Meet Haley Sanders

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Haley Sanders. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Haley below.

Hi Haley, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

As an actor, having resilience is crucial to survival and to success. There’s no shortage of rejection in the entertainment industry. I remember when I first started out auditioning and pouring myself into being a working actor. I remember feeling like every rejection was personal, and meant that I wasn’t a skilled actor. I took each no as a hit to my self esteem and self confidence. Not getting an response from casting hurt just as much as a rejection.

However, right before I moved to Atlanta, I had lunch with my friend from college and she told me: Submit and Forget. At first, I didn’t believe that would be possible. To pour yourself into an audition, spend your time analyzing the script, and giving a piece of your heart to give life to the character, and then pass it on to casting and forget about it? But over time, I learned to submit to a breakdown, to audition for a role, to do a callback, to put myself out there for the world to see, and then forget about it. Now, I get to be pleasantly surprised by c-mails (auditions on Actors Access) and callbacks. I’ll forget I even submitted/auditioned. That is one of the main ways I’ve grown to be able to stay resilient in the face of rejection.

I’ve also learned about the mindset you must have to thrive as an actor. Every no is one step closer to the next yes. Every time you audition, you are presenting you, living in the imaginary circumstances of the character. CDs (casting directors) are always rooting for you. CDs are looking for the person who is right for the role. If you don’t book it, it wasn’t the role for you. Once I realized this, it became so much easier to support my fellow actors and celebrate their wins. I altered my perspective from regarding the industry as a competition for a coveted prize, to viewing it as a community of creatives working together to create art,

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?

Hi everyone! My name is Haley, and I am an Actor and Teaching Artist, I caught the acting bug later in life than most people. I had a sort of epiphany when I was 13 years old. One day, i was watching television after school, and just had the thought “I want to do that.” I remember, as a kid, going to the movie theatre was one of my favorite things to do. I would always make my family stay until the very end of the credits, watching all of the names, and at the end we’d all go down to the floor in front of the screen and dance our hearts out.

I didn’t get into theatre until high school. Even then, no one around me believed I’d ever want to act because I was painfully shy. I was an runner on the cross country and track teams, until I chose theatre junior year of high school. I was never cast in my high school productions, so I stage managed and assistant directed. I was cast in my first show my junior year of high school as part of a community theatre production of The Princess and the Magic Pea. I remember the first time I felt like I was living the dream. I was stage managing The Little Mermaid at my high school, while rehearsing for Magic Pea at night. I would stay after school to do the musical, eat in the car on the way to rehearsal, where I was on cloud nine.

I decided to audition for colleges and received my BFA in Acting and Theatre for Youth from East Carolina University in 2021. I performed in my first film project my freshmen year of college and the rest is history. I decided to pursue film full time during the pandemic, when I was receiving my theatre degree online, submitting self tapes and monologues to my professors. After graduating, I worked as a Teaching Artist at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte for a couple years, before moving to Atlanta in 2022. Children’s theatre has a special place in my heart. Teaching and performing for children is something I hope I can always come home to.

Present day, I am still living in Atlanta, and I am loving the life of a working actor. There are definitely difficult days. Those are the days when I have to lean on my friends, my family, and my why. One of my favorite moments is when I’m on my way home from set, watching the city go by, thinking: I’m getting paid to do what I love, something countless people told me was impossible. That makes me smile every time.

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?

One skill that is necessary to develop as an actor is self-discipline. Acting is a self-led career. No one cares more about your career than you. It can get hard when most days you don’t have a boss to report to, a job description, or a time to clock in and out. It took me along time to view acting as a career, because I spent so many years being told that being an actor isn’t a “real” job. I was told being an actor is something you “try” to do, not something you just “do.” I learned recently that you can’t rely on motivation. It fluctuates. You have to rely on discipline to reach your goals. And that is true in all facets on life.

Self-confidence is another quality that is required for this profession. I would also consider it a skill that you can foster. Confidence is something I had to work at, and still am. Because of the nature of the job, you cannot rely on anyone but yourself to increase your level of self-confidence. My level of self-confidence directly correlates to my ability to play in an audition and present my self in my truest form. Something I am currently working on is how fragile my confidence is. There are days I feel amazing and like I belong. There are also days where one thing will happen, either in a performance, in an audition, or somewhere else, that causes my level of self-confidence to plummet. I’m still learning how to build a stronger foundation so it isn’t so reliant on external forces.

Curiosity is a must-have as an actor. My love of learning is something I took for granted as a kid. I always waned to know more, and know why. I was very academic as child. I remember telling my professor in college that I chose to study acting because it was the only thing I found to be challenging. Of course, my why has evolved, but the root of that statement still rings true to who I am today. I am always looking for the next challenge to overcome. And life an actor in itself is a challenge. But I overcome it each day.

Developing a sense of self, of who you are and who you want to be, is pivotal to thriving as na actor. Working on yourself is one of the best ways to foster self-confidence, discipline, and curiosity. Being okay with who you are allows you to be vulnerable on camera and lets the audience in. Knowing what you need to do to reach your goals will allow you to have self-discipline where you need it most. Achieving your goals, accepting who you are, and what you have to offer the world will allow you to have the confidence to play in the audition room and on set. Once you feel that confidence, your will be able to let that child-like curiosity back into your life. Being the happiest, healthiest you will translate in the audition room. You got this.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I’m not sure I have a number one challenge. I have a few.

One thing I am currently struggling with is Imposter Syndrome. It is. such a confusing mental struggle to be going through. I wanted to bring it up because I feel like so many actors are battling this feeling constantly. Imposter Syndrome involves the fear of being “found out” as being incompetent, constantly striving for perfection, and feeling like you’re unable to replicate past successes. it is surprising how often I feel like I have no idea how to act, which is entirely untrue when I look at the facts. One way I bring myself out of that mindset is by looking back at my accomplishments. I remind myself of where I started and where I am today. I remind myself that I am enough.

Another major struggle is achieving work-life balance. I find myself feeling very overwhelmed by the many different aspects of my life as an actor. Having a myriad of jobs, responsibilities, and tasks that are required of me to advance my career is a lot at times. I am learning how to manage alf of it while having a social life outside of networking. I’m working on discovering new hobbies that don’t have to do with being an actor. Being a well-rounded person makes you a better actor. Acting has to be one part of your life, not your only focus. I am working on having that balance by scheduling time for hobbies, friends, and exercise.

Lastly, one of my main obstacles that i’m facing recently is living in the moment. I find the fact that this is a challenge for me incredibly ironic. I have refined the skill of being in the moment while acting, but am struggling to do so in my everyday life. According to my therapist, having that work-life balance will help me live my life more in the present moment, My mind is constantly either in the past, replaying a moment of embarrassment or awkwardness, or in the future, trying to plan for events that haven’t happened yet. I am working on this by finding more time to enjoy the silence, allowing space for my own thoughts, and focusing on the people in my life.

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