Off Script: 2026 New Year's Special - 2025 Lessons Learned

In this reflective episode, David John Clark reviews the key themes and insights from the previous year, 2025, in the context of acting. He emphasizes the importance of community, the intersection of business and creativity, and the necessity of self-belief and joy in the acting journey. Through reflections with previous guests, he explores topics such as self-sabotage, marketing authenticity, and the need for a supportive network. As he looks forward to 2026, he encourages listeners to embrace their unique paths and to prioritize their creative journeys.

Chapters

• 0:00 New Year Reflections and Podcast Prelude
• 1:42 Looking Back at 2025: Insights and Learnings
• 3:01 Community: The Heart of Acting
• 4:45 Actors as Entrepreneurs: Embracing the Business Side
• 10:09 Techniques and Results: The Chubbuck Method
• 20:06 Self-Belief: The Key to Sustaining Your Career
• 24:49 My 'Resolution' of sorts (Note: Minor Explicit)

Transcript

David John Clark (00:00)

Happy New Year. Happy New Year, everyone. Welcome. Welcome to the Late Bloomer Actor podcast. And it is 2026. Starting to sound very, very futuristic. But we are celebrating New Year's Day with a special Off Script episode that I like to do. It's the tradition I'm starting now. I've started. And here we come into season five. So this is a prelude to season five, guys. And I welcome you to 2026.

I wanted to use this episode to reflect a little bit on what we saw and learnt in 2025 and just some personal reflections that I have going into 2026. Now I'm not a big person on New Year's resolutions, so to speak, but I've just, I've had a lot of thoughts about where my acting is going and what I've learnt from this and I'm hoping it resonates with you a little bit as well. So I wanted to chat to that. So, but.

Let's pause a little bit and look back at 2025. What I'd like to do is hopefully quickly play the clips from each episode, have a quick chat about them just to if you didn't get to see them all, at least you're going to have some insights into that as well. So that's what I'm hoping for. Because 2025 wasn't just another year of interviews. My podcast is primarily 10 main episodes where I interview people that I've passed on my acting journey, hoping

for something that I can share with you. And then obviously some off script episodes when I have something that I want to say separately, not that we had too many off script episodes last year. It was one of those years, but 2025 was a deliberate deep dive into the business of acting, not from a cynical place, not from a, you know, how to game the system place, but from a grounded human creative one.

So this year helped me understand something really important. The business of acting isn't separate from the art. It's the structure that allows the art to survive. So today I wanna reflect on the conversations that shaped that realization, what each guest taught me and how it's changed the way I approach my own career.

Alright, episode one for the year after the New Year's special obviously was, excuse me, was a wonderful episode called WeAudition with Darren Darnborough, who's one of the CEOs and founding fathers of WeAudition and who's acting community and auditioning.

So that word was used a lot last year was community. Very big on that was community. Many of the episodes come out. So that was, it set the emotional tone for the entire year. This episode, Darren spoke about community, not as a buzzword, but as a survival tool. So what stayed with me was the reminder that actors were, you know, we were never meant to do this alone. Auditioning can be isolating and self taping, it can feel

you know, like transactional. The community turns preparation into collaboration. So that conversation planted idea that would keep reappearing all year. Success isn't just about talent. It's about connection. So early in February, I followed that up with an off-script episode about actors as entrepreneurs. And I had to think, I'm going to use that word because I struggle to pronounce it, but I think I've done all right there. And I'll be honest, even saying that phrase out loud can make actors uncomfortable.

But that episode forced me to confront something. Whether we like it or not, we are running small creative businesses. That doesn't make us less artistic. It just makes us more intentional.

So in February, we had the wonderful Kim Jackson on with the episode titled From Headshots to Hollywood with Kim Jackson. Kim is wonderful. She runs the Secret Actor Society. If you haven't checked it out, certainly check it out. It's a great resource for connection with community again and getting all the information that you need that forms your business of acting. So Kim brought practicality.

So real grounded, lived in practicality from headshots to strategy to sustainability. Kim reminded me that talent alone isn't a plan. So let's have a quick look at her

So one of my biggest takeaways was this, if you don't design your career, you'll spend it reacting to everyone else's decisions. That episode helped me to stop seeing structure as restrictive, start seeing it as supportive.

And then in March 2025, we spoke to the wonderful Brian Patacca who's been on the my special edition show the previous year before you are meant to be an actor with Brian Patacca. Brian's episode felt like a permission slip.

It's permission to stop chasing validation and permission to stop trying to be everything to everyone. Brian reframed marketing as clarity, not performance.

You don't need to convince people you belong, you need to communicate who you already are. And that message landed deeply for me, especially as a late bloomer. So let's have a quick look at the tape from his episode.

I just love listening to Brian. He's a great speaker and he really knows what he's talking about. So if you haven't checked him out, find the episode, listen to the episode first and then follow the links in there to check out all his available courses and what he does for actors on the world. So it's fantastic.

And moving forward, now we're up to April. Let's go straight into the video for April and then we'll have a quick chat about the learnings from that.

I think it's funny seeing all these back now because it's all recorded in my old home. So obviously we have a different backdrop now. And I'm making it look more studio now. So I love it. So, but it is interesting to see that. So the joy of acting with Emily Joy was just a wonderful chat with Emily. It was a necessary pause after all the talk of systems and strategy. Emily reminded me why we do this in the first place.

Joy isn't naive. Joy is fuel. That conversation reminded me that if the business ever kills the joy, then something's out of balance and you either got to take a break ⁓ or a pause, know, some sort of pause and then come back to it to get that balance back in because you do need both of them.

So coming into the middle of the year, my episode was with Ivana Chubbuck, the author. think I've got her book up there somewhere. I should have grabbed it down. Let's have a look. Hang on a sec.

There we go. The power of the actor, Ivana Chubbuck. It's a great book. I think that's the updated one. I was very lucky to get one included from after chatting to her. So if you haven't read the Chubbuck technique, is a very, very good technique, very used widely via many actors who love it. So was just awesome to be able to have a chat with her about her technique

We tried to focus a lot on the business side of acting in relation to her techniques. So hopefully we were able to do that. So I'm just going to come halfway through the conversation here because I did ask a question. Hopefully you get the gist of it. You don't need to hear from me again and we'll go from there.

I love that line.

Make bold choices. That was big. And that's talked about a lot is about how do you make bold choices? It's not about doing something crazy and wild and just, it's just about learning the character and making something work. Just remembering that there's 15, 20, hundreds of other people doing the same scene. So you've got to find something that resonates with you. Ivana reframed technique for me in a powerful way. Her work isn't just about emotional depth. It's about results.

So as we were just alluding to there: strong choices, clear objectives, professional preparation, that episode reinforced something really important that craft isn't just personal expression. It's how we become reliable collaborators. It's about making the business work. See, it all comes back and ties in into business. And you don't have to think that the business of acting is running a business. It's about making things work and having your systems

roll all into one. So you keep going forward. And speaking of forward, we move into the next month, June 15, which was character based improvisation with Robert Marchand, Dr. Robert Marchand. This conversation expanded that idea even further. He talked about adaptability and presence and responding truthfully under pressure. Those just aren't just acting skills, they're career skills, especially in the

industry that is constantly shifting and we all know that. So let's have a quick look at Robert's episode.

So I know these are very, very quick snippets of the episodes and hopefully you've all seen them. So it doesn't matter, but for anyone that hasn't seen them, this is a good insight into what 2025 really brought forward for the business side of acting and what we talked about and what we learnt. So it's an impetus for you to go back and binge all these episodes or binge the ones that you've missed. So hopefully you get something out of it like everyone else has. So moving forward now, we're in coming into the second half of the year.

We reached out to New York with agent Albert Bramante from New York on self-sabotage and the business of acting. Albert brought psychology into the conversation in a way that really hit home. Self-sabotage isn't laziness, it's protection. A fear of success, it's a fear of visibility, a fear of being judged. Probably something that we're all resonating with, we're all aware that we do do it.

Understanding that changed how I approached auditions going forward, meetings and even this podcast. So sometimes the work isn't doing more. It's just getting out of our own way, so to speak. So have a quick look at Albert. It was a very insightful episode and nice to get to him all the way from New York.

And if you ⁓ notice my observations listening to him, I was overwhelmed by the fact that these actors are throwing auditions away and not rocking up and stuff like that. Is it just laziness or is it that self-sabotage that not believing in yourself? Certainly a very good episode into the psychology of self-sabotage and, trying again to find a way to make everything mold into your business side of acting

and make things work so that you don't have to worry about these things and to understand how you feel and why you might be doing some self-sabotage techniques in your acting career. So certainly check that one out as well.

And coming up next, I'm going into August 2025 with Robert Peter Paul, How We Roll, another podcast I listen to. So if you haven't checked out How We Roll, then certainly look it up. The links are in the show notes for that episode. And let's have a quick look at Robert's summary from his episode and go from there.

Big thing he said there at the end was self-belief. You've got to have that self-belief and you've got to maintain it for the long game. Again, that talk about sustaining your career all dives into this business side of things and having that long game approach and that self-belief comes back to that. What we were talking about to the self-sabotage is because you don't have that self-belief. So all these little things, you start to intertwine now and make them into one.

Robert brought storytelling and humanity into the business conversation. Cause we're not just building careers. We are building narratives about who we are and what we stand for and why we show up. That episode reminded me that authenticity isn't a branding trick. It's like a long-term strategy.

Another fantastic episode there. And you can see this theme rolling through now from each episode. it wasn't even intentional. So it's really good how we sort of built on everything. It was almost like everyone collaborated with each other to build on the previous episode going into the next episode. I should have actually I should own that. So we planned it that way. But I did have that sort of structure. And that's what I wanted last year to be

So I hope you can see that and I hope you hopefully this isn't boring and but just this summary to me I'm quite excited by it because I can see it all in one now rather than just stretched out over the year.

Now, as we come towards the end of 2025, this was a huge episode. It really tied in everything that we'd been talking about all year. And I titled it straight up, Why Actors Need a Business Plan and a Sense Of Humor with Thomas M Copeland. So Thomas was fantastic to chat to straight out of New York, another New York actor that's wonderful to come onto the show.

This episode was probably one of the most important of the year because we talked about a business plan doesn't mean rigidity. It means awareness and humor. That's survival. That conversation reminded me not to take myself too seriously while still taking my career seriously.

And then we come to the end of 2025, my October episode, I always like to do is a special summary episode or something special, something different that's just me being creative. So this one was community for creatives. And I was reaching out to people that are in my communities.

I was able to get the wonderful Melanie Perry and Julie Hyde-Mew from Cr38ives out of the UK and Pip Edwards, acting coach out of Australia. And we talked about the importance of creative

explored how these communities provide support, foster collaboration and help creatives thrive, especially in challenging times like COVID-19 when it was here and the...

the strikes in the US and just this evolving world that we're in now. So let's have a quick look at that.

And that one was obviously with three other guests in the room, it's very hard to squeeze in a good summary in 40 seconds. But hopefully you got the gist of that. But it was a great ending to the year to bring everything into what we'd been talking about. And that was community. Community is such a big thing. And so thank you very much. If you listen to all those episodes in 2025, certainly appreciated. That is fantastic.

Let me touch quickly on that episode. It was a, as I was saying, it was a full circle moment. It was so many voices, so many perspectives, all reinforcing the same truth. We rise faster and we stay longer together. So community isn't optional, it's foundational.

And in November of 2025, I was very, very fortunate to be asked to come on to the Equity Foundation's podcast for a live stream event, talking about the business of acting and acting for late bloomers in that area. So I spoke a lot about the late bloomer approach to acting as well as the business side of acting. So I was able to collaborate some of those notes into one and do a business side of acting summary as an off script in December

because I've been so slack during the year. So hopefully you get to see that summary as well. But this summary here for New Year's Day, 2026 is also hopefully bringing it all into you and encouraging you to go back and re-watch the episodes if you think you need to do it again. So if I had to sum up 2025 in one sentence, it would be this, that the business of acting doesn't take away your soul. Avoiding it slowly does.

This year helped me feel less behind, less apologetic, more grounded. Not because I figured something out, but because I stopped pretending this industry isn't something it isn't. And paradoxically, it's that made me love acting even more. But, know, just I can't, I don't talk about my career, the one that pays the bills at the moment. I'm not permitted to

by my secondary working conditions to talk about it. But a couple of things have happened this year. I was overlooked for promotion, you know, after 33 years and in this career, it's a sad state that whether it's maybe a bit of ageism or not, I'm turning 53 next year and I'm approaching a retirement. So it's a young person's world, unfortunately, and

Yes, I was upset. Of course I was upset, but I've, I wanted to use this episode to come out and say I'm trying to take all that in, take in a year that I've had, which has been quite a quiet year on the acting front. And then this negative outcome for a promotion at my work. And, you know, I always talk about these down moments we have in that I'm having that down moment that

looking in within myself and saying, is it worth it? I, where am I going with this? And I've decided, you know, what, ⁓ let's try and make this episode an explicit one. I'm have to mark it as explicit because I said, fuck it. I am sick and tired of trying to meet other people's standards. And I'm also sick and tired of myself of thinking that, am I not good enough?

Well, fuck it. I'm good enough and I'm going to push forward and try and have this sort of attitude and this sort of thing when I put my characters forward now that that's no nonsense, no care approach, so to speak. I do this podcast for you because I want to share, but I need to look back in myself as well now and try and push my journey forward. So going into 2026, I'm going to try and change the podcast a little bit and show

some more strength and so show how I'm taking my journey and making it happen and hopefully get something some traction going. So that's for want of a better word, my resolution for 2026 is to to say fuck it a bit more and I don't give a shit about how people feel about me. I'm just going to be me and do my stuff and push forward. So

apologies for the younger viewers and listeners there. But that's about how I'm feeling.

So yeah, as I said, so going into season five and it's hard to believe season five, that's five years I've been doing this now. So I'm going to build on everything that I've just talked about and all this summary and I'm going to have more nuance and more honesty and more conversations about sustainability, identity and longevity in this journey that we're all on. Especially for actors who didn't start at 18 or 25 or on time.

Because there is no on time. The best time to start acting was 30 years ago for me or tomorrow. And that goes for everyone. So guys, thank you very much for listening. Thank you for trusting this space that I put out there with you. And thank you for walking this journey with me. Here's to 2026, here's to season five. I should have had a glass of wine.

But I got to do a lot less of that as well going into the new year. And here's to building acting careers that are creative and conscious and sustainable. I'm David John Clark, AKA The Late Bloomer Actor. Thank you for listening. It's been a wonderful journey. Please going into this year. I talked about it in my summary episode. I'd love to have more of an interaction between you. So please reach out, like and subscribe on all your podcast players. Consider.

subscribing and making a small $3 monthly donation to become part of this and you can become part of the episodes as well and see them in advance. That would be an ability for us to reach out to each other and to help this podcast journey more sustainable. So thank you very much. Happy New Year. All the best to you and your families. No matter what your journey is on. I wish you all the best and it's a pleasure to have you join me online. Thank you very much. I'll see you on set.