Gabrielle Bourne of ‘AIR’: The Discipline of Restraint That Turns a Single Day of Work Into a Career-Defining Role

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gabrielle Bourne.

Born in New Jersey and spending the first few years of her life in the US before moving overseas for her father’s job, Gabrielle had a taste of international life from a young age. When she was 3 years old, she and her family moved to Belgium and stayed for 4 years. In that time, Gabrielle became completely fluent in French and keeps up with the language even to this day. After 4 years in Belgium, Gabrielle’s family moved to London for the next 6 years. During that time, an acting teacher who also was an agent pushed her to start taking more acting classes and began auditioning for gigs. She would go on to land some commercials and started getting more interest in the entertainment industry.

When Gabrielle was 14, she and her family moved back to New Jersey and continued to attend acting classes in NYC on the weekends. Towards the end of her high school career, Gabrielle began auditioning for colleges she could pursue an acting major and ultimately chose USC, earning her BFA. Once graduating from college, Gabrielle continued to pursue her dream of becoming a leading lady in the entertainment industry and booked roles in series including TNT’s “Animal Kingdom,” FOX’s “Pitch,” THE HATRED, as well as Disney’s “I Didn’t Do It,” to name a few.

Most recently, Gabrielle co-stars alongside Matt Damon’s ‘Sonny Vaccaro’s’ right hand woman ‘Tiffany’ in AIR. What originally was supposed to be a shoot lasting a few days, quickly turned into almost a full month of filming after seeing her chemistry with the cast on set. AIR tells the incredible story ‘Sonny Vaccaro’ and Nike as they pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, and creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture.

Outside of acting, Gabrielle has also made a name for herself in the home renovation and DIY space. She broke into the DIY world after school when she was looking for work. What started as paint jobs and refurbishing furniture in her former home she was leasing with girlfriends at the time, quickly turned into a full-time job as she continued to pursue acting. Most recently, Gabrielle took on the massive project of redoing her and her husband, Olympic Beach Volleyball athlete Tri Bourne’s new home which has been well documented on her personal Instagram account.

When Gabrielle is not busy in front of the camera, or busting down walls in her latest DIY job she can be found spending time with her husband and their 3-year-old daughter in the Southern California area. Gabrielle also likes to travel with her husband during the volleyball season having been to South Africa, Croatia, Canada, and Switzerland to name a few.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

The most distinctive part of my childhood is that I moved around quite a bit. When I was born, my family (mom, dad, my two older twin sisters and I) lived in New Jersey and Connecticut for a few years. But then my parents were feeling adventurous and my dad took a job overseas, and because of that I was fortunate to have lived in Europe for my most formative years (Belgium from 4–8 and London from 8–14). Those memories are my absolute favorite. Growing up in London I think is the ultimate dream in terms of having independence as a kid. With public transportation you are free to go basically anywhere you like without having to depend on your parents for a ride. I have so many magical memories from that time and it’s also why I crave travel and culture so much to this day. A few months before I was supposed to start my freshman year of high school in London, my dad had to take a job back in the states. So we moved back to New Jersey after 10 years and it was a tough transition for me. After high school I applied to BFA acting programs. Besides the fact that California is where the majority of the film and TV industry is, my dad is from there and we’d go every summer to visit family so it always felt closest to “home”. I only got into one BFA program on the west coast, which happened to be USC. Only twenty-four students attended out of thousands of applicants, it was wild and mind blowing and incredibly exciting. And that’s how I made my way to Southern California to pursue acting.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I was in school at the American School in London, and everyone in 5th and 6th grade takes drama as part of the curriculum for two years. And I just fell madly in love with it. I was cast in the high school play when I was 12 because they needed a younger kid, and I had so much fun. Then I started taking acting classes outside of school on the weekends and my acting teacher happened to be an agent, so she started sending me out on auditions. And I fell in love with storytelling. I’ve always found it fascinating how we are all put on this planet in a completely different set of circumstances. All made from the same thing, but experiencing vastly different lives. I think it was maybe growing up in very different places amongst all different kinds of people, that made me really interested in getting the opportunity to live in and share other people’s experiences, which is my favorite part about acting.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I have so many crazy stories since I’ve been on this wild ride on this career path. Most recently working on the movie ‘Air’ I’d say finding out the night before filming when I got the call sheet that I’d be working opposite Jason Bateman is pretty high up there on the list. He’s one of the best possible scene partners you could ask for, so it was a pretty cool moment in terms of career highlights — as if going to set to be directed by Ben Affleck wasn’t enough. I’ve had the experience where I’m showing up to set working in mostly every scene every day for a month straight, and I’ve also had the experience where I’m showing up to set for one day with one scene, and in my opinion the latter is so much harder. There’s only so much time to settle into your groove and make an impression, which is the last thing you should be thinking about, so it takes so much more self-control to keep those thoughts out and stay present. Jason was so gracious and went out of his way after to come up to me and acknowledge that. Telling me how impressed he was with the restraint it took to not try to prove anything and just do good work. It meant a lot and I hope I’m in the position one day to make another actor feel that supported. What was supposed to be one day of work turned into three weeks on set with these amazing people and I couldn’t be more grateful for the whole experience.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was first starting out after college, I remember getting all this advice about how to go about your career as an actor. A lot of the time it was about finding a job where you could have your days free so that you’re available to audition at a moment’s notice. I did what most actors do and got a bartending job working nights. I remember periods of weeks or months that would go by without a single audition and going crazy wondering what to do with my time during the day. I laugh looking back at my yoga schedule then, because knowing what I know about myself now, there are infinite things that I’m trying to find time for these days. And there isn’t enough time in the day for three quarters of it. I think the most important thing I learned from that shift is that it’s not sustainable to be waiting around for something to happen in your career, life is happening right now, and it doesn’t matter how other people do it, what matters is what feels right for you.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

On the acting front, Air will be in theaters April 5th. I’m so proud to be amongst such an incredible group of talent. On the writing / producing front, I’m working on a pilot called Mack of all Trades, about a handywoman and finish carpenter as she navigates society’s expectations of her in a predominantly male trade. Think Netflix’s ‘Love’ and Hulu’s ‘Dave’, it’s a comedy series inspired by my personal experiences as a female builder / handywoman. On the DIY front, my next project is doing an exterior stone veneer, which I’ve never done before! So, I’m super excited about that.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

The best advice I’ve ever received is from my mentor and acting coach Keith Bogart. And that is to not wait until you have success in your career to have a happy and fulfilled life. I think especially when you are starting out, there can be this feeling of, I’ll be happy when _____. And the truth is no amount of success will bring you happiness if you are not happy or working towards happiness in your life at this moment. This career path in particular can be incredibly frustrating. It’s filled with so many ‘almosts’ and no matter how much you accomplish there’s always going to be more that you want from it. So, I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on my family, and have been lucky enough to diversify my passions so I can focus on other things that fulfill me and bring me joy outside of acting as well, all with the long term goal of being a consistently working actor.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

The main reason we create film and TV in the first place aside from entertainment value is to connect with each other. To me it’s about having compassion and understanding for each other and what we are each individually going through. Without diversity in the entertainment industry this isn’t possible. We need to be able to see every story and every culture represented on screen so that every human being can be understood, getting us closer to a world in which everyone is seen, heard, and loved.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Be sure of yourself and have confidence. I think I was under the impression that I had to fit a certain mold and do things a certain way, and I wish I would’ve had the confidence to quiet that voice and just be unapologetically me. It took until my 30s to figure that out.

I wish someone had told me to start writing sooner. You need to be creating your own material in this business. There’s no better feeling than taking your career into your own hands.

Remember names and write them down. Put time into developing relationships early on.

I wish someone had told me that agents and casting directors aren’t the gatekeepers to your career. While they are important, they are not the end all be all to getting work, and there are other more productive things to focus on.

Don’t be in a rush to get to where you want to go. It will come. I feel like I spent so long in a state of frustration that I wasn’t as successful as I wanted, and that things were taking longer than expected, and it took me out of living. This is our life, and you only get to be here and now in this very moment before it’s gone. Don’t let it pass by always wanting the next thing.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

I think it’s super helpful to have other creative outlets and things that make you happy. It’s so hard as an actor to continue to train and work your booty off without getting the satisfaction of a finished product enough in the beginning. I always joke with my athlete husband that my job sometimes feels like if he were to be in preseason training the majority of the time and rarely get to actually compete. It’s helpful to have things that bring you a feeling of accomplishment like acting may not have all the time. For me that has been building and DIY. I get the satisfaction of a before and after that can be completed 100% on my own without relying on other people, and it’s fulfilled that void that acting doesn’t always bring when you’re towards the beginning of your career.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’m really loving the movement that’s taking off right now of people on social media handing out money or offering experiences to strangers on the street who are kind and good hearted. I’d love to be a part of more of that. It’s so beautiful to watch people change the lives of people who need it the most and are helping others regardless of their difficult circumstances.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My parents are not at all in the arts world. But from the very beginning when I first showed interest in acting to now they have supported me one hundred and fifty percent the entire way. Growing up my mom used to pick me up from school and drive me to auditions in the city an hour away. They’d drive me to acting class in New York every Saturday before I could drive myself. When I told them I wanted to be an acting major in college there was never any pushback or fear, and they never once tried to tell me I needed a “backup plan” like any sane parent who worries about their child would do. I think it’s so rare to have trust in your kids when they are going after a dream that is so big. They have trusted me and supported me in my decisions the whole way, through all the good years and the bad ones, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without that endless support.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge”. For a long time I felt very much in a rush to get to where I was going: To success; To working consistently. I’ve realized that unlike an athlete, there is no ‘prime’ for an actor. If we continue to study and work hard to grow, we can continue to get better and better until we are a hundred years old. Women like Viola Davis and Jessica Chastain are proving that we don’t need to be in a rush. I always laugh when people put a time limit on this job, or decide ahead of time how many years they will give it before they move on to their backup plan. This business takes time, to develop relationships, to grow as a human, and it requires so much patience. So I’ve really been working these last few years on being okay with that. I’m here for the long haul.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

One of my all-time favorite actors to watch is Kathryn Hahn. I actually went up to her after a SAG screening one time to tell her this. There are very few people that cause me to lose my cool but she is one of them and I have no idea what was said but it wasn’t smooth. I need a redo. She also seems like a fun person to brunch with.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!