversation below.

Drake, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.

Burnout is a very real consequence of working on something you love. It becomes so easy when you’re passionate about something to take on too many projects to where you don’t have any time at all to take care of yourself. The unfortunate thing is, I only think I really learned this by experiencing it.

For a long time, I thought I was immune to burnout. This goes back to when I was doing mostly theatre. I would do 2 or 3 musicals at the same time, just hopping from one rehearsal to the next. I could always put on a front while I was at rehearsal, but the reality is I was struggling. Behind the scenes, I barely had time to eat between one rehearsal and the next. My interpersonal relationships struggled because I had no time to dedicate to anything beyond the shows I was working on. Not to mention, the few times I would run the gauntlet like this, immediately after I had done so, I would get sick, and it would often take me several days before I could return to normal again. Suffice to say, it wasn’t maintainable.

I can’t say that I have completely stopped burning myself out, but I am getting better about it. Again, it is extremely hard to say no to doing something you love. I have just made sure that I have at least a few hours a day to myself to just relax. It doesn’t happen every day of course, but if I can set that as a goal for myself, I can at least consider it when I am agreeing to projects.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an actor and producer originally from North Dakota but now based in the Southeast. I have been acting as long as I can remember and in fact, moved down South the minute I graduated high school in order to pursue my acting career further. On the flip side of things, I only just started producing this year. That has been a fun adventure for me to embark on, as I am still very much involved with the acting process that I have always known, but I get to look at productions with an entirely different lens on it. As for projects I’ve got going on right now, I have just recently wrapped shooting the pilots for two completely unrelated multi-cam sitcoms that are both slated to be pitched to studios in the first quarter of 2025! I am optimistically looking towards this coming year as one that keeps me just as, if not busier than before!

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?

I think the three biggest qualities I would recommend everyone keep polished are curiosity, perseverance, and friendliness. I am a firm believer that all of these qualities must be maintained together to ensure growth.

Friendliness is going to get you so far. People love to have genuine connections with other people, and those connections can and will pay off if they’re properly tended to. I would also sincerely recommend that you start considering people for things when something comes along. That is to say, if you’ve met another actor or cinematographer or otherwise, and a project comes along that you know they’d do great with, recommend them for it. The worst they could say is no, but the best thing that could happen is that they will start thinking of you for things as well.

Perseverance might not be the most fun quality to maintain, but it will be the one thing that will keep you from quitting before you’ve met your goals. Acting is an industry where you will get a million “no’s” before you get your first “yes”. That is just the reality of it. That said, every “no” gets you closer to your first “yes”.

Finally, curiosity. This is perhaps the most important quality if I had to assign importance. This quality alone with support the other aforementioned qualities, and any others you choose to maintain in the meantime. Curiosity leads to discovery which informs the passion that keeps your heart in it when times get rough, and it keeps you from sounding inauthentic when you’re talking to someone about the industry.

I won’t say that this is the “key to success” or anything, mostly because success is completely subjective. I wouldn’t consider myself “successful” by my own standards, but I know that to someone else that might be rendered false.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

For me, one of the biggest things I have had to overcome in the last year is just keeping myself busy. As I mentioned before, there is a lot of rejection in this industry. You could send out 100 auditions a day and get none of them. This leaves you with a lot of time to sit and think by yourself. To some people this might be awesome, but I get really wrapped up in comparison and anxiety with that much time. I have combatted this by taking classes to hone my skills, taking odd jobs to pass the time and get some extra cash, and, when time permits, meeting with friends and discussing the industry and where we fit within it. Basically, anything that keeps you busy or increases your skill can be seen not only as a good thing, but as an investment in your future. Every experience that you have now will help you further down the line in one way or another.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drakeaasen007/

Image Credits

Eric Dean, Caitlyn Sellman, Jayden Juran