The Actor Who Thought She'd Lost It (Spoiler: She Hadn't)
Photo by Dana Patrick
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Meet Elena Schick: A five-foot force of nature from Southwest Philly with an Ivy League degree, a work ethic inherited from immigrant grandparents in a three-bedroom rowhouse, and the kind of resilience that comes from growing up where "Mangia, Mangia!" was the answer to everything. She's been cast by Joel Schumacher, held her own on The Following, and brings grit, heart, and humor to every role—always leaving room for family, Sunday gravy, and the occasional cold Tastykake. This is the story of how she found her way back after life demanded she step away.
When Life Throws You the Hardest Scene You've Ever Had to Play
Elena knew she wanted to be an actor at seven years old. Not because she'd mastered the art of getting her older brother in trouble by crying on demand (though that skill did come in handy at auditions later). It was because she fell in love with storytelling while growing up in that cramped three-bedroom, one-bath rowhouse in Southwest Philly, watching her parents and Italian immigrant grandparents connect with family and friends who'd come through their door.
Her Grandmom would always say, "We may not have money, but we always have food!" Anyone who walked in got a hug, a kiss, and an immediate "Sit down and mangia!" Elena absorbed it all—the conversations, the arguments, the laughter, the way people really listened to each other. Her parents never sent her to another room when adults were talking. She soaked up the art of storytelling and authentic connection, skills that would later become the foundation of her acting.
Fast forward to a successful acting career: she'd graduated from University of Pennsylvania with an English degree, been cast by Joel Schumacher, appeared on The Following with Kevin Bacon, and was steadily building momentum. She had a day job in the legal field—like so many actors do—and was juggling it all with the same work ethic her mother Edith modeled, working two jobs and taking public transportation while still making time for family.
Then life handed her an impossible choice…
Both of Elena’s parents needed at-home hospice care. At the same time. Elena and her brother stepped up to care for their mom and pop together, the way their parents had cared for their own parents in that Southwest Philly row house all those years ago.
For Elena, this meant two full years away from acting. No classes. No auditions. No sets. Just early mornings until late nights of caregiving, working her day job remotely, being so physically and emotionally exhausted that the only way she could even enjoy acting was watching old detective movies, westerns, sitcoms, and marathon sessions of Law & Order and NCIS with her parents as they lay in bed.
She wanted to go back to acting class. She wanted to self-submit and audition. But she wanted to be there for her mom and pop more. It's what they would have done. It's what they had done.
Elena helped give her parents the peace they both deserved at the end of their lives. And when they were gone, she was left staring at a version of herself she didn't recognize. The woman who'd held her own with Kevin Bacon? Gone. In her place was someone who couldn't even look at audition breakdowns without that voice whispering: “You don't belong here anymore.”
The imposter syndrome was deafening.
The Real Challenge: Rebuilding When Everything Feels Foreign
When Elena walked back into an acting class six months after her parents died, here's what she was dealing with:
“Quite candidly, I felt like I was starting all over again," Elena says. "My confidence was at a very low level.”
That brutal inner critic. The one telling her she'd been away too long. That everyone else was more current, more prepared, more deserving. That she was an imposter just taking up space.
And the technical stuff? Skills that used to be second nature felt rusty and forced. Active listening that should have flowed naturally now felt performative. Those moments of genuine connection with a scene partner—the very thing she'd watched her parents and grandparents do effortlessly in that row house—felt awkward and out of reach. The emotional depth she used to access easily was locked away somewhere she couldn't find.
But Elena had that Southwest Philly resilience. Her mother's voice in her head saying, "Elena, no one said it was gonna be easy! It is what it is!" She'd think about going to law school, taking the LSAT, choosing the safer path. Then she'd take a deep breath, look at her acting resume, her training, her credits, and keep going.
“I knew I wanted to improve my acting capabilities and confidence in my acting skill set so that I could confidently self-submit for TV/Film projects with the goal of booking a supporting role in a short film, feature film, or TV series."
Feeling rusty or anxious getting back into the room or in front of the camera? Grab my Crush Your Nerves eBook with quick practical tools to get you on track.
Building a Bridge Back (With Some Really Good Tools)
Elena and I started working together in my virtual Real Actors Lab class using Meisner Technique (💸) as our anchor. If you're not familiar, Meisner’s technique is about building your character from the inside out—starting with emotional truth before you worry about the accent or the costume. It's about truly listening and responding to what your scene partner is actually doing in the moment, not what you think they're going to do or what you rehearsed. And when you practice it consistently, when you're fully present, you start working from pure instinct and impulse instead of your head. Real behavior. Real connection. Which, when you think about it, is exactly what Elena had been learning since she was seven years old in that row house, watching her family truly engage with people who walked through their door.
Photo by Dana Patrick
"The Meisner Technique helped me to engage in authentic acting in a scene and naturally respond to my scene partner," Elena explains. "The repetition exercises, independent activity, and emotional preparation worked really well for me in building my confidence and approach to a scene that allowed me to authentically and naturally immerse myself in a scene."
What Elena responded to most was having the time and space each week to really work—not just get quick notes and move on, but to dig into scenes, try things that didn't work, discover what did. A place where experimenting was encouraged and "failing" just meant you were learning something useful.
We focused on the fundamentals: Meisner’s repetition exercises to wake up her natural responsiveness, independent activity to build authentic behavior of the character, emotional preparation to access Elena’s real feelings. Active listening—the kind Elena had witnessed her whole childhood. Letting scenes breathe. Making actual eye contact and connection. Finding those emotional undercurrents that make a performance resonate instead of just being "good."
Between classes, Elena practiced. She told me that she got up at the crack of dawn every day—prayed, worked out, practiced on-camera audition techniques—then headed to her day job on the train. She worked through the exercises, implemented my notes, and three months after starting back in class, she started self-submitting for projects again.
She showed up every week ready to go deeper.
And then one day, something shifted.
The Moment Elena Found Her Way Back In
We were working on a dramatic hospital scene. After her first read-through, I asked her what she was feeling internally—not as the character, but as Elena. She described her emotions. Then I said, "Okay, now let’s do it again. But this time, let all that be there in the scene."
What happened next? Magic.
"I felt the emotions in the scene throughout the entirety of my body. When the scene was over I had to bring my mind back to the setting of our class because I was so immersed that all I could see myself in the setting of the scene, that doctor's exam room."
Elena had tapped into that place where she wasn’t performing emotion, she was experiencing it. She wasn’t acting, she was being. It was the same authenticity and connection she'd watched her grandparents create over Sunday gravy.
"The repetitive exercises, independent activity, and emotional preparation all came together to create a breakthrough in my acting that made my confidence level soar.”
And here's the thing: Elena already had this ability inside her. She'd always had it—from that row house in Southwest Philly, from her parents, from years of training and work. The technique just gave her a reliable pathway back to it. A way to access what was already there, waiting.
That was the day everything changed.
Six Months Later: Here’s What Happened:
"Most importantly, I have regained my confidence. I continuously self-submit for supporting and lead roles in short films, feature films, and TV series."
I'm going to let Elena's results speak for themselves because honestly, they're kind of extraordinary:
5 short films (supporting roles) currently making the festival circuit rounds—including "The Impact Factor," filmed in her hometown of Philly, where she played a recovering addict
2 feature films (supporting roles) in post-production
3 more short films (supporting roles) currently filming
1 theatrical production where she's been offered the LEAD ROLE. Her first one.
Oh, and here's a fun plot twist: A publicist who specializes in entertainment trade magazines saw Elena's performance in The Impact Factor at a festival. She reached out directly to ask if she could feature Elena in a rising star editorial piece….
Still of Ben Siegler & Elena Schick from Octopus, a film by Shoshana Ehrenkranz
Elena's now actively self-submitting for supporting and lead roles—while still killing it at her day job in the legal field. She signed with an LA manager after working on her agent and manager pitch email campaign in my Real Actors Lab class and with Brian Patacca in his Agent Goals course. She completed her headshot session with prolific top photographer Dana Patrick (whose photos appear in this post.) She has casting director sessions scheduled, and agent meetings forthcoming. She plays a beautiful, strong supporting role in Shoshana Ehrenkranz's gorgeous film Octopus.
But the best part? Elena doesn't describe herself as someone trying to get back to where she was. "I have the mindset of a confident actor." Present tense. Current reality.
And she's still getting up at dawn, practicing her craft, working her day job, and showing up for auditions with that Southwest Philly resilience that says, "No one said it was gonna be easy. It is what it is."
What Elena Does Differently Now (And Why It Matters)
Here's what I love about how Elena approaches her career now:
She built her community. Early in her career, she felt isolated because she had a day job and thought she wasn't on the same playing field as other actors. She learned fast: you need your people. You can't do this alone. Now she actively reaches out to other actors and creatives—not because she expects something in return, but because acting can be lonely and isolating, and we all need support.
She holds doors open. Elena checks in with other actors to see how they're doing and what she can help with—whether it's running lines, being a reader, promoting or funding projects, or just listening. She does for others what others have done for her.
She networks with intention. Not the transactional "what can you do for me" kind, but genuine connection. She builds authentic relationships with casting directors, writers, producers, directors—not because they might cast her someday (though they might), but because kindness matters for its own sake.
Photo by Dana Patrick
She lives her life. Elena learned that being too serious about acting actually stunted her growth. Now she makes time for family, friends, books, trips, hobbies that have nothing to do with acting. Those life experiences bring fresh, raw, authentic dynamics to her work. Plus, she always saves room for Sunday gravy and cold Tastykakes.
She practices. Every single day. The Meisner fundamentals—repetition exercises, independent activity, emotional preparation—they're part of her morning routine before she heads to work. She continues training with me, coming back to class when she knows she needs a booster shot. She uses the tools in audition prep, on set, whenever she needs to access that authentic place.
"The repetition exercises, the independent activity work, and emotional preparation were eye-opening and, quite frankly, game changing, in how I practice my acting skill set daily, prepare for auditions, and immerse myself in my characters on set.”
Most importantly? Elena takes action. She doesn't wait for permission or for someone to tell her she's ready. She submits herself for roles. She builds relationships. She makes bold choices in her work.
"Working with you has completely changed my previous 'imposter' mindset to the mindset of a confident actor.”
The techniques gave her a structure. But Elena did the hard, brave work of rebuilding her confidence from the inside out. With that same resilience she learned watching her mother work two jobs and her father care for his parents. The resilience that got her through the darkest days of caring for her mom and pop.
Here's What Actually Made the Difference:
Elena's willingness to start exactly where she was. Not where she thought she "should" be after years of experience. Not rushing to prove she still had it. Just showing up authentically as someone who was rebuilding and being okay with that.
She came to class consistently. She did the work between sessions. She let herself struggle and experiment and occasionally flounder in a scene without making it mean something terrible about herself.
She learned to trust her instincts again—those instincts born in a Southwest Philly row house where storytelling and genuine connection were as essential as food on the table.
And somewhere along the way, that imposter voice got quieter. Because Elena was too busy booking work, building her community, and living her life to listen to it anymore.
Want help getting back to your own confident place? Book a free 15-minute strategy session to talk through your next steps And make a plan to get back to where you want to be.
If You're Reading This and Thinking "That Could Be Me"...
Maybe you've taken time off for family, health, or just life. Maybe you're juggling a day job and wondering if you're a "real" enough actor. Maybe you're struggling with confidence. Maybe you feel like you've been away too long and everyone else got ahead while you were gone.
Elena's story is proof that career interruptions don't have to be career endings. Sometimes they're just unexpected intermissions before an even stronger second act.
"I just wish that I’d found you earlier in my acting career before I took a hiatus from acting because my parents would have been here to celebrate and see all my recent successes. I remember how excited my Mom and Pop were when they saw me on an episode of 'The Following' with Kevin Bacon. I hope my Mom and Pop can see how much I have grown."
If you're at your own crossroads, if you're rebuilding after time away, if you're juggling survival work with your craft, if you're ready to find your way back to that confident actor you know is in there somewhere—let's talk.
Because here's the truth: you probably already have everything you need. Sometimes you just need the right tools to access it, and someone who believes you belong in the room while you remember how to believe it yourself.
Resilience never takes a break. And neither should your dreams.
Ready to write your comeback story? Reach out and let's start working.
Book a free 15-minute strategy session and let’s explore what your next bold step might look like — whether it's 1:1 coaching, joining a class, or starting with a free resource. No pressure, no performance. Just real support, right where you are.
Or explore more free tools here: Resource Library
Follow Elena's Journey
Elena continues to build momentum in her career, and her pilot Two Lives is currently in development—a project that's already receiving strong early industry feedback.
Connect with Elena:
Instagram: @elenamschick
IMDbPro: Elena Schick
