Octavia Spencer and ‘Insurgent’ Cast Prove There’s No Such Thing as an Overnight Success!

“It took me fifteen years to become an overnight success. But I was already successful with that first yes… Understand?” – Octavia Spencer Octavia Spencer is one of the cast members of the new film Insurgent, the latest offering of the three-part Divergent series based off of the world-wide best seller penned by Veronica Roth. I sat down with cast members recently to discover more on the truth behind the theory of The Overnight Success. Early on in my career, I was often hired as a television producer on specials where I would be asked to tell the story of The Overnight Success. Closer inspection taught me that while the …

“It took me fifteen years to become an overnight success. But I was already successful with that first yes… Understand?” – Octavia Spencer

Octavia Spencer is one of the cast members of the new film Insurgent, the latest offering of the three-part Divergent series based off of the world-wide best seller penned by Veronica Roth.

I sat down with cast members recently to discover more on the truth behind the theory of The Overnight Success. Early on in my career, I was often hired as a television producer on specials where I would be asked to tell the story of The Overnight Success. Closer inspection taught me that while the concept makes for great storytelling, it is not entirely true. And I believe the effects can be harmful to a generation who consider themselves failures if they have not made a million dollars by the age of 30.

While combing through interview after interview I began to realize that the stories of greatly successful Hollywood careers typically began with an inordinate amount of frustration, a formidable amount of hard work and commitment, [no surprise] but most important, a great deal of rejection. Something we talk too little about but that should not be shied away from.

My research resulted in a theory: There is no such thing as an overnight success and most are ten years in the making.

I interviewed cast members Shailene Woodley, Octavia Spencer, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Theo James on the subject, reasoning that far too often we in the press tell stories that are not realistic. In so doing so, we paint a picture of a model that becomes impossible to follow. The result is any individual walking the path toward their own success, may find themselves facing normal obstacles, and yet assuming they are off course based on the idea that no one else had to go through this. No other path seems like the one they are on. Not so… below is a bit of what these Insurgent cast members had to endure on their roads to success.

My hope is that you enjoy these interviews and take a little bit home to apply to your own dreams.

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Octavia Spencer and ‘Insurgent’ Cast Prove There’s No Such Thing as an Overnight Success!