Meet Jean Evans

We were lucky to catch up with Jean Evans recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jean, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I know what i’m fighting for.

As an actor, the magic “yes” has only come a handful of times in my life. Yet with the thousands of “no”s it doesn’t get easier, you just learn how to handle it better. I believe resilience ultimately stems from an acknowledgement of passion and sacrifice. Who do I want to be? What did I give to be in this position? What is that worth to me?

I am the oldest of five childeren from a small town just south of St. Louis. And by small I mean: I graduated with 40 kids. When I left home to move to California and be an actress, I wasn’t just saying yes to this life, I was saying no to another one. It was a very conscious and difficult decision to reject a path that was laid so nicely for me. A path that included a marriage, a steady job, and a watching my siblings grow up. That sacrifice compounds every year — I have no choice but to succeed.

On the other hand, I was raised to be realistic. My parents were encouraging but above all else, they were realistic. “You can do whatever you want, as long as you can support yourself”. Who do I want to be? I have always felt that there was something out there for me. Something big. All I had to do was find it.

These truths have made the no’s easier. I know that there are plenty of positives in rejection. Someone has seen me, I believed in myself, and I am one step closer.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Five years ago, I moved out of middle-of-nowhere Missouri to the heart of Hollywood. I had about 500 bucks, a Toyota Camry, and an unrelenting desire to get the most I could out of my life. I had gone to college for theater performance and had been acting my whole life, so I let that guide me when I landed here. In between my jobs at Starbucks and Coldstone, I was self-taping and going to the cheapest improv classes I could find. I was scrappy, making the most out of every background gig and unpaid student film I could get my hands on.

There is something so magical about the choice to do something impractical—the choice to follow a dream, to take a chance on yourself. I knew that if I could just keep my head down and do the work long enough, I would start seeing growth. And a few years later, I did.

The most exciting part about being an actor is that I never know what my week is going to hold (which, don’t get me wrong, is very stressful—but oh boy, is it fun). Whether it’s an unexpected audition for an HBO original or a commercial for one of my favorite brands, being flexible and receptive to the work has been a huge reason for a lot of my success. I say yes to just about everything that comes my way.

On top of that, resilience in the bad times is key. The dreaded “no” that actors are always talking about sometimes stings worse than you can imagine. Knowing how to roll with the punches and take that rejection has, believe it or not, greatly improved my life.

In fact, so much about the art and career of a performer has taught me what it means to be a person. I’m learning confidence through improv and empathy through character development. I’m learning what it means to be a leader, a tone-setter, a teammate, and a collaborator. I get to express myself and open someone’s mind to a new perspective. On top of all that, I get to work with the most amazing talents and be in rooms with the future of Hollywood. I even get to consider that that future includes me.

I am primarily an actor, but I also have a massive heart for directing, writing, and producing. I co-founded BLEACH in an effort to make networking fun and film education accessible. BLEACH is a production company as well as a community, focused on creating friendships off-set to build chemistry on-set.

It really started when I realized how many talented and passionate friends I had. I believed they would all make great collaborative partners with each other—I just needed a way to get them connected that wasn’t based on “what can you do for me?”

I believe that film is the most powerful tool we have to change the world. You allow people to feel points of view they never even considered before. At BLEACH, we do our best to encourage filmmakers to just keep creating. We try to remove as much red tape as possible: connections, money, education.

Artist development is a huge part of what we do. We offer free scene study classes and Demo Days for actors, as well as writer’s nights and training programs for crew. A rising tide lifts all ships, and BLEACH is hoping to be a catalyst in this new age of filmmaking.

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?

Confidence, Whimsy, Determination.

Essentially: work hard, play hard. I believe my sustainability in this industry comes from my ability to stay focused and determined while also being the first to crack a joke. Almost every career decision I make starts with, “Does that sound fun?” If the answer is yes, I do it.

Balance is key. I’ve had seasons where the fun outweighed the determination, leading to some pretty major career setbacks. On the flip side, I’ve burned out—hard—from taking the work too seriously.

The weight of knowing I need to achieve my goals, mixed with the sobering truth that life should be fun, is what I credit for any longevity I’ve found.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

If I’m being honest—existential finitude and the claustrophobia of a self-imposed career timeline.

Or, better known as: a quarter-life crisis. I’m 26. It’s not old, but it definitely feels like it’s time to start having something to show for all the time I’ve spent in my twenties. (Disclaimer: this opinion is, for some reason, exclusively my own. I don’t feel this way about any other 26-year-olds. Not even slightly.)

I think that pressure comes with the territory of being an artist in LA. You’re surrounded by these kids who are beautiful and successful and seem to move effortlessly through a career I’ve been hand-carving—tirelessly—for years. That may sound reductive to my own work and a bit pessimistic, but it really is an obstacle I’ve been struggling with lately.

I’ve felt myself pushing a lot harder over the last six months—almost too hard. I’m coming up on my fifth anniversary of moving to LA. What a feat! And still, I carry this incessant insecurity that I should have more to show for it. I’ve sacrificed so much to be here—things I’m still giving up to this day. My career is starting to feel less like dreaming about the future and more like asking, “Why am I doing this anymore?”

Gratitude, optimism, and perspective are helping me work through this roadblock. A few weeks ago, I visited home and walked through my old high school theater—the tiny room where I fell in love with storytelling. It reminded me that I can’t compare my journey to others who’ve had different paths, environments, or support systems. We’re all just trying to become someone we can be proud of.

I trust myself—and my ability to make art that changes people. That changes me. I know I’m here to be an example, and an inspiration, not only to the people around me but especially to my darling siblings back home.

You can be anything you want to be—just so long as you work hard and have fun.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Gregory Wallace Photography
Lorenzo Gonzalez
Tony Zamarripa

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