Meet Amberlee Colson | Actor, Writer & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amberlee Colson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amberlee, how do you define success?
As of late, I’m been having fun with success being a series of check-in questions I ask myself regularly:

Am I making progress towards my goals?
Am I stepping out of my comfort zone at work?
Am I being vulnerable to those I deeply care about?
Am I keeping a sense of humor about myself?
Would my future self applaud the choices that I am making?
Are my thoughts right now helping me or hurting me?

All of these check-in questions help me stay on track. As an actor, if it’s a role that I am prepping for: Am I uplifting the storyteller’s words? Am I making them real and true? If every story is about relationships, this relationship be felt by an audience?

Progress is everything. As someone who has had perfectionistic tendencies and thought habits, just that reframe, ‘progress over perfection’, was a real game changer for me.

Growing up, my dad always said, all roads lead to success. And it’s funny, looking back at the early years of my career, what I would make that mean was, pick the right road, and you’ll be successful. Ha! Very much not the same. I thought if I made the “right” choice for the audition, met the “right” directors, casting directors, producers, acting teachers, etc… then I’d be successful. And that old habit was the perfect set up for constantly giving my power away to people outside of me.

A little bit about how EMBARRASSMENT wins:
As an actor, the rehearsal process is all about falling down. Trying something and failing is a huge win. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my ego hates every second of it, but it’s so crucial for me. I also think falling down is a great way to give permission for others to do the same. It helps create a safe space for everyone to play and work without trying to get it right. I cherish when it happens: either when I’m brave enough to do it or when others gift it to me.

A little bit about why JOY matters:
Keeping a healthy perspective and nurturing my sense of humor have been two key aspects that have helped me feel successful. How I perceive apparent failure or apparent wins, is all about how I choose to think about it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an actor.  I used to watch Lucille Ball on I LOVE LUCY every night and dreamed of making people laugh.

When I moved to LA, it was unfortunately a very cliché actors-life: the typical waiting game. Waiting to get an agent, and if you had an agent, waiting to get an audition, and if you got an audition, waiting to get a call back, second call back, producer session… and hopefully book the co-star role, “customer number two,” with three lines. I spent a lot of time, trying to do all the things I thought a good actor would do, and it was all very exhausting and not at all driven from an authentic place.  However, my career really took off when I met an inspiring community of independent filmmakers who were making really incredible films. Their creative spirit and drive was infectious. I started writing, and even though it took me awhile to be brave enough to show anyone anything, a flame has been lit inside.

In 2015, I wrote, produced, and starred in my first feature film, called ALWAYS WORTHY. I was shocked at how many people were supporting the film in all of its stages of development and it was this huge awakening for me to the power of community and collaboration. It was the first time that I didn’t feel powerless by my dreams, but empowered by them. I experienced the way that belief, either your own or others, can carry you… and surprise you.

ALWAYS WORTHY is a lighthearted comedy, following a quirky, aspiring actress determined to make it Hollywood; if only she could get out of her own way. The feature was directed by Marianna Palka, and stars Ian Gomez, Lukas Haas, Jason Ritter, Eric Edelstein, Gillian Zinser and Rondi Reed. We funded the film through crowd funding and then independently sold it. It is streaming on most major platforms in US, UK & Ireland.

More recently, I’ve been developing a comedy series that centers around a father/ daughter relationship, called SUNRISE RUBY. I wrote and starred in the experimental pilot which was well-received on the festival circuit: winning BEST TV PILOT in various festivals such as Toronto, New York, Austin and Madrid.

This past summer, I co-directed and starred in a short film called PLAY DATE that will be coming out soon. It follows two estranged mothers who reunite to make sense of their daughters’ last play date. My talented co-director, Laura Campbell, and I hope this film joins other supportive narratives/conversations that explore grief. We have a great team behind this project, including executive producers: Academy Award® Winner Kenneth Lonergan and the Emmy and Golden Globe Nominee actress, J. Smith-Cameron.

And for any LA theatre lovers, this June, I will be doing a run of the Stephen Belber play, DUSK RINGS A BELL, about a reunion of former teen-age lovers. It will be at the Broadwater Black Box theatre in Hollywood; dates will be posted on their website soon.

Professionally, my most favorite way to connect is in collaborations. I find tremendous joy and meaning in being a part of storytelling and all it’s collaborative requirements; and I like giving myself over to something that expresses a more collective experience.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Los Angeles East Side Adventures:

– Coffee at La Columbe Coffee Roasters in Silverlake.

– Hike/ picnic at Griffith Park. Catch the views at the observatory.

– Dinner downtown at Cara Cara. It’s a new rooftop restaurant at The Proper Hotel. Stunning views, great food.
– See a movie at the art house, Los Feliz Cinema. This place is super old school and charming. You still buy paper tickets at the box office.

Epic Hollywood:
– Dinner at Great White in West Hollywood. Owned by a couple of Aussie’s who have a sincere love for food and culture.
– Go get some belly laughs at The Groundlings on Melrose.

West Side Vibe:
– Get a treasure to take home from an amazing human at KM Crystals. You can’t come to LA and not leave with a magic crystal!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When I moved to Los Angeles, the first acting teacher I met was a man named Steven Anderson. Meeting him opened up my life tremendously and shifted the trajectory of my career. I knew I wanted to take my craft seriously but I had no idea how to do that and I felt very lost with both my aspirations and with being in a big, new city. I still remember the feeling when I walked into his acting class, I felt like I was home.

He encouraged me to be proactive in my work and to not wait for anyone to give me a career. He directed my first one woman show which became my first feature film, called Always Worthy. He is still a mentor, collaborator and dear friend of mine.

He pioneers his life with vulnerability and a fearless zest to live to his fullest. He’s an avid rock climber, still now at 70 years old. He taught me to have a sense of humor with my very fearful ego and to risk daily; embarrassment is a huge win in his books, and thankfully now, it is in my conditioning too. He has championed my dreams as if they were his own, and for that and so much more, I am forever grateful.

His company is called, Actorswork, and he runs intensive workshops in Los Angeles, Seattle and Dallas a few times a year for actors, writers, directors to explore new material.

Website: http://linktr.ee/AmberleeColson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberlee_colson/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/amberlee-colson

Youtube: https://vimeo.com/amberleecolson

Other: http://www.alwaysworthythefilm.com https://www.instagram.com/playdatefilm

Image Credits
Left to right 1. Amberlee Colson (photo by Kim Alexis Photography) 2. Always Worthy (Feature Film Poster) 3. Always Worthy feature film premiere at Newport Beach Film Festival. Pic with film’s director, Marianna Palka 4. Sunrise Ruby, comedy pilot episode (Photo by Cinematographer, Thomas Simon) 5. Behind the scenes – on set of Sunrise Ruby, with series creator, writer, co-director, and lead actor Amberlee Colson (Photo by Miguel Ángel Rodriguez) 6. Play Date, short film, film poster