Conversations with Ali Stoner: The Process of Acting and Creativity

Ali Stoner (Black Rabbit, Chicago Med, Daredevil: Born Again...) on what the job of a working actor actually looks like today. This episode of Authenticated is where Kate and Ali sit with eyes on the 20/20 hindsight lens to trace Ali's evidence map and connect it to how she's learning to trust her own intuition.   Episode Context: At the time of the recording, Ali was splitting her time between New York and Los Angeles as a newly bicoastal actor, in the middle of prime commercial and TV pilot season while preparing for a four month regional theater run at a LORT D theater in Miami. When Kate asked Ali what carried her from a decade in New York theater into becoming a bicoastal actor, she said it came down to the way you have to "just leap" into what feels true, and to deciding that "shitty heaven" beats a "fun hell" you already know by heart. Their conversation moves through the real day to day of a working actor's audition life, from personal "cheat codes" with a teleprompter to the hand trick she uses to find her authentic first thought before the line the writer wrote, why she thinks intuition is already lived logic (with a nod to professor Laura Huang's book "You Already Know"), the Obergefell v. Hodges line about marriage and self-definition that reframed how she makes life calls in terms of her life and career, what New York's cramped subway culture taught her about emotional generosity that LA parties have yet to adopt, and what authenticity, saying what's true and catching yourself in your own nonsense, looks like both while performing and living. This episode is an opportunity to reflect on what your gut knows, and what it costs to keep the expansive option your default. It is a striking example of intuition at work in an acting career, in an old friendship rekindled after staying attuned by a decades worth of parasocial awareness, and in the small daily choices that add up to self-definition. Show Notes: Ali Stoner Instagram: @ali.stonerrr Ali Stoner Website: ali-stoner.com