We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monica Bhatnagar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Monica, 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?
My mom. She’s tough as hell. I’ve watched her overcome many difficulties in her life, especially in the past few years. She has handled adversity with grace, and determination, and I like to think that I have inherited some of her strength. My mom is a quiet person, but she will drop a proverb, or two now and again when I need a little guidance. One of her favorite sayings, one that she’s lived by for as long as I’ve known her is, “Jahaan caah vahaan raah”, which loosely means if you want to do something, you’ll find a way.
When I first contemplated leaving a career in engineering to act, I had no idea how I was going to make the transition. But with a little trial, and error, I figured out how to move forward on a wing and a prayer, knowing that I would learn what I needed to learn along the way. And even now, when I hit a road block, I remember this proverb, and remind myself that, “I’ll find a way”. Thanks mom!
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?
I love story-telling, and I love make-believe. I am an actor – I started my acting career in San Francisco where I had previously worked as an Electrical Engineer for 8 years. I left my career in engineering to act full-time in 2010. I did a lot of fulfilling acting work in San Francisco. But I needed more. I needed to see how far I could take this career.
In 2015 my husband, and I moved to Los Angeles. It’s been an eventful journey to say the least. There have been many ups, and downs, and the ups have been so wonderful, I try to focus on those. It’s hard, but I try! I’ve had the opportunity to work on some really great shows including, Your Honor, SWAT, For All Mankind, Good Girls, General Hospital, etc, and I am really looking forward to seeing what I do next. Perhaps, a series regular on a juicy cop drama? A girl can dream!
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?
Persistent, resourceful, and motivated are qualities that have served me well.
Acting is a numbers game. The more you audition, the more you’ll book. BUT you will get rejected more than you book, so you have to keep at it despite the rejection; despite months, and months of no work. It’s hard – I am not gonna lie. But if you surround yourself with people who will boost you up when you need it, and immerse yourself in fun, creative hobbies outside of the acting, the rejection will be more manageable. This has helped me a great deal.
No one really tells you how to get your foot through the casting door. You have to research, you have to ask questions. Most actors are willing to talk about their journey. You have to talk to people who have been in your situation, but are doing more now. People who are where you want to be in a few years. I realized early on, that I didn’t have to re-invent the wheel, I just had to put the pieces together to figure out the next step.
It is hard to stay motivated at times, especially when things are quiet, and you don’t know a way forward. That’s when you create your own shorts, or rehearse scenes from TV shows. More often than not, when I am busy honing my craft (instead of worrying about no auditions/work coming in), is when I’ll get a great audition, or book a show, or get a sizable residual check.
For those just starting out, I would say keep at it. Take tiny steps each day. Take breaks. Believe in your talent. Don’t take rejection personally (easier said than done, I know). And give yourself props for pursuing a challenging career. Not everyone can do what you do!
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
This might sound a little strange, but in the last year or so, I’ve slowly overcome the fear of getting exactly what I want – WORK. I want to work. I want to work a lot. But somewhere along the way, the fear of failing became overwhelming – so much so, that I would jump with panic anytime I got an audition, or booked work. “Can I do this?” “Do I deserve this?” ” Am I going to fall flat on my face?”.
I believe the turning point was on the set of “Good Trouble”. I don’t know what it was – maybe I got a great night’s sleep, but I felt as though I was on top of my game that day. I was relaxed, and I was having FUN. I wasn’t judging my work. I wasn’t thinking about being perfect. I was just doing my thing. I proved to myself that, yes, I can do this, and I can have fun doing it.
Since then, I’ve had a “let’s do this” attitude. If not now, then when, am I right?
Contact Info:
- Website: monicabhatnagar.com
- Instagram: @bhatmon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@monicabhatnagar
- Other: IMDb: imdb.me/monicabhatnagar
Image Credits
Leah Huebner/huebnerheadshots.com/@huebnerheadshots
