Bryan Buffinton Professional member

Bio

http://imdb.com/name/nm0119380 ....... I've been away from acting professionally for quite some time. After college, I began to focus on my songwriting when there was a lull in auditioning. I've always been itching to work again, and a friend pointed me to this site so I thought I would give it a go. I grew up just outside NYC and spent 9 years on the daytime soap Guiding Light. It was an interesting dynamic because I literally grew up on the show (started when I was 9 and left when I was 18), so I had a lot of older people around me fulfilling different roles (no pun intended). That experience largely affected who I am today, and mostly in a good way I think. The only real negative was the struggle to maintain normalcy as a kid, because one part of my life was moderate celebrity and the other was just trying to get through grade school and high school like everyone else. When you are a kid and you have any public attention whatsoever, even towards the lower end of the totem pole as a daytime actor, it fucks with your head. I'm sure it was much the same for superstar high school athletes who never got to play in college. I didn't like getting recognized, and I was shy, but once that attention faded away when I left the show and blended into college life, it was strange. I never felt accepted or wanted as a result of being on the show, but did feel like a failure and unwanted when the attention subsided. I cannot imagine what some other actors have gone through that had much higher profiles. It's a serious mind-fuck and I don't care who you are, it affects you. It's also difficult from an employment standpoint, because I just always assumed I would be acting for a living. It's been difficult adjusting, but once you start looking at life from the right angle, your perspective corrects itself.

I'm currently in Tampa, which I love, but it's no NYC or LA when it comes to acting opportunities. Crazy is good. You have to be to do this.