Meet Elinor Gunn

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

Hi Elinor , we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

I was mired with doubt and negative self-talk for years. I always had a voice in my head telling me that I “would never make it,” or “why bother trying, you won’t be any good.” My negativity colored every experience I had, because I assumed everyone was thinking badly of me, which in turn made me so judgmental of others. I overcame that by realizing that those negative voices were trying to help me: this voice was trying to keep me from being disappointed, was trying to keep me from feeling embarrassed or judged. When I realized this, I was able to say to the voice, “Thank you, but this isn’t helpful anymore. I would actually like to try, regardless of the outcome.”

It was a combination of that and realizing everyone is making it up as they go along. The only way you get to expert status is with experience. And you can’t have experience without trying and failing a bunch of times.

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’m an actor embracing the multi-hyphenate version of my career, working on writing and producing, and also getting more into directing!

I help produce a series called “Goddesses,” where Hera, Athena and Aphrodite come down to Earth to live together as mortals. It’s a very fun and very silly project that I enjoy immensely.

Very soon, I’ll start rehearsals for the world premiere play “Joan” at South Coast Repertory, all about the hilarious Joan Rivers.

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?

It is truly cliche and everyone says it but: therapy. Therapy helped me so much, to understand myself and my responses to things. If your validation is coming from outside sources instead of from within you, you will never be satisfied. Especially when so much of an actor’s life relies on other people, to submit you, to choose to audition you, to (hopefully) hire you. Once I realized how much is out of my control, and had years of therapy, I became so much less hard on myself.

Doing theatre: I love plays, I went to school and got my BA in Theatre. and being in the local theatre scene has introduced me to so many working actors/industry professionals/etc. My community is so much bigger because of the connections I’ve made, but also I think doing theatre just makes you a stronger writer, director, actor… It’s wonderful.

Getting involved on set: My friend Kate Alden, a great director, started as a First Assistant Director and brought me on as her 2nd AD for a short film something like five years ago… That changed my life and gave me such a sense of ownership in this business, specifically in Los Angeles. It can be so hard to feel like you have any agency on set as a new actor just doing small costars, but as a 2nd AD I got to learn the ins and outs of the procedure of being on set and how the day is structured. When I do have the delightful joy of working on a set, I feel so much more confident in my acting because that stress isn’t there because I know what is expected. And it makes me feel like I’m annoying fewer people 😀

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The industry as a whole is changing so rapidly right now. First there was Covid, then a strike… It truly feels like everything I read before moving to LA is almost irrelevant now. I don’t know what I don’t know, and that can feel daunting. So daunting that I don’t even want to start trying to relearn, because maybe it’s just “too late.”

I have always had a nagging voice in my head, my inner critic, telling me that it’s better not to try. It’s too late for you, you’re past it, someone else will have that idea and do it better, and on and on. I realized (with therapy) that that voice is trying to protect me from disappointment. If I don’t try, I don’t have to say I failed. I don’t have to feel disappointed in myself.

Recently, I started pottery. And boy, I failed. I failed all over the place. And made a mess doing it! And I learned that that was SUPER FUN. Once I started treating my career that way? Game changer. All the trying and failing is good because I’m learning. And I’d never fault a child for trying something new and not getting it right the second they start.

I’m still dealing with those feelings of worry and overwhelm: they never go away completely. But I just… continue to make stuff. I continue to write, even if I can compare it to the stuff I wrote when I was twelve, and find that stuff to be … sometimes better. I continue to make pottery, even if most of my bowls turn into plates. And I continue to act because acting is a sandbox where I just play. And fail. And that’s fine. Because at the end of the day, it’s just mud.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @elinor_gunn
• Other: Tiktok: goddessestheshow

Image Credits

Matt Kalish photography
Paul Archuleta
Jason Niedle