Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Sims, Jr.
Matthew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started prematurely on November 1982, in Hammond, LA. Being born to a pastor and teacher, I grew up in a strict and religious household. My parents always pushed me to strive for the highest. I sang in church, played my saxophone and was a member of any team available. Drill team, dance team, the acting team to name a few. These skills, which we all thought were only hobbies because no one could get paid for them, were silently aligning me with my purpose. I graduated high school and wanted to go to college and major in Acting or Music. This was frowned upon by my family, so I chose something more practical. I majored in Secondary Education with a concentration in Mathematics and pursued a career in Education. After teaching Math six years, I knew there was more to life for me and I needed to jump out of my comfort zone to pursue my purpose-entertainment. I auditioned and was accepted into the American Musical and Dramatics Academy-LA in the conservatory 2-year program. I finally felt like I was in the right place. Fighting through much adversity and many challenges, I left AMDA with the tools to be successful in Musical Theater. I immediately started performing in shows like Hairspray, Memphis and became a cruise ship performer for two years with Carnival Cruise Lines.
After seeing so much of the world, and so much diversity my dreams and desires began to soar. Once again I jumped out of the lap of comfort and pursued a career on land. I went back to LA and began working as many jobs as I could and still have time to audition. Whoa… what a challenge! There are so many great talents! Is there room for me? There are so many naysayers; there is so much doubt; did I make the right choice? Yes, I did! I learned that you only desire more when you’re capable of more. After a year of being the “starving artist”, I booked a job with Motown the Musical National Tour. I was booked as a swing that covered 6 of the ensemble guys and that was no easy task, but I love a challenge. After nine months, the tour ended and my next goal was to spread my wings in NY! I arrived in NY August 2017 and the cliche “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” is no lie. I wanted to leave every single day. Sometimes, I worked months at a time before having a day off and I still struggled to meet financial obligations. I was losing hope, desire, self-worth and motivation. I was auditioning for every show I could be seen for and no one was giving me my yes. Waiting tables, tutoring students in math, selling costume jewelry, working a photo booth and at a hotel were all draining me and my passion was becoming a pain. I QUIT!
For a whole six months, I wouldn’t set foot in an audition. I began to get bitter, and on top of that, I had knee surgery and was unable to dance. What was life telling me? What was I believing? Post-surgery, I had a lot of time to think and a lot of time to be encouraged by those closest to me. Friends, counselors, and coaches helped to reignite my faith and drive. My parents continuously, called, visited (even though they’re thousands of miles away, cared for me when sick, kept me encouraged and always said “just keep waiting in line, your turn will come. They are my biggest supporters and LOVE that I decided to follow my dreams. I began to find value in me, without being on a playbill, without having a check coming in, without health insurance. ME. I am worthy. I began working on my heart and ridding myself of bitterness toward the industry and those more successful than me. I started to work out again and sharpen my skills by taking dance class and voice lessons, and I even started planning my own show. I was taking back my power. After two years of no steady acting job, I finally received a yes. As of today, I have been on tour with The Book of Mormon for about a month and I must say I am loving every single minute of it.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to being a working actor/singer/dancer has been everything but smooth. I have struggled with and endured everything from being told by my agent I’m not enough, missing close family members’ funerals for auditions, tearing my meniscus twice and not being able to work for months, singing with laryngitis, to even working several jobs at a time just to not be homeless. Out of all that I have endured, I must say the most difficult challenge I’ve had to deal with is ME. As an artist, it’s easy to equate your self worth with your “success.” As long as you’re signing playbills, taking selfies with people, receiving a paycheck and adding credits to your resume you can feel on top of the world. The moment that all changes, it can impact your self-esteem. I went for two years without a job in entertainment. As those around me started to become more successful, I began to feel less successful. My cup of rejection ran over and I would constantly question where I should be in life because this obviously wasn’t it. I began to question everything. Had my other victories only been luck? Does God still love me? Is there even a God? What’s wrong with me? There were numerous self-degrading questions that ran through my mind a mile a minute, and I was starting to find comfort in asking them and answering them myself out of hurt.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I am a business. I am my own business. I am Matthew Sims, Jr and I am an actor/singer/dancer. I have been a full-time actor since 2013. I have done commercials and musicals such as: Hairspray (3D Theatricals), Memphis (Musical Theater West), Motown the Musical National Tour and currently The Book of Mormon National Tour. I am most proud of the desire I have to encourage and inspire others. I am now a man that was once a country boy that started with very humble beginnings. I look at my journey and say to you “if I can do it, surely you can too.” I also have my own jewelry business called Treasures By Matt. I sell very affordable costume jewelry, and you can too. Peruse my website and find out how, or shop around.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One particular scenario comes to mind as I write this. I was in LA and had finally scored an agent. I thought, WOW this is just what I needed to propel my career. I always searched the web for auditions and every time I found something I thought I was right for, I’d tell my agent. My agent would usually reply with ” You’re not right for this. They’re not going to cast you.” Wow, I thought my agent was a person that believed in me. I saw an audition posting for Motown the Musical one day and just knew this was it. I alerted my agent of the audition and he said what he’d normally say along with “I’ve submitted several people and they have declined all of them, you’re not what they’re looking for.” Oh no, I couldn’t believe this, so I took matters into my own hands. I found out who was casting the show, thanks to Google, then I found email addresses. I stayed up all night and had a dear friend help me with a self-tape. I was determined to be seen for this show. I finished my self-tape around 2 am and submitted it to the email addresses that I found. The next morning when I woke up, there was an email requesting me to come to NY to dance for casting. I scraped up all I had saved and booked a flight to NY, risking it all and guess what? I got the job! I never informed my EX agent of the job, but I did end our relationship.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.treasuresbymatt.com
- Phone: 3238738522
- Email: matthewsimsjr@gmail.com
- Instagram: matthewsimsjr
- Facebook: facebook.com/msimsjr
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