Mental Toughness: How Natasha Ward Went From Star Athlete To Actress on Tyler Perry's The OvaL
“When we realize that we already have everything we need, that you were born with every single ounce of your inherent worth, with all the tools you’ll ever need to accomplish everything that was written in your story, to come from that place is much more empowering and efficient.”
Growing up the only girl out of five boys, Natasha has always been a self proclaimed tomboy. Drawn to sports at a young age, track and basketball were her things, even receiving a scholarship to run track and attending the junior olympics. It wasn’t until her senior year where a simple request to be her friends model for his last school project lead her to submit photos to a modeling agency. From there she was signed and a few months later landed a worldwide Nike campaign, and the rest as they say is history.
The prospect of pursing acting never really came up until her now manager saw a photo of her. Four years later, a lot of hard work, and plenty of auditions Natasha now plays Ellie in Tyler Perry’s The Oval. A role she plays beautifully but as you will find out wasn’t so easily to get.
Natasha sat down with us to discuss her journey through the entertainment industry, tips to combat self-doubt, and what she does to remain grounded.
YOU’VE SAID THAT THERE IS LESS PRESSURE IN ACTING AS THERE IS IN MODELING, HOW SO?
You know it’s funny, being a model is so much about your look. You are the tool, the canvas and as you become more successful you receive praise from campaigns, clients, based on your book ability, and marketability. The way we internalize that subconsciously is, “well the more perfect I become, the more successful I’ll become, the more people will like me.” So it can build this very unhealthy subconscious, performance orientated psychology. Where as an athlete, it’s a competition based on my work and skill. My inherent value wasn’t tied to my output. I was on a team and I was challenging myself and growing but with modeling the industry is really built around selling people things based on their insecurities. You want to be me that’s what it’s all about. In this photo you need to have this bag or this product. If you have what I have you would look as happy and healthy as I do, that’s branding 101. So to be the subject of that you’re not immune to it, you’re still taking in the rhetoric. For me, I actually developed an eating disorder and a lot of body image issues. Once I became a model and the more successful I became it just continued to get worse because it was like, “Okay, now I’m on top in order to stay on top I have to stay perfect.” So when I transitioned into acting you can’t just be pretty you have to also be talented. I knew I was talented, I knew that I could learn stuff. With acting it was like I can have fun, play and be myself, be in the moment without this subconscious voice in my head saying don’t do this, don’t do that, because you need to look or be a certain way. Acting really opened the door to this freedom of imperfection.
HOW DID YOUR ATHLETIC CAREER PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT YOU’RE DOING NOW?
I think the number one thing is mental toughness. I was a jumper and sprinter, but as a jumper you are standing at the end of that runway by yourself while the sideline is filled with competitors watching to see how you’re going to perform, waiting to see if you’re going to beat them. That is a level of focus and mental toughness that I think is really hard to learn anywhere else in life. To feel the physical presence of whatever is intimidating you and be able to really block that out and focus on you and what you’re doing, and to let that energy feed you. As an athlete you know there is something in you, you know “I have more.” Whether that is playing a sport or starting a business or just wanting to be more focused on your goals you have to be that person inside of you telling yourself there is more inside of me, more to my life, more to my story, I am capable of more. Not in a way that says, “I’m not enough” but in a way that excites you to rise higher. In this industry it imperative to have that outlook and that self belief.
HOW DID YOU LAND THE ROLE OF ELLIE?
I like everyone else am an auditioning actor, 98% of the job is auditioning and 2% is booking it. The script came in during pilot season of last year and I prepared for it, did my audition, walked out and left it at that. I think I called my friend and was like, “yeah I give it a 7 out of 10” and then didn’t think about it anymore because that’s what we have to do as actors. You have to hold these things very loosely. Then I got a call from my manager that said they wanted to fly me in for a chemistry read with Ed Quinn, who was already casted as the lead of the show, for Tyler Perry and the rest of production. I was at the airport and my manager called and told me that they were thinking of offering the role to someone else but they still want me to come and that they were going to have me read for something else in the morning. So I was like, “awesome.” (laughing) I got new sides [script] the night before and you know it was difficult actually because this particular character was not one I would’ve necessarily said “yes” too had it been an original casting opportunity that came through. I didn’t really resonate with her as much and it wasn’t necessarily a story I wanted to tell. There was a lot of aspects to her that personally I felt the boundaries I’ve set for myself as an actor would be pushed a little bit. That was definitely a challenge and because of that when Ed and I were preparing to go in to read for Tyler I said, “hey I’m actually going to do this a little bit differently. I want to play her a little more sophisticated, smart, and savvy than she is written.” He thought was a great idea, we went in, did it for Tyler and I didn’t get the role.
This was probably one of the best rejections I’ve ever received because it was a role that for me and where I stand would not have been something I would’ve gone out for. So I was actually kind of relieved (laughing) because I was going to be forced to make the decision if that was a role I really wanted to play. I think a lot of actors would say, “Oh my god, any role is the role.” I have always taken the stance that you have to know who you are and what you’re willing to do before you ever go into the audition. So the moment that really came for Ellie was actually a couple months later I got a call that they had been trying to fill this part but it hadn’t worked out so they actually wanted to offer me the role of Ellie. I didn’t have to audition but the reason for that was because of the way I had played the character I went in for. What I was told was the way I embodied that character and made it my own as me that, that is who they wanted for Ellie. I think that’s a testament to all of us, you have to go with your gut and you have to be yourself. One of the best pieces of advise an acting teacher gave me was, “Don’t say something just because it’s on the page.”
WHAT ARE THE COMMON MISCONCEPTION PEOPLE HAVE OF THIS INDUSTRY?
That you have to be willing to do anything. I think it’s in order to make it you have to be this struggling artist who eats, sleeps, breathes, and is obsessed. But I think the people who make it are the ones who are really grounded in who they are, in their value and in their worth as a human being. It’s really those people who make these transitions and are able to really step up to not just work here or there but really transcend and stand out. I think the misconception is that if you’re not a struggling artist who is willing to do anything then you’re not going make it and I think that is definitely not the case.
WHAT PIECE OF ADVISE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?
You have everything you need. It has taken me a very long time in going through the ebbs and flows of this industry to realize that everything I need isn’t outside of me. This industry tells you it’s about who you know, the rooms you’re in, your connections, and the followers that you have, all of this places your ability to obtain what you need outside of yourself. When we realize that we already have everything we need, that you were born with every single ounce of your inherent worth, with all the tools you’ll ever need to accomplish everything that was written in your story, to come from that place is much more empowering and efficient.
WHAT ARE 3 THINGS YOU DO TO COMBAT SELF-DOUBT?
1. Have a spiritual routine.
Self care is spirit care. It’s not going to Vegas, it’s not going to a club, it’s not getting a pedicure even. It goes back to that point if you’re reaching for external things you’re really missing the point. So I have a morning routine that I do not stray from. I make the first 10% of my day dedicated to my spirit care so that is prayer, meditation, and journaling. That is my number one because it re-solidifies my identity and who I am.
2. Have a group of people around you who can enforce who you actually are outside of the industry.
People who know you and who you let see you in all of your vulnerability and open up too. Those are going to be the people who are going to be able to remind you of who you are not being attached to what you do.
3. Self Talk
I write different things all over my mirror to remind myself about my value and who I am so that every time I see my reflection that word is being reflected back to me.
DESCRIBE YOUR SLAY.
Joy is how I slay. I say that because happiness is circumstantial, but joy is the under current that carries through the waters no matter how turbulent the surface. That’s dancing by myself in the mirror, singing at the top of my lungs in the car, and never losing my joy. Joy is what radiates, joy is what shifts the atmosphere in the room, and joy is what sets the tone for the rest of the day.
All photos by: Charles Grauke