by Cyrus
Webb
It’s
easy to look at where someone is now and think “I wish I was them”. The real question to ask is are you willing
to do what they did to get to where they are today? When it comes to actor Preston
James Hillier* he is someone who has been on a nice climb in his career. The point
to remember is that it’s been a CLIMB. Nothing has come easy.
The
two of us connected in 2019, one of the biggest years of his career. He’s had
the privilege to grace the screen for television and film—and there is more to
come.
In
this conversation we discuss the journey to where he is today, the challenges
and the reward for not giving up.
What has it been like for you to see how everything you've done
has led up to this year?
You know, it's a very fickle
business. There's highs and lows. There's ups and downs. There’s always
transitions. I think looking back at some of those times where you're the right
age and the right look for a certain time, and then you have a little bit of a
lull. Then you're into the next category…the dad or whatever. It's those times
in between the work that really test you. As an actor in this business a lot of
people don't have the tenacity. It'll break you as a human being sometimes when
you're not working, and just trying to get to that next level and you keep
thinking, ‘When is that time going to come?’
I think that's always the pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow for every actor. You’re waiting for that
moment, and hoping that it's going to come. And when it starts pulling together,
and when you can kind of take a step back and look at what you've done—from where you are to where you started—you do say
I guess I really have done quite a bit of stuff. At the time it doesn't seem
like it. You're just constantly fighting and trying to get to that next level.
So glad you shared that. It
really shows that you have to be willing to do the work. So my question would
be, I guess, did you know going into this industry that it was exactly what you
said: fickle with some highs and lows?
Yeah, to an extent. I moved out here when I was 24, and everything
I ate, drank and breathed was about moving to LA and pursuing this business. Nothing
was going to stop me from doing that. And as you get here and look at things
your friends are doing and you look at other people's careers, you kind of get
a better idea of the scope of what lies ahead. I didn’t get to the border of
California and they were handing out TV shows, but you just start chipping away
at little things here and there. You realize there's a lot to this. There's no
such thing as overnight success.
It’s been two decades now, Preston,
that you’ve been able to do work in front of the camera. That is amazing. There
have been some people who have come and gone in the time that you have been in
the industry. As I look at where you are and how you kept pushing, what is it
that helped you to do that? What is it that you think helped you to keep going
even when it seemed difficult?
It's a good question. You
know, I think a lot of it is surrounding yourself with good people. You know it
can be a competitive business, and I have a lot of friends that are in my
categories and we go out for a lot of the same things. When you can find those
people you just keep pushing each other and helping each other up the ladder.
That helps immensely, because you need a good support group. Otherwise it can
be really difficult. Getting a little bit of work here and there satisfies you and
makes you want more. I think that those are the little things to keep you
going.
Follow Preston online through
Instagram at www.instagram.com/prestonhillier
and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/prestonhillier.
* Photo by Rob Nixon
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