EP 122: Sydney James Harcourt, Actor

My guest on this episode of the Hometown to Hollywood podcast is triple threat Sydney James Harcourt.

Sydney has performed on some of the world’s finest concert stages including Radio City Music Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, and Carnegie Hall.  He has appeared on and off Broadway starring in productions like HAMILTON (the original Broadway company and 1st replacement for Aaron Burr), Disney's THE LION KING (where he played Simba), Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT, and was most recently seen as Joe Scott in the critically acclaimed original American cast of Bob Dylan’s GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at the Public Theater.

You've seen him in films and on TV series – including Blue Bloods, NCIS, Elementary, Younger, The Good Wife, Law and Order, and Disney's Enchanted.   He's toured across North America from coast to coast, and played sold out stadiums from Australia, to Indonesia, to Puerto Rico.

This is a genuinely inspiring conversation, especially useful for anyone who is interested in a career on Broadway or doing musical theatre, but it’s deeply relevant to anyone who wants to make a career in the arts.

We discuss training, the value of a university education for actors, audition advice, how to stay focused on your dream when the going gets tough, and so much more.

 

Listen to the first 10 minutes here for free, or become a Friend of the Podcast for just $5 a month — and get access to the full interview, as well as access to the entire collection of over 100 other inspiring and educational episodes designed to help you succeed in the entertainment industry.

 

Some of my favorite quotes from our conversation:

• “It’s too easy, especially in this business, to feel like you’re only as good as your last project.”
• “I wouldn’t sing in front of anyone. I was terribly, terribly, terribly shy.”
• “I went to Interlochen Arts Academy… it was a life-changing, Hogwarts experience.”
• “I avoided Phys Ed by taking General Dance.”
• “I gave myself a year… and started going to every open call.”
• “I think that training and education is everything.”
• “I’ve always tried to listen to my instincts, listen to my intuition.”
• “Lucy Liu was a business major. You can study other things and still be doing your art.”
• “You have to have the stomach for that level of uncertainty.”
• “What has surprised me the most is there is always a new opportunity that comes up just when you think you’re ready to give up.”
• “It is not important what your peers are achieving in comparison to what you’re achieving.”
• “The only things you can control are: how prepared you are for the moment; and if you’ve done your best or not.”
• “We learn so much more from our failures than we do from things that just go ‘easy-peasy.’”
• “You want to be a good human and you want to leave people wanting to work with you.”
• “You’ve just got to always try and give your best energy, and work your hardest. Everything else is a distraction.”
• “I have a firm belief that the universe protects me from experiences that I’m not supposed to have.”
• “I book the things I’m supposed to book, and everything else was never meant for me.”
• “If you were born to do this, then never, ever, ever give up on that dream.”

 

Follow Sydney James Harcourt HERE:

Website:                     https://www.sydneyharcourt.com

Instagram:                 @sydneyharcourt

YouTube Channel:    Sydney James Harcourt

Interlochen Arts Academy: https://academy.interlochen.org

 

Feeling inspired after lis