Becoming an actor: interview with Christine Horn

Christine Horn is an award-winning actress and singer who has performed in feature films, primetime television and on Broadway. She’s working in The Way Back (2020) with Ben Affleck, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Playing Small: The Actor's Guide To Becoming A Booking Magnet is her book: she's also the founder of the Booking Magnet Academy, the #1 virtual training center for actors who want to book more work in film and television.  

Q. You worked as an actress and as a coach. How did the transition take place?

A. I started acting professionally when I was around 16 years old when I lived in Atlanta, Georgia. I was a part of a youth theater ensemble and would perform around Atlanta and the U S. I got my big theater break when I booked a role in the Broadway show, The Lion King, and I did that show for five years and then I moved to Los Angeles for the first time in around 2011 or so. At the time I was not ready for Los Angeles, so I decided to move back to Atlanta, Georgia to build my credits and I would accept any role I could get small or big and that really helped me hone my craft for working on camera in film and television. Once I felt like I had a really good foundation and my resume looked much better, I decided to move back to California in 201. My husband and I arrived on Super Bowl Sunday in 2017 and it was the best decision I could have made.

Look at the Gallery: Christine Horn

I began doing daily Vlog videos to showcase what I was doing on a daily basis...talking about auditions. Then I found myself giving tips and what started to happen was people who would watch my videos either on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, began really inquiring and asking more questions and then people would ask if I could be their coach and it just turned itself into a business. It was never a plan, but it was created out of necessity. That has now been turned into my online community, which is Hollywood Bound Actors and it's a thriving, supportive community of actors from around the world. We have members in there from South Africa, the UK, Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Virginia, Los Angeles, Canada, you name it. And it's wonderful because I get to have a one stop shop of where I can support my students and actors of various levels. So in addition to that, I have a YouTube show called Actor's Daily Bread, which is where I share my success stories and tips and I basically pull back the curtain on my own career so that I can help other actors.

Q. What’s the Booking Magnet Academy?

A. Now I also have a monthly membership called the Booking Magnet Academy, which is an ongoing membership where I do live Q & A calls and monthly masterclasses. And then for people who want to work with me on a more intimate and intense level, I have my Inner Circle, >which is a program where I work with actors for six months and we come up with content creation and self taping techniques and audition skills and mindset work. It's really, really wonderful and I love doing it and because I am a working actor and I'm always on set, I get to stay on trend and see what's happening in the industry.

Q. What are the key obstacles that hold actors back?

A. The key obstacles that hold actors back. Wow. I would say basically the biggest one is fear. And I believe that there are seven major fears that hold actors back. And at the end of the day, if we take it deeper, the biggest thing that holds actors back is their mindset. Their thoughts are sabotaging their careers. And it sounds very basic, but it is very detrimental to an actor’s success because if your mindset keeps you from being great, keeps you from studying how you should study...you get caught up in fear, doubt, worry, insecurity, you're never going to have the career that you desire. Most actors deal with fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of success, fear of not being good enough for your competition, fear of not having enough and fear of time running out. And that is why I decided to write a book about it. My book Playing Small: The Actor’s Guide To Becoming A Booking Magnet will be out August 1st and I'm so excited because it really touches on these issues and how actors can overcome them and how it can stop letting them stay stuck in their career. You know, I believe that if we can just break through that and acknowledge that our mindset is holding us back, we will have a career that is unrecognizable.

Q. What are the details that can make or break an audition?

A. The idea of make or break an audition is very interesting because at the end of the day, I believe a successful audition is when you have “booked the room.” That's something I teach my clients and I tell myself. That means you leave the room knowing you left it all on the table. You did a great job, you felt prepared, you felt confident, you felt grounded. Whether or not you booked the job... because the reality is only one person will book that specific role. But your job as an actor is to make an impression and make a fan and book the room. That's what booking the room is. You've made a fan and you left a great impression and because you don't book that role, it doesn't speak to your value or your worth as an actor. It just may mean there was somebody who fit the role better for whatever reason. So I believe to have a successful audition, you prepare yourself. You don't wait to the last minute to study. You do character work. You don't be lazy. A lot of actors are lazy and don't want to do character development, don't want to set time aside to actually study to get coaching and then you get into the room or you send a self-tape in and your nerves and your doubt and your fear and your worry is taken over. And I also believe a lot of actors in addition to playing small, a lot of actors play safe, so they are afraid to take a chance. They're afraid to make a strong decision in an audition. Look, most of the time we are wrong. We don't have a full script. We're dealing with two pages or 10 pages and we have to make it all up. More than likely you are wrong. So if you're going to be wrong anyway, why not make a strong decision that feels good to you.

Q. How important is public relations to get a job in acting?

A. Public relations has gotten very, very, very important for us as actors getting future jobs. Here's the thing, talent alone is no longer enough. The industry has changed. I know a lot of actors just want to work. I know you may be thinking, “I'm an actor, I have talent. Why is that not enough?” It's not enough because this is still a business. Marketing exists for a reason. Studios need to have people who are bankable and who can bring eyes to their projects. So it is essential that you utilize social media. It's essential that you showcase your work online, that you let people know that you're in a new project, that you're in a new class. It's important if you have a high profile gig or if you're trying to build momentum that you hire a publicist if you can, no matter what your budget is. It is essential because you are a business. Actors have to remember that what we do...we are our own entrepreneurs. Basically we are our own entity. So we have to remember that if we are a business, we have to promote our business just like anything else. We are the products, so we have to let people know that our product exists. So it is essential and honestly when it comes down to you and another actor, producers and networks will check out your social media following to see what kind of pull you have. If they decide to book you. So I would say stop pushing against it and work with it. Work with the machine instead of against it.

Q. You worked on the film Torrance, with Ben Affleck, Janina Gavankar. How was the experience?

A. Yes. I got a chance to work on the film Torrance with Ben Affleck. It was a scene that got added on. The movie will be out in the fall, I believe, and it was a very wonderful experience. I can't speak much on details, but I love Ben Affleck's work. I had a chance to be in Triple Frontier that Ben Affleck was in as well. The caliber of his work is really awesome and it was just an honor to be on set with him and with the cast and crew.

Photo Credit: B. Alyssa Trofort. Makeup, Hair & Styling: Day Byrd. Wardrobe courtesy of: Janice Roye

© All right Reserved