"It is important to make your own stuff. Even if you are not an actor, it is important to not stop involving yourself as a creative person"
About this Quote
Ajay Naidu speaks to agency. Make your own stuff is a refusal to wait for gatekeepers to hand out opportunities, and a reminder that creativity is a practice, not a job title. The second sentence sharpens the point: even if you are not an actor, or not currently employed in the arts, you can continue to involve yourself as a creative person. Creativity is not a credential; it is a habit of attention, experimentation, and risk.
The entertainment industry makes that distinction stark. An actor who waits only for auditions lives at the mercy of casting calls, trends, and typecasting. Naidu, known for Office Space and a long career in independent film and theater, has navigated those constraints by writing, directing, and moving between mediums, including his feature Ashes. That path illustrates the freedom that comes when artists originate their own material. You grow new skills, build communities, and tell stories no one is commissioning but many people need.
There is also a wider democratic edge. Phones are cameras, laptops are studios, and distribution is a link away. Making your own work is not just pragmatic; it is ethical. It keeps the creative muscle warm, resists cynicism, and widens the range of voices in public culture. For artists of color, like Naidu, who have often been offered narrow roles, self-generation becomes a way to expand representation and complicate the narratives on screen and stage.
The advice reaches beyond the arts. Any field can calcify into passive consumption and credential-chasing. Involving yourself as a creative person might mean designing a community project, coding a small tool, composing a piece of music, or journaling daily. The scale is less important than the continuity. Make something, share it, learn, and make again. Momentum compounds. Identity follows action. And over time, the distinction between being creative and being a creative person disappears, because the work itself has answered the question.
The entertainment industry makes that distinction stark. An actor who waits only for auditions lives at the mercy of casting calls, trends, and typecasting. Naidu, known for Office Space and a long career in independent film and theater, has navigated those constraints by writing, directing, and moving between mediums, including his feature Ashes. That path illustrates the freedom that comes when artists originate their own material. You grow new skills, build communities, and tell stories no one is commissioning but many people need.
There is also a wider democratic edge. Phones are cameras, laptops are studios, and distribution is a link away. Making your own work is not just pragmatic; it is ethical. It keeps the creative muscle warm, resists cynicism, and widens the range of voices in public culture. For artists of color, like Naidu, who have often been offered narrow roles, self-generation becomes a way to expand representation and complicate the narratives on screen and stage.
The advice reaches beyond the arts. Any field can calcify into passive consumption and credential-chasing. Involving yourself as a creative person might mean designing a community project, coding a small tool, composing a piece of music, or journaling daily. The scale is less important than the continuity. Make something, share it, learn, and make again. Momentum compounds. Identity follows action. And over time, the distinction between being creative and being a creative person disappears, because the work itself has answered the question.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
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