Meet Dustin Ardine

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

Hi Dustin, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Unfortunately, I came from a very broken home and as such I grew up in an environment that can really affect someone’s confidence and/or self-esteem. Which to be honest it affected me in many ways as a child. However, the thing that helped me fight against this, was movies and television. I would watch these amazing stories full of strong characters which I looked up to. As friends, as role models, and as mentors. I believe that through these parasocial relationships with these characters and the actors/actresses who brought them to like, I gained a tremendous amount of self-efficacy. I started to truthfully believe that if these character and these people could accomplish their goals and their dreams, then so could I!

Film and Television are extremely powerful mediums. For some, movies might just be pure entertainment, a fun night out with friends and family, or the ultimate escape from the troubles of reality and the pressures of our daily lives. However, many more can attest to the true influential power of cinema, not only upon us individually but upon our society as a whole. Deeper analysis of films have shown their ability to emotionally and psychologically affect their audience. The medium of film and television can hold up a self-reflective mirror to our culture, our social behavior, and our inner lives as human beings. Through the influential power of film and television and the wonderful characters and stories that they presented in my life I gained confidence and self-esteem and dedicated my life to accomplishing my dreams!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a multiple award winning actor, writer, and academic. I am a member of the SAG/AFTRA union and have won over 50 Best Acting Awards including “Best Actor of the Year” at the Dreamachine International Film Festival, “Best Actor of the Year” at the IndieNight Film Festival, and “Best Actor of the Year” at Mediterranean Film Festival opposite famed actress Radha Mitchell who won “Best Actress of the Year”.

Acting has always been my dream and has been my life’s calling since I was a child. Movies, TV shows, plays, are all storytelling mediums full of fascinating characters and plots that can take the audience on deeply engaging journeys. I honestly believe that these stories saved my life when I was growing up and gave me heroes to idolize and learn from. When I watch these stories unfold I want to be completely captivated by the story and the characters. I want to be taken on the journey that the characters go through. If I see the actor before I see the character that takes me out of my suspension of disbelief. As such when I am on set I don’t want to be Dustin Ardine anymore. Dustin Ardine should not be there. I want to already be living and breathing as the character I am playing fully engulfed in the story we are telling the audience. I am a very dedicated method actor and fully commit to any role I undertake. Including doing my own stunts and fight choreography.

I have studied at many famous acting institutes including the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco under former Hollywood leading lady Diane Baker. I am also currently getting my Doctorate Degree in Communications focusing in Film & Media studies at Regent University and recently returned from a fellowship at Oxford University. This summer I will also be traveling to Ireland on a fellowship as well.

My last big role was as Dr. Grant in the upcoming film “A Walking Miracle” opposite many known actors including Oscar Nominee Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin, William Baldwin, Dennis Richards, Dina Meyer, Dean Cain. The film was directed by Daniel Baldwin and is scheduled to come out sometime this year. Before that I starred in the Award Winning feature film “Death Club”, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, and as the male lead in the short horror film “Birth” which was screened at cannes film festival.

I have three academic journal articles currently being looked at for publication right now. Two of which just won top prize in their divisions at the BEA conference in Las Vegas. I have also written three feature film screenplays and am working on my first novel right now. The last short film that I wrote was called “Ashes” for which I also starred and directed. My next short film is called “Kareem’s Oorah” and will be out later this year. Also later this year I will be starring in an episode of the episodic series L.I.F.E. directed by Dathan Smith.

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?
I would say that the top three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were impactful to my journey was first and foremost the value of hard work. In my experience nothing has ever been handed to me and I have gotten to where I am out of sheer hard work and determination. I have said it before and I will say it again hard work is what makes me stand out. Put me in a room with 30 other guys who look just like me and I can promise you that I will outwork them all! This is the mentality that I believe you have to have in any industry if you really want to make it.

Next, I would say that understanding the value of doing research is most important. As an actor, writer, academic or in many other areas of life, research is such a valuable tool. Especially now, in the days of the internet. Everything you could want to know about a person, time period, historical event etc.. is all at the click of your fingers. In the digital age there is NO EXCUSE for not doing research.

Lastly, I would say that the power of self-efficacy is extremely important to all human beings walking this planet. If you know what you want and believe that you can achieve it then go get it. Plan and simple. You have to believe in yourself and know that you can attain your goals. Whether that goal is to lose weight, graduate school, get a job, or become the best in your field. It all starts with you. Your will, determination, and drive to go out into the world and attain what you want in this life. We only get one chance at this life and you have to utilize each and every single day to achieve what we want to do so that we can life each and everyday to the fullest.

This would be the best advice I could give anyone no matter what they wanted to do in their life. Believe in yourself, research your goals and dreams, and work harder than anyone to make those become your reality.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
We all get overwhelmed in our lives and not just once but many times. This is natural and nothing to be ashamed about. Many people can buckle under the pressure that life throws at them for many reasons. This could be a fear of failure or due to the stress that becoming overwhelmed can bring on someone. However, first you have to remember that failure is nothing to fear. Failure can be the greatest teacher that we have. As the saying goes it’s not how many times you get knocked down but how many times you can get back up and keep trying, keep pushing, keep going after what you want. Failure can just teach you the ways it won’t work and you have to keep trying until you find the path that does work.

Currently, I am chasing down my dreams of acting and writing on a daily basis, along with attaining my PhD. All this added with the normal trials and tribulations of life including working, paying bills, keeping fit, eating healthy, and being in a relationship. I recently got engaged to the woman of my dreams and have to manage all of these things together which can be very hard and extremely overwhelming at times.

However, rather than giving up, what I have had to do is create a rigorous schedule to keep up with the workload. A schedule that allows me to focus on each task individually during its designated time of the day. This can help deal with the stress, when things look like they will become to much to handle. Needless to say, obviously, sometimes things do happen outside your control which throws off the schedule but it’s at those times where being flexible and attacking each obstacle as it comes can help you get back to the planned actions of the day and help you remain focused even in times of chaos.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,