Name    Simon  Gottlieb

Instagram           si_r_g

Do you have a favorite charity?              https://www.stjude.org/promotion/impact-giving-pm.html?sc_dcm=58700008005633531&sc_cid=kwp&sc_cat=b&&&&&ds_rl=1291300&ds_rl=1285465&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwvvmzBhA2EiwAtHVrb9IGYKtY0jK8IpsVNQTp5kay8yqmt8gaJqGFe3NUOjBBJh7Aq5vMkBoCxFgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Your Home State             Pennsylvania – PA

What is your special talent and how long have you been doing it?

My talent is acting and I have been doing it since I was in 7th grade. I am a rising Junior at Pace University getting a BFA in Acting

Why do you love performing this talent so much?

I love to act because it gives me a way to help people. Life can be hard, and the theatre can often times act as an escape from reality. Through my acting,  if I can make someone forget about their hard day for 2 or 3 hours (or however long the show is), then I feel like I am doing my part in making the world a better place.

What is your biggest talent dream and why?

It’s definitely a cliche, but my biggest dream is to play Hamlet in “Hamlet”. To me, there is something about this role that connects every actor who has ever, and who will ever play him. But the beauty of acting, and especially with a character as dense as Hamlet , is the fact that each actor can play him totally different but still be playing the EXACT same person!

Did you ever feel a struggle to keep going or sometimes want to give up? If so, how did you overcome it?

I love to act, but it is has been an incredibly hard journey on my mental health. The fear of rejection combined with constantly comparing myself to other people (even if it’s unintentional) has definitely led to some mental struggles with self-worth and pride. The main thing that has gotten me through this is knowing that every single actor has had the exact same thought process as me: everyone compares themselves to others and worries they aren’t as good. There is something oddly reassuring in knowing that, although these fears are very real, I am not alone in feeling them.

Why do you think it is important for talent to learn the spirit of contribution to the greater good and use their talent for good?

It’s a win win! Everyone loves charity. Performers love fame. This is a great way to spread awareness about different organizations all over the country, while also giving performers a chance to do what they love in front of millions of people. And what makes this program so cool is that those millions of people are able to read, learn about, volunteer with, and contribute to the charities that the performers love.

Who are some of your biggest influences and how do they inspire you?

Leo DiCaprio is not only one of my favorite actors, but an incredible inspiration of mine. DiCaprio has had a tremendous amount of success in his career. But he didn’t reach these heights by accident or hoping it would come true: he worked for it. One of his first movies was an incredibly small film with a low budget called Critters 3 where he was a background character. But through dedication to his craft, he went from that to being a house-hold name with an Oscar to his name and several of the most beautiful performances the silver screen has ever seen.

What’s your favorite memory of performing your talent?

I did The Crucible at a summer camp in 2019. When I got the role of Proctor, I decided not to tell my parents and to surprise them. When they came to see me on closing night, when I saw them after the show, they both had tears in their eyes. This was such a special moment for me because while they had been supportive of me becoming an actor, they had their hesitations because it is obviously a VERY unreliable career path with a lot of rejection. Seeing their tears and smiles showed me that they believed in me.

What is your best piece of advice you would give to any talent out there?

If there was one piece of advice I could give about acting, or performing in general, it would be to take the good AND the bad. No matter how good or bad you think the audition went, you should always take it for what it is: a learning opportunity. From all my rejections, I have learned that the best way to move on is to take one thing that you feel went well, one thing that you can learn from, and then forget about everything else. Be proud of what you put forward, learn from your mistakes, and move on to the next one!!!!!!