Meet Will Roberts

We were lucky to catch up with Will Roberts recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Will , 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?

“I grew up on the Southside of Chicago in a very poor family. We moved around a lot. I used to joke that I moved 15 times before I was 10. When people asked if my dad was in the military, I’d say, ‘No, bad checks’—funny but true. From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a professional actor and performer. This career choice, coupled with leaving high school before finishing, meant I stacked all the risks in my life towards succeeding. However, I believe my resilience ultimately stems from being an actor. As you may know, actors constantly face rejection. If you’re a smart actor, you learn not to take it personally, unless you completely botch an audition or perform poorly in a project. Acting has shifted my perspective on winning and losing. I now view losing not as a failure, but as a lesson. I often use it to fuel my passion and continuously move forward toward success. For example, after 45 years as an actor, seeing myself on the big screen in ‘Oppenheimer’ feels like a vindication to all those who said I’d never make it.”

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?
Will Roberts is an award-winning actor, film and television weapons expert, cowboy, author, reporter, dancer, and holder of two Guinness World Records.

Will is in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenhiemer as General George C Marshall

A member of SAG-AFTRA (Fi-core) for almost four decades, This spring, he will star in the second season of the Emmy award-winning drama series Studio City, streaming on Amazon Prime, Roberts’s other notable film credits include The Redeemer, A Soldier’s Revenge, iBot, The West and the Ruthless, North of Neon, The Killer, Signal, and Turner and Hooch. Roberts’s television credits include principal roles on the pop-phenomenon Netflix hit Lucifer, True Terror-Robert Englund, Wave Rider, Mann & Wife, and Last Man Standing. and is infamous for his appearance on The Ellen Show as “The Dancing Dad.”

Roberts appeared for three years at the Aria Hotel on the Las Vegas strip in Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis. His other theater credits include Will Rogers’ Follies: The Life and Times of Will Rogers, Show Boat, Bye Bye Birdie, A Chorus Line, Beyond Therapy, Chicago, Oklahoma, Cabaret, Godspell, Annie Get Your Gun, West Side Story, Show Boat and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Roberts received the Best Dramatic Actor Award at the X World Short Film Festival at the Action on Film Festival in Las Vegas and the Best Actor Award – Short at the Golden Gate Film Festival, both for the film Signal in 2018. He holds the Guinness World Record for “Gun Spinning” and “Most People Inside a Spinning Lasso.” He is a professional clown and magician and is a member of Magic Castle in Hollywood and the Magic Circle in the UK, a trick roper, gun spinner and coach, and a balloon artist. He is widely recognized for his stage combat expertise as a stunt performer. Additionally, he is a professional mechanical bull rider and coach. He is classically trained in ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop.

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?
Here’s your revised text:

“I believe the qualities that have helped me succeed are persistence, persistence, persistence. You can possess all the skills in the world, but they mean nothing if you don’t get back up after being knocked down. Nobody will see your talents if you don’t persist. Early in my career, I chose to learn everything I could in my field to make myself more marketable. I started as a professional magician and balloon artist in my teens, then ventured into dance, practicing ballet, tap, and breakdancing for about 25 years. Concurrently, I was honing my acting and improvisation skills. I also became a weapons expert, skilled with knives, guns, ropes, and whips. As a professional cowboy, I even earned two Guinness World Records. All the while, I knew the more skills I had, the more in demand I would be.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be what I stated at the start: persistence, persistence, persistence. It’s too easy nowadays for people to give up and not push forward. Anything worth gaining won’t come easily. If it does, you should question it. Be the person known for rising early and going to bed late, but remember to set boundaries. Keep yourself healthy and your mind clear of negative thoughts. If you let the critical voice in your head win, or if you dwell on others’ negativity, you lose. Remember, the more you achieve, the more others will want from you and perhaps resent you. Look after yourself.”

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Here’s the revised version of your text:

“It may seem obvious, but the most significant growth I’ve experienced in the last year is due to my career advancement following the release of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer.’ Being honored with the role of General George C. Marshall, one of the greatest five-star generals in our history, has not only marked a pinnacle of success I’ve been striving for over the last 45 years as an actor, but it has also elevated me to a new category of actors. This role has prompted me to reflect on my growth as a performer and reinforced the importance of pursuing quality roles rather than just working for the sake of working. Perception, I believe, accounts for 99.9% of our success and future opportunities in the acting industry. This new perspective has spurred tremendous growth both personally and professionally. Progress can stem from both good and bad experiences, and in this instance, I am fortunate that it was such a positive leap forward, being part of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer.'”

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Sasha. Knopf photography.

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