Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Jepson.
Eric, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Absolutely, first of all, thank you all for having me. I’ve been a huge fan of VoyageATL for a while, so it’s great to be able to connect.
Where I currently am today is that I really feel like I’ve been able to gain momentum in my acting career over the last few years. My most recent role is in the movie WEAPONS, playing opposite of 3 time Emmy award winner Julia Garner.
How I started? I would say my actor journey started during my college years. I knew I wanted to pursue acting out of high school but a big thing for me was getting a college degree first.
During my college years, I had one foot in acting and one foot in school. My career started with doing extra work and student films. I know a lot people shy away from mentioning that they ever did extra work but I truly feel that it gave me a good foundation to my career. Just being able to be on set for hours and days with no pressure, really helped me form a comfort zone with being on the bigger budget sets. It has really paid off in the long run.
And long story short that season led me to my first professional booking that got me my SAG card. And that booking was THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. I remember having so much joy during those early years just to be able to be on set. I just loved the idea of the movies so much that being on any set was an absolute dream.
Now, as far as the school part, I absolutely hated school. So instead of doing what most people would do with that mindset and quit, I decided to go a different route and pile up as many classes as I could each semester so I could graduate early and get on with my career. I ended up graduating with a bachelor’s degree at 21 to get myself out of school and get on with my acting career.
I knew early on that I wanted to move out to LA. That was my city of choice. So after college I took a couple of months to save up and then moved out. Your classic actor story; I packed up my ‘98 Toyota Camry with my life’s possessions, saying goodbye to all things comfort and all things familiar. I started driving from Kingsport, Tennessee out to Los Angeles, California with no job and no place to live with a goal in my heart and a dream the size of the universe, that I was going to be an actor.
So yeah, I got in my car and was moving myself out to LA with no job and no place to live. Smart? probably not, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. Fortunately, I had enough money saved up to last a few months and that was pretty much the only thing that gave me tangible confidence moving out there and also the fact that I was becoming “That Guy From The Hunger Games”
There’s a lot more to the story but that was definitely the first phase of my journey that got me to where I am today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Road? Yes. Smooth? Absolutely not. Just think of whatever words are the exact opposite of smooth and that would be the description of my journey. I’ve been rejected by over 200 agencies, over roughly 12-15 years. At one point I went 4 years with zero bookings and experienced so many “What else am I supposed to do?” moments in my career.
When I moved out to LA I was sleeping on a blow up mattress and pretty much slept on a blow up mattress for the 5 years I was out there. All I was eating at the time was eggs and oatmeal, at least for the first year. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle so I knew I had to make sure I was doing everything little thing in my power to put myself in a good position to become successful, and yes, even if that meant eggs and oatmeal to save on the grocery bill. Unfortunately in my budgeting decisions I didn’t realize that the more eggs you ate the higher your cholesterol would get. I was at the doctor and they legit told me I had extremely high levels of cholesterol and that if I don’t work it down then it could create negative long term health effects. High cholesterol in my early 20s?? Oops.
So with my high cholesterol self I was ready to take on Hollywood. Haha Ok, but in all seriousness it was all apart of finding any and every sacrifice I could make to just give myself a chance at this thing.
My original commitment with myself was that I was going to go after this thing for 10 years and if during those 10 years I was homeless and I didn’t get a single audition and that was my quote “Acting Career” then so be it. But for 10 years I was going to do everything In my power to turn my dream into a reality. Forget vacations, forget social life, forget exploring LA, forget saving to buy nice clothes, or a new car. My mindset was….take care of myself spiritually, be there for my family as much as you can. Besides that…. LOCK. IN.
ALL. IN. ACTING.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
One thing that I’m most proud of in my career ….well, I am proud of the bigger credits I have on my resume from the box office hits to the number 1’s on streaming services with TELL ME LIES and LOKI sure but there’s always more to the story than what’s on the surface.
I would say the one thing I’m proud of is just my willingness to stick with it. Im not the most talented guy or the hardest worker but somehow, someway I’m still in this thing after 12 years of being all in. I’ve seen this industry break people. And after seeing so many people call it quits, In some parts I feel that just being able to say I’m still going after it, after all the rejection I’ve gone through and all the heart break I’ve seen; it’s definitely something to be proud of. The first few years of my acting career could be summed up in one phrase that I would hear over and over and over again. “You’re good but you don’t have any credits”
You hear about these actors talk about how they go out on all these auditions (thankfully now I’m the actor with the auditions) and are just not booking anything. When I first started, I would hear that and think auditions?? What auditions? At the time I couldn’t even get to a place where I was getting the auditions. That was the battle for me early on, was to just find a way to get the auditions. To get in the room.
The first 5 years of my career I could barely get an agent. And it would be this constant, submit to 20 agents hear back from 3. Get 2 in person interviews. Sign with 1. That agent would get me 1-2 professional TV/film auditions in a year, if I was lucky. Then I would have to make the tough choice to move on. Repeat that process over and over. Because how was I supposed to build an acting career with 2 auditions a year??
During those years of looking for an agent I will never forget this one meeting. I sat down with this agent that I knew could open up doors for me. After performing a scene and chatting for a few minutes, he got real with me and said something I will never forget. “Eric, I really feel like you have what it takes to go all the way and I’m really looking forward to watching where your career goes but unfortunately, I can’t sign you right now because you don’t have any credits.” Los Angeles translation; no speaking parts in professional union TV/Film. It was something I’ll never forget because it was the first time it really hit me, the harsh reality of this industry; you could have everything it takes to become successful in this industry but sometimes you just can’t find a way in.
I walked out of that meeting in Studio City, walking down Ventura Blvd with the weight of the world on my shoulders. An absolute sinking feeling.
This was 5 years of me hiring and firing agents, getting rejected by almost 200 agents. Heck even an agent that was well known in East Tennessee that would sign people out of my hometown wouldn’t even sign me. I was putting in everything I had to this thing and one of the biggest road blocks I’ve ever faced in my career was that moment and I couldn’t help but think “What else am I supposed to do?”
My mentality has always been, don’t focus on the problem, focus on the solution. So all I could think of in that moment was, well, when all this is said and done, I want to at least be able to look back and say that I did everything I could and that I left no stone unturned. And it just so happened that one of the stones that was unturned, was to fully pursue the Film and TV industry in Atlanta. At that time production really started to pick up in Atlanta and it was turning into a major player in the industry.
To be able to pull myself out of that season, through faith and determination, before I had my first TV credit was a big moment for me. And to now be on the other side of that, consistently working, is definitely something I can say I’m proud of.
And as far as my current work goes definitively a highlight at the moment is being apart of the cast of WEAPONS which was number 1 at the global box office for several weeks. Just being able to say that I could hold my own, acting opposite of a 3 time Emmy award winner, was nothing short of a confident boost.
I remember the morning I woke up to go to set. Usually I have my routine before going to set but that day I remember waking up and thinking, today? You know what? forget about routine. Let’s get this day started ASAP. I woke up at 3 am to be on set by 5 am for a call time at 7 am and I could not get to set fast enough. I was beyond ready to perform and beyond ready for the moment. I think it was a combination of just being so tired of hearing every rejection you could hear from the industry; “good but you don’t have credits” “we think you’re great but….” followed by any and every rejection you could think of.
In this moment there was no more industry feedback, sit around and talk actor theories; this was, turn on the cameras and you either perform or you don’t. I was beyond ready and hungry for that.
There was one other thought that I showed up to set with that day. “I have no idea what this movie was about.” Yeah, they didn’t even tell me what the movie was about. I didn’t even know how my scene fit into the movie. I was just guessing the entire time. The only information I had was a 2 sentence summary I found on google while I was preparing my audition. Teacher. Something about kids. Scary movie. Got it. Roll the cameras and let’s go. So there I was on set filming my scene having no idea how my scene fit into the film but what a time it was.
Usually on set there’s so many moving pieces that you don’t really get the time to connect with the other actors, especially the main actors and the director. That was not the case with this one. In between takes Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Zach Cregger, Austin Abrams and I were all just hanging out in an office room. We all just talked about life, the different cities we’ve all lived in, the layout of Atlanta etc. It was a cool moment for me because I was sitting there with actors I had looked up to and they treated me like I was just one of the guys. So often when you’re only shooting for a day or so, you just kind of show up, perform your scene and leave. But having that time to connect with all of them was special. The more we started to talk, the more everyone started to talk about how we all just loved this thing. No ego was involved, no power dynamics, it was just the feeling of how cool is it that we all get to do this.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
So welcome to Atlanta. One of the things I really enjoy about the acting industry in Atlanta is that there is this feeling that everyone is helping to build and grow this TV/FILM industry together. I definitely feel like there’s a good camaraderie in Atlanta of industry professionals.
Several years ago there was so much talk about where is the industry going with Atlanta? Is this the new Hollywood? Is everything just going to pack up and leave tomorrow? Fortunately over the years, from what I’ve seen, is that from top down, from casting to actors….. all the different pieces have helped each other grow together. It’s been amazing to see the growth not only in the amount of productions but the bigger size roles that productions are now trusting with Atlanta local hires.
Since I’ve started pursuing the Atlanta market, so many doors have opened for me to audition for bigger roles and bigger opportunities and of course to book a lot of bigger projects. I will say a big thank you to whoever is making the decisions to help bring production here. I don’t think I’m smart enough to understand how all that works or who exactly makes those decisions but whoever you are, thank you.
The tax incentives have definitely opened up a lot of doors for a lot of people. And who knows maybe somewhere down the road a few A-listers in the industry will be able to track their success back to the current Atlanta market and the opportunities it provides.
With all that being said, I am truly grateful for the journey that I’ve been on. Sure everyone would love to show up to the doors of the industry and be welcomed in on day 1 but I think that over the years, out of all the setbacks and rejections I’ve experienced; it has really taught me how rare it is to be able to be working as an actor. It has made me a stronger actor knowing that when I’m on set, I am one of the very rare few that get do this thing and it is a earned privilege to be there and not an entitlement, so show up and perform like it.
And as I always say….
Stay humble. Stay hungry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm5018422/
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/ericjepson
Image Credits
Photos by
Josh Stringer
David Muller
