- You could like be a pelican in like the Metaverse
and like just be a pelican.
Hi everyone, I'm Lana Condor and I am here with Seventeen
to take a look back at my career, this is "Then Vs. Now."
I have been professionally acting
since I was 18 years old and I am now gonna share with you
how my career has changed. (laughs)
I wasn't ever really nervous auditioning.
I auditioned like it was my job.
I was doing a lot of acting classes
and like audition technique classes
so I was able to practice kind of
that muscle of auditioning a lot
so I was never really nervous,
but now, actually, I am-
I do get nervous when I audition now
and I think maybe it's because, you know,
I'm not in all those classes that I used to take
when I was like 17.
Then it took me a while.
I would have to be pretty dedicated
for like a month in advance in memorizing.
Now, again, learning lines is a muscle, it's like-
It's a muscle, the more you use it, the better you become
and so now, I don't really have a problem memorizing lines.
My process for memorizing lines is I write them out
and then I read them and then I go to bed
and in my head, I feel like while I'm in bed,
like they're all the words are like simmering in my head
and then I wake up and the first thing I do
when I wake up is look at my lines again,
read them out loud, and then I go to work.
I feel like
on "X-Men" I played Jubilee
and that was probably one of my favorite costumes,
mainly because Jubilee in the comics has
like this very iconic yellow jacket
and so once, you know, fittings were over and we've settled
on that iconic yellow jacket,
I just felt like a lot of purpose
and a lot of like gratitude when I got to wear that costume
because that specific jacket is beloved
by a lot of the Marvel fans
so that was one that I loved then
and one that I love now-
Well, actually, in "Boo, Bitch," our new show,
we developed these super high platform heels
that were see through and we took the heels off
and we got a bunch of Barbies
and we ripped the Barbie's heads off
and stuffed them in the platform
and so this is like during her bad (bleep) era
so like the idea was it's basically like she's walking
on the heads of her enemies,
which were just like torn Barbies,
but we made these shoes and they were so cool
and so gnarly and had such a point of view
and so that's probably one of my favorite pieces from now.
Then, it was honest to God like whoever wants
to hire me please just give me a job
like I don't wanna be unemployed for the rest of my life.
So that was then and now it's definitely changed
and has become like,
"Will this character that I play make people feel seen
and less alone?
Will they be able to feel represented in this character?"
Is this character-
A lot of the roles that I've been choosing, you know,
recently have been like way out of my comfort zone
and that's because I want to have a lot of tools
in my acting tool belt.
I still get so excited, I mean, there are roles
that I stay awake all night long hoping that I get
and praying and manifesting
and when I want something, I want it so bad,
I mean, if I am so blessed to get it,
I am just as excited that has never changed
and I think that's important
and I still get nervous like right before rolling
I'll get nervous, you know?
Or like I get nervous before a scene
and my dad always says like,
"Nerves show that you care
and when you no longer get nervous,
you might not care anymore."
You know, I think my acting inspiration then
and now have kind of always been the same almost, you know,
I really admire Emily Blunt, Reese Witherspoon,
Sandra Oh, and Awkwafina, like I really admire all four
of their careers and a lot of that is, for example,
like with Reese Witherspoon, she has-
She started in, you know, kind of why a,
kind of romcom vibe, and then she's been able
to grow the most incredible career
and similar to Emily and to, you know,
Sandra and to Awkwafina, they've been able
to kind of do every genre and do it successfully.
I'd love to look back at my career
whenever I decide to retire and be like,
"Wow, I've been able to do many genres,"
I think that's the ultimate blessing and goal.
My dream co-star then was probably like Zac Efron.
Like I loved him so much, but yeah,
he was like my dream just because I loved him
and I was in love with him
and now my dream co-star, oh my God, Melissa McCarthy.
I think that she's brilliant
and I think that everything she does is amazing
and hilarious and I would love to just be
in a room with her and learn from her especially
on the comedy side, you know, I would love that,
and also like selfishly my mom is like her biggest fan
and like my mom would wanna come to set
and like meet her. (laughs)
Well, I think the advice is the same.
I think then I would say,
"Just keep going, like don't give up, don't give up."
The moment you decide to pack up and go home,
that's when-
That's a no-no.
So don't give up and the advice
I would give myself now is don't give up.
I think it's the same, I think my dad always says-
He has this catch phrase where he always says,
"Greatness is coming,"
and I really live by that
because it makes me optimistic for the day
and it makes me excited to wake up
and see what the day has in store for me
and not to give up professionally, personally, you know,
in every way.
I mean then I don't think there was social media then.
Then there was Myspace,
but I was not a part of my-
My parents were pretty strict.
Like, you know what I was a-
Okay, oh, here's my favorite social media, My Pet Pelican.
It was like you could be a-
You could like be a pelican in like the Metaverse
and like just be a pelican.
Yeah, so My Pet Pelican was my favorite then
and now it's probably Instagram or Twitter.
I mean, I read a lot of MyNews on Twitter
for good or for bad.
My biggest goal then was to become a working actress
and my new goal now is to still be working actress
and to be happy.
Yeah, I think that's-
As you get older, as you get older, I'm not that old,
but like I think you really value your peace
and your health and your happiness over a lot of things.