We recently connected with Matthew Blade and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Matthew, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
This is a tough one! Anytime we step up to a new level or are tasked with something we’ve never done, the voice that says we don’t belong can show up. I’ll never forget the first time I arrived to rehearsals for my first movie, fresh out of drama school, that’s a feeling that I’ll never forget. The imposter syndrome was alive and well.
I’ve heard it said that experiencing imposter syndrome is a valid feeling, because in a way, you are an imposter when you walk into areas of your profession you’ve never been. You have no experience being in that space, no time served, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t belong there. Accepting that truth in my own life has helped me. That it’s okay to be a rookie in a sense. There’s an ease that comes when I’m not trying to convince myself that I should feel like a veteran. That’s helped me remain open, ready to learn and grow, and not stuck trying to prove something, whether to myself or others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Matthew Blade and I am actor here in Los Angeles. I never thought or expected to be doing what I’m doing today, it still feels a bit wild to me. But I can say it’s been such a fulfilling discovery. I am so grateful to the craft of acting, as it has given me so much. Both personally as well as professionally. After all, it is the study of human beings and our humanity, which is a beautiful thing.
A current update on my life is, as I write this, I am on a plane headed to New York City for the premiere of a movie I worked on last year. The film is called Last Tour Home, and it is premiering at the SoHo International Film Festival. It’s my very first time in NYC, and I am excited!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Faith, Integrity, authenticity.
Faith in God, which for me has translated into laying down the need to self promote. In the entertainment industry, there’s this universal fear, at least that I’ve experienced, that my value comes from what I’ve done, the accomplishments in my life, the shiny people that I know or am associated with, and the list goes on. But one of the treasures I’ve found amongst this is faith, and this faith for me is trusting that God has my best in mind, that He knows what I need, and created me for a purpose. If I truly believe this, I don’t have to beg for a seat at the table, and I can start to be of service to others. At times I’ve had to be reminded of this on a daily basis, and I’ve faced some challenges that really put the rubber to the road in this sense, but I can honestly say I don’t know how I’d navigate the challenges of this work without it.
Integrity. Integrity is the investment in my future self. It’s knowing that doing the right thing might not always be the quickest route with the most immediate return on investment, but it pays dividends and gains interest.
Authenticity. The art of taking off the masks we wear, and to be the same person no matter what room I’m in. One thing I’ve come to believe in this journey towards authenticity, is that I owe my authentic self to the world. I owe it to my friends, my family, and the people that are connected to my work. They deserve to see the real me, not a masked projection of who I think they’ll like. It can be terrifying to “take off the mask” so to speak, but I’ve found it to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my life.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
Speaking from a standpoint of my own experience, in regards to what direction to go in life, I’ve found the most fulfillment in doing something I once thought was impossible, or that I would consider a weakness. Hilariously, that’s what I’ve devoted so much of my life to, this “weakness.” Public speaking was always so difficult for me, not to mention I had never acted in my life before auditioning for drama school. But as I invested in this, what I found wasn’t so much a weakness, but more just a route that was covered in a lot of fear.
I do understand there’s things that we really have a gifting in, and things we do not. However, many times we never really know what we are truly gifted in because fear has clouded our judgement. How many people have listened to the voice of fear and chosen the route of a “strength” when it was really just the safer route? I’m not saying that there’s something wrong with a safe route in life, I’m just saying, for me, I don’t want fear piloting my ship. Life is way more interesting when it isn’t.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thematthewblade
- Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12508066/
Image Credits
Emily Regal. Johnny Lavallee, Caleb Marmolejo
