PRO TIPS

Sarah Paulson on “Ratched”

Emmy contenders share their best career advice on our podcast “In the Envelope”

By Jack Smart

WE OFTEN ASK ACTORS: IF YOU COULD GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF

just one piece of advice, what would it be? Luckily for listeners of “In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast,” some of today’s most successful television stars provided far more than just the one answer. Each of the 2021 Emmy Award contenders below used their time on the mic as an opportunity to enlighten early career artists—and maybe even, hypothetically, their younger selves. From their personal creative processes to how to navigate a path through the entertainment biz, it’s always inspiring to hear from your favorite performers firsthand.

of these things…. I have had some time, in my time, to kind of be around different things. But the reason I was around them was just because there was an opportunity, and I didn’t say no. I was like, ‘All right, I’ll try it until somebody kicks me out of here!’ ”

Paul Bettany, “WandaVision”

“You’re never not in a rehearsal [while filming]. And that’s wonderful. Once you accept it, and you really believe it, it’s really freeing, because you can do anything in rehearsal…. You can be indulgent, and they can cut it out. You can make mistakes! And mistakes are amazing.”

Renée Elise Goldsberry,

“Hamilton” + “Girls5Eva”

“You just have to have the audacity to show up and try some

Ethan Hawke, “The Good

Lord Bird”

“Good things happen, [and] you’re a better friend, you’re a better citizen, you’re a better artist, you’re a better lover if you treat yourself with respect. It just starts there. Because if you can’t do that, you start tripping over all that, and you can’t do anything else.”

Ryan O’Connell, “Special”

“I would say: Walk around with the confidence of Rob Schneider circa 1998. I think that when you’re a marginalized person, the biggest hurdle sometimes can be yourself and believing that you deserve the things…. Just [believe] that you deserve to be there.”

Sarah Paulson, “Ratched”

“I only think about what is truthful. What is the truth of the scene, the moment?… When you’re really focused on the result of the scene, you’re more thinking about yourself, and then you’re not engaged with the other person. The more you can engage with the person you’re having your scene with, I think, the more you forget about what the hoped-for result is, the more you’re just living it. And when you’re living it, you’re relaxed, you’re breathing. The process sometimes on set has to do with simple things like that, and remembering to listen.”

Queen Latifah,

“The Equalizer”

“You’ve got to learn how to fail. If you don’t know how to fail, that’s a wrap; you can forget about it. Because you can’t build perseverance; perseverance comes from failing. You have to fail, and you’ve got to fail early. And I, luckily, was thrown out there in enough things to fail and cry and get up and fail and cry…. I’d rather get my heart broken and at least know that I lived. I’d rather break a bone and know I tried to jump.”

Amber Ruffin, “The Amber

Ruffin Show” + “Late Night With Seth Meyers”

“You have to have a pile of work that you can point to and go, ‘I can do this, and here’s the proof.’ Because anyone can go, ‘I’m really funny.’ Who cares? No one cares. Can you point to a bunch of videos? Can you point to a bunch of TikToks? Do you tweet every day? Something, anything! But not [just] something, anything— all of those things.”

For even more craft and career tips from “In the Envelope” guests, tune in weekly wherever you get your podcasts!