If I Didn't Do These 3 Things This Success Wouldn't Have Happened - Trevor Newlin

if I have to move back to Texas. And then I wrote like a long I remember I was in my room one day and I just was typing away and I just typed this long paragraph. — Which came first, Wookie or Yeti? — Wookie. — Okay. — Wookie first. Yeah. So Wookie led to Yeti. That was So that was uh I you know I worked with Legacy Effects. Uh they got Tracy, who's one of the fabricators there, got my information. 3 years later Allan, one of the owners of Legacy, calls me. He said, "Hey, we've got this commercial. " This was funny enough, this is what's ironic about it. It was at Universal Studios, which is where uh I was doing, you know, horror nights. That was my for that was my big thing before that. And I get a phone call, hey, you know, we had this actor, he he was not able to do it last minute. Are you available tomorrow? And I was like, yes. So that night went to Legacy Effects. Um did a brought my live cast that I had done. Um they tried to fit it, wasn't really working out. So they were like, "How soon can you be here tomorrow morning? " I was like, "I can be here as early as you need me. " So I got get there. If you don't know what a life cast is, they put you in basically a bunch of uh fun stuff. It hardens and then they take it off and they got a mold of your face, right? They use that to sculpt on and things like that. Did that, did a fitting, went to the optometrist, got my scaler lenses, which are lenses that basically cover your full eyeball and pup uh your full pupil and the rest of your eyeball. What's the outside of your eyeball called? The corn is the inside, right? — Right. Oh, you know, — just your eyeball. I guess so. Yeah, just dry ball, you know. I'm not a scientist. Anyway, um yeah, to cover. So, first time ever wearing contacts. Did that came home for like 30 minutes, drove to set, shot on top of a skyscraper in downtown LA till 4 in the morning. — Uh I'm the main star of the commercial. 100 extras and a party scene. Uh director's there, everybody's looking at me, and I'm just like, "Okay, wow, this is" And that was my audition. And they shot that. Then we shot a whole international campaign that was for overseas. That did so well. They were like, "We're bringing the Yeti back. " I went to Argentina. And then that was when uh Legacy was like, "Cool. That you that was awesome. Um, we're going to put you up for Alien. " — Very cool. — So, yeah. So, Wookie Yeti. So, two very big furry creatures and then a very slimy non-furry creature. So Trevor, if I understand this, you get this big job for the Wookie — character — and then it's not until is it three years later, then you get this call and it's not just like, "Hey, we're considering you. " It's, "Hey, we need you here the next day. How early can you be here? " — Yeah. — What is that like? — A whirl a whirlwind. Okay. Because it was first it was I got the call, then it was, "Oh, can you send me whatever you have? " And at that time, I had basically nothing because I hadn't really done anything. So, I'm like, I'm sending my measurements. I'm sending pictures of myself and things like that. And then he gets back, he's like, "All right, client is considering you. " And I'm just, you know, looking at my phone. He's like, "Okay, client's good. Uh, can you come by tonight? " And I'm like, "I'm at Universal with my friends at this point. " I'm like, "Guys, I'm sorry. I got to leave. " So, I leave Universal. I had to go get a COVID test. Cuz this is back when CO was still going on. So, to get a COVID test to clear for the next day, it was a rapid test. And then I drove over to the shop. Then we did the whole process and then it was go home, call my parents first off, be like, "Guys, this is crazy. You never know what's going on. " And then next morning, go through that whole process. And then really there was no moment to breathe cuz I was I I was home and then right to set. And then it was one of those days where it's like I took had a day off and I'm like, "Oh, wow. Okay. " And then after that it was two more days on a location and it was just me just and that was it. The whole the rest of that commercial was just me. So it's director and then the Amazon executives are also there. — Oh wow. — Yeah. So execs are there which is always if you ever been on a set when the execs are there you know big things like it's it's nerve-wracking when it's just a director then the executives show up and they're like hm yes yes. It's like, okay, wow. Because this is their first like this is their Black Friday campaign for that year. Like this they're going to run it everywhere. And they ran it they put it on their website. It was on TV. Like I said, internationally they did a whole campaign. They did Tik Tok videos. Like it was insane. — And then it did well and they did another one which was amazing. And hopefully maybe one day it'll the Eddie will come back. I would love for the Eddie to come back. But it is really funny to see that after that super big, it was such a successful commercial, so many other brands, and my mom has made this comment, but so many other brands have now used Yetis in their commercials throughout the past couple years for whether it's the holiday season or whatever, but they've used Yetis. And then my mom's always like, "Oh, that's so interesting that they use Yetis and you did a Yeti. " I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, you know, I guess it did well. " But so yeah, it was definitely just like a whirlwind and it was one of those things where I really didn't have a chance to kind of take it all in and process it until it was done because it

was just so fast. And here I am now on on, you know, and also too the fact that, you know, the director was preparing to have this other guy that they originally had cast be there that next day. And now I'm meeting a brand new director first time. The executives are there. Like I said, everybody's watching me and they're like, "Can this guy, you know, is this guy going to be good? " And then Legacy is also like, you know, the only thing I've done for them is the Wookie. Um, and yeah, and then that happened. And give it a not too long after we shot that commercial. Uh, I got a call to come in for some photos and stuff and at Legacy and they were like, "We can't tell you what it is that we're, you know, trying to pitch you for, but we're going to try to get you on board with it. " I was like, "Cool. " And then maybe like two or 3 weeks later, I get a call and there it's one of those it's it was one of those crazy moments uh where they say you had like those moments that are like um your big break moments or whatever type of thing. And it was all the bosses of Legacy sitting in their conference room on like a conference call. Uh and they were like, uh, you know, Trevor, this is this might be one of those calls that changes things for you. Wow. And that's what they said to me. And then after that, they told me it was Alien and what I was going to be doing and — yeah. — And then it was like, yeah, we're going to go to Budapest for a couple months. You'll be there. Executive producer will be reaching out to you soon to like talk to you about all that and contract stuff. And I was like, — what? in between those three years. So there's Wookie and then there's Yeti. — How much were you doubting your career? — Well, that because that would have been when CO happened. Yeah, So I was already cuz I was just working the radio station at the time and I was doing background gigs here and there. Nothing like nothing on the Star Wars level or anything like that. I had one commercial that I did that I booked and I was very excited. I did a commercial for American Horror Stories. uh American Horror Story that uh was kind of like my first big commercial. We shot it at Warner Brothers on the back lot. But outside of that, yeah, there was that was kind of like my big thing. Uh and it was one of those things like oh man like I told you I I think I even still have it in my notes on my phone cuz I don't think I ever deleted it cuz I just wanted to keep it as a reminder. It was like I I said something about like um if I have to move back to Texas and then I wrote like a long I remember I was in my room one day and I just was typing away and I just typed this long paragraph about where uh you know where I was at mentally and and what potentially was going to go on. And I remember I called one of my really good friends, uh, Tria, who I went to school with, and we've always stayed super close, and we talked for a couple hours cuz she also kind of went through a similar type of situation uh, with kind of just figuring out like where she was at as an artist. And uh yeah, and then it was I think at that point I think the thing that kept me going was the fact that I was even though I was working just promotions at the radio station, I knew that I wanted to get into production and I was making steps to get into that side of things. And so I was excited about that. So I was like, okay, I'm not just stuck. I am making steps, but also where's it going to go type of thing. And then COVID happened and that changed the whole game which in reality. So yeah, because I lost my radio job. And then right after CO is when I got the Yeti cuz otherwise the only other thing I was doing was horror nights was Halloween Horror Nights over at Universal Studios. Um and I did that for three years. I did that 19, I did that 20 22 and then 23 I did it. Um, and that was the year I did it in 23 was right before the Yeti was about to come out, which was very exciting because I had shot the Yeti that summer before and then it came out for Black Friday that year. Um, but yeah, I definitely there was absolutely doubts and thoughts about like cuz I started looking at apartments like in Dallas or surrounding areas like, "Oh man, — wow, you actually went that far? " Yeah, because I was like in reality, if I'm not going to make any headway here, then why not, you know, why not try to go somewhere that's a little cheaper and pursue this, but be more I'm closer to family. Uh, which I know they would really like. And I would I mean, I don't I'm okay being away from family, but I know it's much more convenient than a plane ride than it is to just drive, you know, 2 hours down to go visit mom and dad or whatever. Um but yeah and I think I realized I was like I'm just going to I'm going to stick with it because I was making some progress in the radio world but then like I said co derailed all of that which it did a lot of people whatever they were doing and even in the industry haven't recovered from co still and then the strikes happened.

Uh but yeah, like I said again, I say I worked really hard and I absolutely did. But a part of it is luck and I did get lucky, but I did put the things in place that allowed me to get the opportunity to have that happen with that phone call that you know and also I said yes to that phone call because I could have been like, "Oh, sorry. I'm with my friends at Universal and um you know I I'm out here late and I'm going be I I've got something to like I could have but I no I you know I said yes. I took off work that next day. I called my boss. I emailed my boss instantly said hey I'm not going to be in. Thankfully it's a part-time job so they were okay with it. That was another thing too. That's a great actually that's a great one to think about. Um, go just as a segue back into or not a segue, but going back as a side when I got the Star Wars thing, the background gig. I remember I was at work that day. I got the email about it. It was like, "Hey, uh, can you come to this fitting? If you fit the character, you can do the role. " And I went to my boss. I was like, "Hey, I'm going to be out tomorrow. I'm so sorry. It's super late notice. I apologize. " And they thankfully let me go uh to the fitting. And then I found out it was Star Wars. And then they were like, "Oh, we're going to need you for 4 days. " And it was only 4 days, but still. I was like, "This is this Star Wars. That's crazy. " Um, and so I went back to my boss and I was like, "Hey, I'm going to be out, you know, 4 days. " And they were like, "Okay. " And then that did lead, and again, riskreward, right? But it did lead to right before CO happened, I had to go in for a conversation in my big boss's office and they were like, you know, you can't keep, you know, taking off like this. We might have to let you go. And I'm just like, well, I mean, I told you guys when I signed on like that potentially this could be a part. And if that's the case, then I mean, I'm going to have to I have to live with that. And I respect your decision. Like I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to be like, "Oh, why you know, how could you do such a thing? " But yeah, so I would say even after such a high and that's the thing about the industry, right? There's high highs, there's low lows, right? Um and it's very rare that you get a smooth ride all the way through. I mean, people look at my career now and think, oh, you know, you you're have you have an amazing smooth career. It's like kind of, but also there's been a lot of other stuff that's going on that, you know, doesn't get talked about or doesn't get known, right? Just because that's the part of being in the industry and living with those type of things. But yeah, there was definitely 100% a lot of doubt that and just um questioning about if I was going to stay here. Even when I graduated, I was like, I need to get a job. And so I was like, what's the closest thing I could get jobwise that would still be in my van? Because I didn't want to work. do fast food. I wanted to do something at least that was in the world of what I wanted to do. I was like, "Okay, well radio that I mean that's still in the world of what I of voice over, of being on air, of doing things like that. " And like promotions assistant, not exactly what I want to do, but I do get to talk to people every single day, which I love to do. So, um so yeah, I think all of that encapsulated the whole thing. But I'm very glad that I uh I stuck it out through everything and stay because I also know a lot of people too uh left during co um and a lot of them had no didn't have a choice. they had to leave just because they were international. But even some of my some of the people I went to school with left that were, you know, from the States left just because they were like, well, um, the industry's not doing anything and there wasn't anything really going on before for me. So, it's like, I guess I'll just, you know, move back home. And they never moved back. And of course, I I mean, I think everybody that was out here by themselves had those thoughts. I think that's absolutely a very realistic thing to say. Um, but I'm really glad that I stayed and I stuck it out and now we're here sitting and in and the school I graduated from. — Yeah. Where you did a scene — I know. — Years ago. — I know. Right there. I stood about where this uh where this sandbag is. Uh Yeah. That's crazy. — Very cool. — Yeah. — I love it. — Thank you for watching the video all the way to the end. Here is a complimentary question from our book story questions.