Recent Posts
Entertainment May 20, 2020
He's Played Many Roles on the Big Screen, but What's His Real Story?
Image Courtesy of Instagram/@colinegglesfieldLast summer, ENTITY Academy mentees had the privilege of being some of the first to hear about Colin Egglesfield’s book, “Agile Artist”, from the actor and model himself!
Egglesfield, famous for the ABC soap “All My Children” and the movie “Something Borrowed” was a model for Calvin Klein, Armani, and others before beginning his now-nineteen-year career in Hollywood. His book details the many events that shaped his life, including witnessing 9/11 and battling cancer and the lessons he learned along the way.
ENTITY shares five take-aways from Colin Egglesfield’s book.
Egglesfield had passed almost all of the phases of auditions for Armani when, right before the final fitting, he received a phone call from his manager informing him that he had been cut from the show.
Heartbroken, he hoped his manager would give him comfort. But instead, Egglesfield’s manager told him he should show up to the fitting anyway!
“I’m the one who received the phone call, not you,” his manager said.
Sure enough, Egglesfield showed up to the fitting and no one said a word! He walked the Armani runway, and because of it, his entire modeling career took off.
What he learned from the experience?
“There’s always a way around a ‘no’.”
Egglesfield had just begun working on ABC’s “All My Children” when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery and began undergoing radiation treatment, but fearing being kicked off of the show, he did not share his medical predicament with anyone on set.
On a day when he was experiencing an excruciating amount of pain, his director approached him and asked what was going on. He finally admitted his diagnosis and shared what he was going through. The director was incredibly understanding, as were the producers who were also informed. Egglesfield realized that if only he had been upfront about his situation, everyone would have been supportive from the get-go! Through that experience, he learned that there is no shame in asking for help when you need it.
Egglesfield shared that for many years, he resented his father’s stubbornness and felt that he could have been a better parent. But once he was able to look past his father’s flaws and recognize that parents aren’t always perfect, he was able to build a more meaningful relationship with his dad.
Egglesfield believes that a lot of people’s resentment comes from being too emotionally involved in all of their conversations. He advises his audiences to learn to listen to other people’s opinions without immediately retaliating with an emotion-based response. He believes that this approach can not only unite family members, but also friends, co-workers and even people on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
That doesn’t mean you have to agree with everyone, of course. To Egglesfield, it’s about recognizing that people will naturally relate differently to any given issue.
“You can look at a situation from so many different perspectives,” he says.
Colin Egglesfield’s new book describes how he witnessed the attacks on September 11th, 2001 from his apartment across the street from the World Trade Center. He explains how the experience showed him the fragility of life and led him to question where he belonged and what path he was meant to take. He decided it was time to challenge himself and do something he had never had the courage to do prior.
It was time to move out to L.A.
But the L.A. life wasn’t easy, and he quickly found himself in a “funk.” His friend suggested that he visit a life coach, and while he was initially hesitant to open himself up to what the woman had to offer, it ended up being an experience that changed his life.
During one of his sessions, his life coach asked him to state his long-term goal.
“I want to work on a major motion picture with A-list actors,” he said.
But she wasn’t satisfied with that. She began to ask him “why?” Egglesfield says she must have asked him “why” at least 20 times. Finally, he arrived at his real goal.
“I want to contribute to society and have people appreciate my work.”
Now, Egglesfield recommends that his audiences do the same exercise in their own life. He says it helped him find meaning.
“Life isn’t going to be fair,” he says, “So you have to find out what will keep you going.”
One could say that Egglesfield had all the glitz and glamor possible – but still, he wasn’t feeling entirely fulfilled by living in Los Angeles. As much as he loved acting, he felt that living in L.A. sometimes restricted his creativity and stifled his interpersonal relationships.
So, he took yet another leap of faith and started a real estate company in the Chicago area, where he’s from.
Egglesfield feels that the Chicago community has embraced his ideas and given him a space to be creative. Still, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for his real estate company. He initially got involved with a business partner who turned out to be detrimental for the company. From that experience, he learned the importance of being very selective when choosing who to get involved in business with.
Colin Egglesfield’s book, “Agile Artist” affirms that his life has undoubtedly been a rollercoaster, but that he has walked out of every experience with grace, positivity, and inspiration to share with others. The ENTITY mentees gained a lot from listening to the lessons he had to share.
