If You Feel Like Giving Up, Watch This - Nestor Carbonell

The Will to Keep Going you've been doing this for a bit and you have and I listened to your interview recently with uh with Michael Rosen bomb and and the the journey that you took and what I thought was just fascinating is that I think that what a lot of people need to hear and this isn't just with acting this isn't just with this profession this is just in life I think it's the the will to keep going the will to believe in yourself the will that is going to it's going to happen because you're you're a Harvard Harvard Harvard educated gentleman you were you you and then when you were in school did you know that you said okay I'm going to do this I'm going to do this thing did you give yourself a time limit you just said no I'm just going to go until I feel satisfied it's that's a great question I I um you know I sort of stumbled into to this profession I I didn't ever think that I was going to get into it I thought I was going to you know pursue a more traditional career maybe go into law like my father did uh or some form of business and it I took an elective you know and college that you know there's only one at the time I believe that there's there's many more now offered at Harvard but at the time there was only one elective um and uh and I read this book called mner on acting in that class and that was that book that was the very book that said you know that made me want to say I I think that I I want to pursue this more I want to understand this more because the way Meisner breaks down acting is all about being presentent in the moment and really living truthfully under these imaginary circumstances and it's not really pretending you know not the way way you know you know uh it's not his sort of uh you know his hiso or his his his take on acting it's really trying to live truthfully and I thought I was so taken by that and I was especially taken by that when I had my proverbial first moment in acting class where I felt like I was kind of lost for a moment because I was connected with the actor and and it's like a drug it hit me like a drug and I was like I got to have more of that and I want to study how that happened why it happened and I want to be able to really you know lose myself in a scene you know if I can and you know continue to learn how to do that so I had to I finished College uh only to go back to act or go to start acting school after I graduated because they didn't really offer anything else that you know at Harvard at the time and uh so I studied at Playhouse West for about a year here in LA and then I studied later on with Bill Alderson at his Studio Meisner studio uh but that's how I started you know and um and your other point about you about stiiven and um and giving myself a time limit you know I is interesting I did finish with the idea that well God forbid the acting doesn't work out I'll have a degree and you know maybe I'll just sort of you know figure something else out um and there were there's certainly plenty of moments where I was like this is not working at all my first three years out here were pretty rough you know I mean I was working here and there and I had more advantages than most because I already had an agent you know so that already is a battle in of itself but coming in close you know second or third on a film or or a TV show that was certainly more often than not so about three years in there are moments there where I was like this is not working out and I got to start thinking about something else and until I kind of strangely willed it to happen by figuring out sort of the sitcom world yeah that's how I kind of that's how I broke it what is the Immigrant Parents perception of you've got immigrant parents they work their butts off you work your butt off you go to Harvard you tell your parents actually I'm going to go be an actor now what happens after that uh it's a great question Roxy listen there was no no one in my family had ever got into this this business so it was it was new to all of us and uh you know God bless my parents because you know I have kids now we have kids we have two boys who you know one's 22 the other one's 19 and you know one's just finished College one's about to go to college both of them are aspiring musician and I have no like to stand on to say to them no you can't do that but because I mean come on my wife was also an actress um but to my parents credit they they you know and you're absolutely right Roxy you know having you know been Exiles Cuban Exiles having lost everything they had in Cuba starting from scratch my mother didn't even have a high school education my father did have an education but really starting with what they had in their pockets um to to build the life that they did only for their oldest son to go you know I don't think I'm doing the the traditional thing right um and and for them to be able to Pivot sorry that's our our furry daughter um anyway so yeah for them to to to Pivot and support me was I'll never forget that it was extraordinary and yeah the the initial conversation was a little shocking I'm sure but you know only to be expected but they were right behind me as soon as they saw my Support commitment it's amazing how important it really is so important I mean obviously people can do it without the support but with the support it's Monumental I feel the same way with my father was always the same way for me when he said I told him the things I wanted to do he said look if you believe in it and you believe in yourself and it's what you want to do commit to it do everything that you want to do but like you you're the one that's going to ultimately make yourself happy you know it's like you can take a job and things that you're not going to be happy with but you got to commit to it you can't do it half ass and you got to make sure that you're doing it the right way and I and not everybody has those types of parents not everybody has that people you know it's that traditional thing so the fact that your parents could listen to you understand yeah give it a shot believe in you and that says a lot about you as a person though too where they said we we trust him we we you know it might take a little bit for them to get to that place but they did it and they were right thank you and I'm I'm so happy you had a similar experience did that happen for you as well Roxy or was that uh yeah I I can't say a bad word about I have the greatest parents of all time so supportive um hoping to be able to make them proud the way that you have made your parents proud because geez oh gez what a career I'm sure I'm sure you have and I'm sure you are and that's that's and that's terrific and you're right you're both right that you know not everyone gets that support and and it is pretty enormous you know to to have that particularly because you're swimming Upstream I me know I don't know how it was for both of you when you started out but I mean you're trying to you know uh I heard another actors say it's almost like you have to you have to use your elbows to make room in this town you know you you have to kind of uh you know and you're absolutely right believe in yourself and believe that you have something to offer you know the community that you know maybe is not seen in a certain way you know so and then the other thing is I know Denzel I've seen so many reals on Denzel Washington talking about this but it's consistency and discipline you know you know it's a difference between a hope and a dream you know you know it's uh and and realizing a dream is is having that discipline that daily discipline doing something towards your goal every day and being consistent about it you know and uh you know even if it's somewhat peripheral but as long as it's somewhat Associated to your goal that that is sort of the differentiator you know in my mind