Christian DeMarais

Christian DeMarais

🎙️ Episode 12: Christian DeMarais...is in the Waiting Room! In this episode of In the Waiting Room, I sit down with Christian DeMarais for a grounded conversation about craft, patience, and the quiet discipline required to stay in the work. We talk about the realities of building a career over time, the difference between visibility and longevity, and how personal conviction—artistic, moral, and spiritual—shapes the choices actors make, often outside the spotlight. Christian reflects on training, collaboration, and the less glamorous but essential parts of sustaining a life in the arts. This episode isn’t about shortcuts or hype. It’s about showing up, staying honest, and understanding the trade-offs that come with committing to the long game.

Andy Ingalls

In this episode of In the Waiting Room, Rashad sits down with Andy Ingalls for a wide-ranging, deeply reflective conversation about the long arc of an artistic life. Andy traces his journey from growing up in Houston within a strict Southern Baptist environment to building a creative career in New York City over the past thirteen years. They explore how judgment—religious, cultural, and professional—can shape (and distort) an artist’s relationship to their work, their community, and themselves. Andy speaks candidly about unlearning inherited frameworks of moral absolutism, learning to see people and experiences as they are, and how that shift has informed both his artistry and his personal life. The conversation moves into the realities of the acting business: the myth of “it’s just who you know,” the slow accumulation of trust and creative alignment, and why relationships are not shortcuts but the work itself. Andy reframes success away from institutions, awards, and visibility toward agency, presence, and making work he’s proud of with people he respects. They also discuss privilege, financial stability, time, and risk—what it actually costs to sustain a creative life—and why making your own work isn’t a trend, but the job. The episode closes with a grounded, philosophical reflection on what it means to “make it,” ending on a powerful Marcus Aurelius quote about wisdom, agency, and finding fulfillment in one’s own actions rather than external validation.

Rafi Silver

In this episode of In the Waiting Room, Rashad Edwards sits down with Amazon Prime's Fallout actor and Columbia University acting instructor Rafi Silver for a wide-ranging conversation about judgment, discernment, and the inner life of the working artist. The episode opens with a reflection on filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s decision to decline membership in the Academy—not out of protest, but out of a deep discomfort with judging the value of other people’s work. That choice becomes a lens for the larger conversation: whether neutrality is possible, or even honest, in art, belief, and life. Rafi and Rashad explore the tension between subjectivity and moral clarity, drawing from their differing spiritual frameworks—Buddhism and Christianity—while finding common ground around responsibility, intention, and humility. They unpack how actors are often forced to justify their worth through credits, visibility, and external validation, and how that pressure can quietly erode purpose. The conversation moves through theater versus film economics, family trade-offs, teaching and mentorship, spiritual practice, identity, trauma, and the danger of hiding behind performance—onstage and off. At its core, the episode argues that discernment is unavoidable: in the roles we take, the values we hold, and the way we show up for others. This is a conversation about choosing honesty over illusion, practice over posturing, and presence over praise—especially in an industry built on smoke, mirrors, and judgment.

Carolyn Michelle

In this episode of In the Waiting Room, Rashad Edwards sits down with Carolyn Michelle for a grounded, honest conversation about one of the most difficult—and liberating—realities of an acting career: accepting who you are in the marketplace. Rather than chasing endless versatility or resisting being “typed,” Carolyn shares how clarity around her strengths, presence, and natural casting lane allowed her to work with greater intention and confidence. The conversation explores how many actors unknowingly extend their path by fighting the very qualities that make them most employable—and how alignment, not reinvention, often leads to sustainable momentum. Together, Rashad and Carolyn unpack the difference between limitation and leverage, the importance of understanding how the industry actually responds to clarity, and why crafting your lane early can create more opportunity, not less. This episode is a timely reminder that longevity in this business often comes from refinement, not resistance. If you’re an actor questioning your place in the industry—or feeling pressure to be everything at once—Crafting Your Lane offers a practical, adult reframing of what it really means to build a career that works.

Deirdre Lovejoy

In this candid and deeply insightful episode, Rashad sits down with acclaimed actor Deirdre Lovejoy (The Wire, Bones, The Blacklist) for a conversation that pulls back the curtain on the realities of a life in the arts. Lovejoy reflects on her journey from Evansville, Indiana, to the stages of Broadway and the sets of prestige television, offering a rare look at the intentionality, resilience, and self-awareness required to build a sustainable acting career. She discusses how early environments shape ambition, how societal expectations influence personal and professional choices, and why authenticity remains the true currency of artistry. Together, they explore the often-hidden financial truths of the industry, the evolving landscape of acting training, the role of mentorship, and the mindset that separates working actors from those who burn out. Lovejoy also speaks openly about navigating balance—between craft and survival, personal life and professional drive—and why access and diversity in the arts must move beyond slogans and into real structural change. Whether you're an actor, a creative, or simply someone curious about what’s behind the performances you see on screen, this episode offers an honest, grounded, and empowering portrait of what it means to build a life in this profession.