Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Lang.
Eric, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been performing since I was a kid and really fell in love with acting in high school, but I remember an actress coming to our school and saying, “An actor’s life is really, really difficult. If there’s anything else you can see yourself doing that would make you happy, do that instead.” I was concerned about the risks involved in pursuing acting—living from paycheck to paycheck, working crazy hours. I thought that I might be just as happy as a teacher, so I studied English in college and ended up teaching at a high school outside of Atlanta. But I always missed acting. Years went by and I had the nagging feeling that I wasn’t doing what I really loved. I tried community theater and acting classes, and eventually one of my teachers, Robert Mello, asked, “If you really love this, why aren’t you going after it with everything you’ve got?” I realized that an acting career entails some risks, but if I didn’t give it a shot, I was at an even greater risk of looking back on my life with regrets about what could have been.
I really appreciate that the Atlanta Shakespeare Company took me on as an apprentice during the first year after I decided to pursue professional acting work, plugging me into a community and teaching me how to begin navigating Atlanta’s professional theater scene. Shortly thereafter, I was so excited when the agency Kathleen Schultz Associates agreed to represent me, jump-starting my film career.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As anyone will tell you, the acting industry involves constant rejection. When it’s been a while since I’ve booked one of the roles I’m shooting for, it’s definitely challenging to keep putting in the work and trust that eventually it will be rewarded.
Often the work you are doing as an actor is also intensely personal; it’s never easy to open up vulnerable parts of yourself in front of other people when you have no idea what their response will be. Some of the most difficult moments for me are exposing a side of myself in acting class that feels weak or ugly or trying a tactic in rehearsal that might fall flat and make me look foolish. But vulnerability is one of the elements that make the best scenes so beautiful, and I think it’s one of the truly wonderful gifts actors can offer an audience.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I graduated from Harvard with an English degree and taught high school for five years, so now, I work full-time as an SAT and writing tutor. I teach group classes, advise students working on their college essays, and provide academic support for students from middle school on up. I like that the work is meaningful to me and that I know I’m making a difference in students’ lives when they master a new skill or tell me that they’ve made it into a dream school.
As a theater actor, I’ve worked with a variety of professional theaters around Metro Atlanta. This year I was lucky enough to play Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at Theatre Buford and perform as an understudy for Sweetwater Taste at Horizon Theatre. I’m especially excited that my castmate, Chris Harding, and I have been nominated for a Suzi Bass Acting Ensemble Award for our two-man-show with Aris Theatre, Not About Heroes.
On-screen, I’ve gotten to play a police officer on the Investigation Discovery show Dead Silent and appear in a number of indie short films. The most fun I’ve had so far was donning some cool prosthetics and playing the cunning, supernatural creature “The Wisp” in Vashmere Valentine’s The Wish and the Wisp. We’ve been selected for over 65 festivals and have won over 30 awards, and I’m excited to see where the film goes next! It’s definitely a group of people I would love to work with again soon.
One of the compliments that I most appreciate is when a director or audience member tells me that my performance felt earnest. I really try to value sincerity in every role I play, whether it be a foolish neurotic or an odious villain. It’s a truism that everyone is the hero of his or her own story, doing what he or she understands to be right. One of the most startling lessons acting teaches is that there isn’t a stark difference between me and the people I am playing—if my life had gone differently, I could have been any one of them.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I am so grateful to be able to pursue work that brings me joy onstage, on-screen, and in the classroom, surrounded by a community of supportive people who care about me. When an audition doesn’t go my way, I can wonder what could have gone differently, but I know that I’m very lucky to be living in this place and doing what I’m doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ericdlang.wixsite.com/elang
- Email: eric.d.lang@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericdlang/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21323
Image Credit:
Casey Gardner, Marcus Geduld, Amanda Jewell, Daniel Parvis, Vashmere Valentine
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