As a 17 year old, my story about becoming an actor is pretty unconventional, and it started about 10 years ago. I was with my mom and sister in the mall when first approached by a supposed “casting director” who was in fact someone trying to fill up her employer’s acting classes. We begged my mom to let us sign up after the “casting session,” but my mom knew something was fishy and instead did her own research to find a class we could attend for a few hours every Sunday.
READ: How to Get Cast on ‘Gotham’
The class was taught by a seasoned and loving coach (who I work with to this day) in a class with kid actors of all ages. I never missed it because I loved going there more than anything. Eventually, I did a commercial workshop, and an agent asked me to audition. That sounded like fun to me, so I began auditioning for commercials at age 7 and, at the suggestion of my commercial agent, took on theatrical auditions around 9. I honestly didn’t expect anything by way of results, but I loved the process from the start. At the time, I was too young to understand the stakes and not particularly invested in the results, anyway!
I savored the challenge of auditions and eventually the process of rehearsing for them. I naturally moved from these activities to homework or playdates or family dinner. That experience has been the greatest lesson that I try to carry with me today: The most important thing you can do is to learn to enjoy the challenge and to be present and stay in the moment as you pursue your goals. Children typically are very good at staying in the present when they’re doing something they love, and I loved the auditions and the rest of my life's activities, too.
Although the business is very different for a child compared to an adult, I do still believe that the challenge of the preparation and of learning a bit more with each new experience and role has reinforced the importance of raising the bar I set for myself from project to project. I try to learn a little more each time I audition or test, and I try to learn from the actors, directors, and coaches around me.
Your mistakes can teach you a lot, too, but stick to your instincts and stay the course, even with those bumps in the road. Learning how to handle disappointment and rejection is also necessary to get by in this profession. Even though I’m young, I’ve had many big disappointments—many long casting processes that went on for months that resulted in, “They went in another direction.” Ultimately though, I was engaged enough with my life outside of acting that I usually rebounded pretty quickly, again learning how to be in the moment. I also learned that when things didn’t work out in one place, it just meant I was available for another opportunity. There are so many things in life we can’t control, but what we can control is how we cope or interpret the outcomes and how hard we work towards what we want.
Getting cast as a young Bruce Wayne in “Gotham” was a months-long process of auditioning and testing and ultimately moving away from my Los Angeles home. Staying present at times like those is so essential because there are so many moving parts—from executives who helm a project and then leave the company, to networks and financiers, to changing shooting and talent schedules, to all the other variables that impact the outcome of getting a role. Sometimes, just having the opportunity to meet creatives and to audition, test, or even do a table read is a success. It’s all part of the work and it’s all of value.
This all makes for a good lesson to stay active in your life, enjoy many passions whether they’re related to entertainment or not, to keep your mind focused on the present moment, and to keep learning about the world and yourself from other people and experiences. This business offers so much potential for creative expression, so explore your interests in writing or the various aspects of performance and keep on growing. Find a stable of people you trust and care about to nurture and be nurtured by so that you can weather storms and build a foundation of stability in what’s by and large a fast-paced, ever-changing, and unpredictable lifestyle. Life as an actor is everything but boring!
Mazouz stars on “Gotham” as a young Bruce Wayne. Season 4 is currently airing on Fox at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central.
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