Meet Scott Alin: Actor, Writer, & Filmmaker

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

Hi Scott, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.”

-Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

I read this book half a lifetime ago, and these words at the end of this incredible story have kept me going while I write my own. I’m not sure what the deepest grief is, and I honestly hope I never do, but I’ve crawled out of some dark places with tears of joy that I could just see the light again. I’ve also found myself at the top of the mountain, holding the trophy, getting imaginary Gatorade dumped over my head in a victory dance, and appreciated none of it. My point is: Life is a mental game—it’s not about the physical obstacles in your path but how you react to them. You’re probably rolling your eyes right now like, “yeah bro, we know”—but do you? It took me 34 years of my own delusional self-mastery to realize I wasn’t actually operating in my own best interest. I wasted days and months, obsessing about my career and why it wasn’t where I wanted while others seemed to float from one success to the next. Do you know how much of that frustration I channeled into an incredible spite-fueled mission? None of it. My only consolation prize was finding a way to ruin a beautiful day living in Los Angeles.

Pick your lane. Stay in it. Be grateful for every little thing you have that allows you to chase your passions, because it’s NOT NORMAL to have that. Do you hear me? Chasing your dreams is a hobby, not a guaranteed line of work, and less than 2% of actors are able to support themselves doing it (for writers it’s about 1-2%). Now that the pressures off—just enjoy it. Be weird. Be you. Be grateful. Because having a *successful career in the arts is like getting struck by lightning three times on the third Thursday at 3:33pm on a sunny day. Besides…and imagine that I just turned to you like Morpheus dropping truth bombs on Neo about the Matrix while taking off my Aviators slowly like Horatio Caine—what if it turns out that *making it* in Hollywood isn’t what you actually wanted? What if you spent days stewing in toxic envy over a dream you didn’t want when it came true? What if you made choices, ended friendships, ruined relationships, over a pursuit that only actualized in the vacuum of your mind? Is it still worth it, or would you learn to love each day that lets you just have fun, be creative, act like a human before we ruined what it means to be one, regardless of the outcome?

This is without a doubt the greatest challenge I’ve ever faced, but I’m telling you that you don’t have to make it harder than it already is. Maybe I’m not supposed to *make it*. Maybe the real gift is the friends we made along—STOP—I’m just kidding…Jesus. Maybe Hollywood exists simply to be a pressure-cooker, a tumbler where we polish our imperfections and learn the conditions under which we shine. You might not get what you came for, but you just might find what you want.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’d love to—I wish I knew what my art was, too. I’ve whipped up a couple neat little things here and there, wrote a script or two, maybe moved a few audience members with an earnest line, but I wouldn’t call it art—maybe just something on the way to becoming “art.”

What is “art?” It’s an alignment of life, mission, and spectacle. It’s the perfect channeling of all your personal struggles and victories funneled into a goal, a chance to show the world something they’ve never seen before—and it makes them pause from their routine existence to think, if even just for a moment, something different than what was in their head before.

So I started acting. I learned a lot of what made me a bad actor and what made me less bad, and gradually I got better—but apparently not good enough or beautiful enough or slutty enough to make a living. Then I turned to writing, because the industry sucks if you’re not robber Baron loaded, Hollywood royalty, or a Scientologist. Let me repeat that for you: If you are none of those things, “making it” is going to be a literal shit-shoveling grind—I am not exaggerating one turd nugget.

And writing? Jesus Christ it’s even worse! Except you’re totally alone, wracking your brain for the next great Netflix screenplay—or should it be a series? But then I’ll need to break it up into seasons with an arc and I’ll need to write up a TV Bible just to pitch it and then I’ll probably need to film a sizzle reel as proof of concept and…Fuck this.

I’m also pretty handy with a camera, so the next logical step for me was to take control of my career and produce my own content. It’s an expensive career path, with more unions to join that are even more expensive than SAG-AFTRA, and I’m a lonely actor trying to weasel in a place among the greats in the Mecca of filmmaking. It’s a daunting prospect to say the least.

I even went down the Harrison Ford route doing carpentry for film sets, known as Art Dept. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, and so far my rugged appeal hasn’t landed me a breakout role, but I have learned how to make the most cinematic cardboard you’ve never noticed.

But…I’m still doing it. I don’t know how, or when, or if, but I know there’s a lot worse ways trying to live your life than by making your mark on the world that is unmistakably, completely authentically you.

I’ve got some really great stories in me, and one way or another I’m going to find the will-power and the money to bring it to you. I’m working towards that day, and I sincerely hope you will find my work as spectacular as I envision it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m not much of a city-dweller; I’m more of a nature boy at heart. Depending on who it was, I’d hand them a bag of magic mushrooms and direct them somewhere near Topanga Canyon, or take a nice bike ride down The Strand. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I can’t talk about Hollywood and this crazy little pursuit without mentioning Alex Taylor. I’ve learned so much from so many great teachers, but what I gained from Alex was the secret carved on the legendary temple of Delphi: “Know thyself.” Up until then, I did a lot of what most actors do: learn your lines, makes some choices, listen to music outside the casting office trying to remember the first two things while nursing a panic attack, and act like everything in life is absolutely magical and charming when you meet the casting director. That’s fine and all if you’re auditioning for a commercial about a plush rehab facility for the clinically insane, but not for much else.

Before I could begin trying to portray someone else, I had to learn who I was. I thought I did–we all do–and, shocker–we rarely dare dig deep enough to lift the scab covering our most delicate fears to find out. Now that sounds crazy, right? Turns out being sat on a stage with my peers watching while I stare into the abyss asking what I would die for, what I would give everything up for, was exactly the preparation I needed to start asking those same exact questions about the character I wanted to become. It’s insanely intense–I know–but just as you’d expect a competent lawyer to know the law and pass the bar, an actor must know who they are before they can honestly portray someone else.

I probably sound like I joined a cult, but I only praise Alex this much because I accidentally saw my many flaws in the process and became a better person through rectifying them. So to Alex Taylor and the Taylor School of Acting, thank you for giving me the tools to learn how to fish. Thank you for the mirror I didn’t know I needed to look into.

PS–I also just got married to the love of my life last month, and I couldn’t write a dedicated thanks without Diane by my side. She is my rock on the ground; she is my kite in the sky. I also must thank my family for always being there for me, through thick and thin, for supporting me so much in this journey to the unknown. Thank you–sincerely.

Website: https://www.scottalin.com/

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottAlin

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Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/scottalin Film Freeway: https://filmfreeway.com/ScottAlin

Image Credits
The split photo is credit to Tim Schaeffer photography @timschaefferphoto