A career like mine as an actor has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes you wonder if you're not wasting your time trying to carve out a space for yourself in this crazy entertainment industry.

Chris Carmack

Categorized in : Space Careers Crazy

I lived in a little shack in Santa Monica, and I was working on 'The O.C.' and when it started airing, I took my laundry down to the laundromat like I always had, and so many people along the two blocks I walked and in the laundromat stopped me and asked me for photographs.

down me santa people

I grew up in a neighborhood that was surrounded by farms. There was a horse farm behind me and dairy farms on either side.

farm behind me horse

I grew up playing the saxophone. I joined the jazz band in high school, but somewhere along the way I realized the guys who strummed acoustic guitars at parties were the ones who got the attention. So I asked a friend to show me a few chords, and when I moved to L.A. I spent a lot of time practicing my guitar.

me guitar time school

I think the 'Jaws' shark and the 'Shark Night' shark would fall i... by Chris Carmack

I think the 'Jaws' shark and the 'Shark Night' shark would fall in love and make sweet babies.

think sweet love night

I think a movie is a great date idea for younger couples. It takes the pressure off, since something else is entertaining you. It's also good for couples in a very comfortable relationship.

great good you relationship

I'm honestly kind of scared of horror films. My girlfriend always tries to expose them to me. Being in a scary movie and seeing all the fake blood and stuff definitely takes away from the magic and kind of humanizes scary movies to me now, though.

movies me fake magic

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I read in an interview with Lil Wayne that he recorded a mixtape of something like 50 straight minutes of him rapping all of his material because he felt like he could never move on to the next phase of his musical exploration if he didn't get it down on tape.

down something never sound

I have these songs that I've been playing for so many years. They're so intimate and close to me. And these are songs that probably a major label would not be interested in - some of them, anyway - interested in putting on a record.

playing some me years

I ran into Ben McKenzie a couple of times on the streets of L.A., and we hung out one time, and that's it.

out streets couple time

As actors, we're so used to the axe falling, and then we all go our separate ways. I can tell you, the feeling amongst the cast in 'Nashville' is, we don't feel like we're done. It feels like, in some way, we're just hitting our stride.

feel feeling you way

I've found it really hard to finish writing songs when you're writing on not just your schedule but somebody else's.

your you hard writing

It wasn't until I became involved with 'Nashville' that I thought I had opportunities to record my music in a way that I would want to put it out into the world.

thought music way world

I've always been a fan of Buddy Guy as a guitarist, as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan and those blues guys. I'd say those are pretty big influences on me.

blues say me always

I'm a fan of Otis Redding. I've sat around trying to copy some of his phrasing and learn from him, but it kinda falls short.

copy short some trying

What I've run into more than anything is people who have a belief that they know who you are. Type-casting happens because people actually write you off. 'You are in this box. That's all you are; that's everything you are.' It's a very de-humanizing experience.

know you experience people

I love how Hollywood still wants to perpetuate the myth that beaches in Southern California are warm at night.

how warm love night

I'm somebody who values anonymity - not just in terms of not wanting people to recognize me or wanting my privacy, but I value anonymity in conversation.

value me conversation people