Rising Star Phillip Andre Botello On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
Make sure that you are always training and sharpening your skills as an actor — it’s a craft. Never compare your path with your peers or fellow actors; just try to stay in your own lane. Focus on doing the craft of the job that you love doing the most.
As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Phillip Andre Botello.
You can check Phillip Andre Botello out in The Art of Self Defense and Pledge — both streaming on Hulu.
He went to Coronado School of Arts before getting accepted into the Julliard School of Drama on scholarship. He was nominated for Best Actor at The Portland Horror Film Festival for Sunset On The River Styx 2020.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Los Angeles and San Diego in a culturally diverse household when my mom and father split when I was young. I immersed myself in comic books, superheroes, and martial arts.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was failing my eighth-grade English class in La Mesa middle school, and my teacher would get me to recite a speech on Fridays to pass. One day he put up on the board a speech from “On the Waterfront” starring Marlon Brando; after I did it, he took me to some teachers and the other teachers. They collectively said that I should be an actor; this was my path.
At the time, I didn’t agree; but it definitely lit 🔥 a spark.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’ve had a lot, hahaha. But one was in this movie, The Art of Self Defense, and I had a 6 am call time, but I had missed my connecting flight at 12 am that night, so I took an 8-hour Uber to Kentucky from wherever I was… a fun night! Oh, it was $900.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It would be about wanting an opportunity and being ready for that opportunity. I hustled my way into one of the biggest casting offices in New York and got myself an appointment to go in person and read for the head casting director. I won’t say her name. This was my first year at Julliard during summer break, and we were learning lots of period pieces and masks class. I really wanted this opportunity because I wanted to be on film and TV. I wanted to be a “film actor, “not just a theater actor.
The casting director handed a scene from a TV show and said, start whenever you’re ready. I had really talked myself up to get into that room, so her staff was with her. I began the scene and immediately started to pantomime like a mime. The character was at dinner in the scene, and while I was doing the scene, I was pretending to eat and drink with imaginary objects that weren’t there. I’d really committed to the pantomime because at the time in Julliard, we had to re-create objects that were not really in the room with our bodies, so that’s what I did basically in the audition. They all had a stunned look on their face afterward. I didn’t know that I was not supposed to do that for an actual audition as I’d never audition for a film or tv show before.
I got the opportunity that I wanted, but I wasn’t ready for it, and it was pretty embarrassing.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m in this really good film that was recently released called Wanton Want. I’m really proud of it! So, make sure you go and check it out on Amazon Prime Video or GooglePlay.
I am the lead in the movie, As Real As You Make It, which just got picked up by Buffalo 8. We’re starting production on a film with a fellow talented actor-writer-director called Once In A Blue Moon.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Make sure that you are always training and sharpening your skills as an actor — it’s a craft. Never compare your path with your peers or fellow actors; just try to stay in your own lane. Focus on doing the craft of the job that you love doing the most.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
One, it’s sooo important because it reflects our world.
Two, think of the myriad of stories that can be and need to be told.
Three, it’s already affecting our culture, and who wants the same stories over and over?
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
One — BE EASY TO WORK WITH
So many people I know who are good but don’t work because having them on set is a nightmare.
Two — it may take a little while before you start getting jobs, so just be patient and practice your craft.
Three — Don’t compare your career or path to anyone else’s… not even your peers.
Four — Don’t wait for someone to give you a job — make your own.
Five — Celebrate your bookings. The small successes; celebrate them sometimes. They are far and few between.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
That’s a great question if you’re doing back-to-back projects like one film or TV show. Try to bring someone, either a friend or loved one, out to the location with you. It just makes everything better and makes life easier. A partner in crime, if you will. Or if you don’t have one, just someone that has a light touch. That’s when you’re on location or just going nonstop.
Try to do at least one job a year that gets you really excited, even if it doesn’t pay very well. A project you’re really into that reminds you why you started doing this in the first place.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
No pants Wednesday’s
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My mom put me in a position to succeed. She saw that I had an interest in the arts, so she made sure I went to schools with access to the theater and dance. She did all of that while single parenting and putting herself through a Ph.D. program
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The heart is more treacherous than anything and is desperate.
Who can know it.”
Jeremiah 17:9
When I was young, my motto used to be: ‘follow your heart and how you feel.’ This is what is taught to us by the world, “follow your heart.” And during that time, I was very inconsistent, unreachable, all over the place, in my professional life and in my personal life. I learned the hard way. I was never able to work in my field because I was so caught up in how I felt and how it made me feel that it would hinder me.
Following your heart’s desire can work to refine and practice your art, or in-between action and cut, when the camera is rolling. But not in real life. Not in the day-to-day, away from the craft. And being “raw” and emotionally available all the time works on stage or in front of a camera but is not always beneficial in line at Starbucks when they get your order wrong, and you may flip out. I got that mixed up, that what I was doing on stage and in front of a camera, I could do in real life.
Blindly following your emotions and your feelings is my definition of a stupid person. So, I’ve had to retrain myself and focus more on using my “head rather than my heart,” which has been a battle, but it’s the only reason I’m working now. It’s double hard because I tend to feel deeply about things. However, I no longer let how I feel about a situation lead my actions or dictate what I will do. But this is a constant battle. Jeremiah 17:9 is a constant reminder and has helped me immensely in my life.
Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Christopher Nolan.
I would like to chat with him about a couple of his films I think I have deciphered.
How can our readers follow you online?
My iG is @phillipandrebotello
Twitter is @phillipAbotello
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
