I hope to see society value generosity and integrity far better than at present. Right now it’s clear on social media, the people with the most likes are not generous, kind or even talented, instead they are usually egotistical and selfish. It’s sad when you see someone boasting about an expensive watch and it gets more likes than someone congratulating a homeless person for saving the life of a young kid.
As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing James Pratt. James is an award-winning actor and world-famous auctioneer. He is the recipient of multiple International accolades, including being awarded 2019 Top 5 Under 35 in Australia for Entertainment, 2019, Australian Auctioneer Of The Year Winner, 2018 REB Australian Thought Leader Of The Year Finalist, In addition to acting and producing, James is regarded as the most successful real estate auctioneer in the world for luxury and celebrity homes. At present, he holds over 47 records internationally, and in 2018, he signed a deal with reality show heavyweight Ebersol Lanigan in Hollywood for his own TV show.
Thank you so much for doing this with us James! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Sydney Australia and spent a lot of time competing in surfing competitions, playing sport and just enjoying having fun, my friends. My family has a background in fashion, business, and aviation in Australia and also in the US which was a valuable mix, although one of the best parts for me growing up was our family loved animals, I grew up in with an incredible Border Collie called Mandy.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I love to be creative although, I didn’t focus on acting and writing until the end of my senior high. After high school, I studied the diploma of real estate and at the same time studied acting and performance at the National Institute of Dramatic Art ( NIDA ) a prestigious acting school in Sydney, it was inspiring because actors such as Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchard, Sam Worthington, and Toni Collette all graduated from there.
This mix of acting and auctioneering has really complimented each other over time, and I was very lucky to have this opportunity to learn from a great school and to start with such a solid foundation.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’m always amazed by how unpredictable life is, around two years ago I ended up at the last minute changing plans from landing in Los Angeles to instead going to Vancouver in what was the coldest time of the year in Canada and not part of the plan.
Once there, I connected by default with a great person through social media who after meeting me she said,” I’ll introduce you to someone I know, Through this one meeting, I ended up doing the World’s First Cryptocurrency auction and then on the film side I became a founding partner of Mogul studios, a very exciting new film studio in Hollywood launching this year.
Looking back, I never was going to be in Canada but it happened anyway.
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?
Early in my career, I was on a TV show and my trailer was parked next to the other cast members trailers, I thought they ( the trailer ) was completely soundproof and so I started doing loud, voice warm-up exercises that I had learned at NIDA, after 5 minutes I heard a quiet knocking on my door when I opened it, one of the lead actresses from the show was standing there and said in a worried voice…” is everything ok? I thought I heard someone dying?
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Malibu Crush is something I’m very excited about, we are about to start filming next month. It’s a comedy feature film that revolves around Two best friends from Pasadena who pretend to be highly acclaimed film school students in order to declare their love for an ex-girlfriend living in Sydney Australia.
Conversation Hollywood is also coming up, we start filming season two in January, I love presenting this show because there is always great self-improvement and incredible takeaways from the guests.
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?
- I think diversity in film opens up more creativity and enhances the entertainment industry as a whole.
- Education is often the key; to be able to showcase the diversity within a film is another effective way to educate people away from stereotypes.
- Diversity in the film industry is also highly important due to the positive impact that it has on the younger generations of minority children who are left without a voice.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- You need to be strategic and smarter about your acting career, often it’s not about your talent or looks but rather understanding your network and availability.
- Don’t stress about the little things, — life is too short, often what you are worried now doesn’t even rate a drop in the ocean in the future.
- Don’t waste time because it’s one of your most valuable assets -The older you get, the faster it feels times goes by.
- The bigger the adversity the bigger the triumph,Your biggest triumphs come after your biggest adversities.
- You know you are becoming successful when people come out and knock you — use this as confidence.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Have an outside passion, emotional energy will cloud someone after they leave the film set or even the audition so it’s vital you can have outside passions to keep you balanced and are able to get even more enjoyment out of life
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. 🙂
I hope to see society value generosity and integrity far better than at present.. Right now it’s clear on social media, the people with the most likes are not generous, kind or even talented, instead they are usually egotistical and selfish. It’s sad when you see someone boasting about a $10,000 watch and it gets more likes than someone congratulating a homeless person for saving the life of a young kid.
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 Mum was the one person whom I owe so much.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The Bigger the Obstacle the bigger the Triumph, often people get discouraged by a setback but rather they should take this as the confidence of the gravity of success to come.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US 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. 🙂
TrisanneMarin @trisannemarin
This person has had a very special influence on my life.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
https://www.instagram.com/james_pratt7/
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