Surviving intense competition: The approach that helped Liam Hemsworth stay afloat

After the success of The Hunger Games franchise, Liam Hemsworth has finally sealed his place in Hollywood. As with any kind of success, Liam’s star did not rise without suffering a fair amount of hustle and some nasty setbacks before he was in his twenties. Chris Hemsworth breaking out of the shadow of a more famous brother was tough enough, but being famous primarily as Miley Cyrus’ boyfriend instead of spending five years building credibility for his acting projects only added more to his struggle.

Now single with a steady stream of work to do, Liam is content and grateful enough to embrace his roller coaster ride of the past six years in Hollywood.

Faith takes you to places few can dream of

Not many teenagers have the clarity of what to do they want to do for the rest of their lives, but having older brothers as role models seemed to have helped Liam a lot in finding a strong sense of self. At 17, Liam dropped out of high school to work full-time. He followed older brother Luke to the daily Australian soap. Neighbors and as an employee of Luke’s successful flooring business, he began laying floors between auditions.

When Chris left for Hollywood, Liam began forwarding his videotaped auditions to Chris’ manager to submit on his behalf, though it seemed pretty far-fetched to get anyone’s attention. Unexpectedly, he received a call from Sylvester Stallone, who liked one of his tapes so much that he was considered for a role in The Expendables .

Stay grounded and empower your talent with a strong work ethic

Liam got his first reality check when hopes of a Hollywood debut starring the industry’s best action stars quickly turned to dust. The production house changed the script to eliminate his cameo listing.

Then he tried Thor . The Marvel execs liked him enough to fly him to Los Angeles for a screen test while older brother Chris was already being shortlisted. Things were looking so encouraging that Liam thought his big break had arrived until Chris was re-auditioned at the last moment and the studio decided to go for the more experienced older brother to play Thor.

While he was happy for Chris, Liam was extremely disappointed at the idea of ​​a three-month US vacation visa that meant nothing. With just two weeks to go home, he auditioned for The Last Song , a Disney project primarily aimed at introducing Miley Cyrus. Although Liam was barely close to the kind of projects he set out to do, it was enough to get his journey started.

Meanwhile, he continued to follow the advice of his older brothers. They often read lines together and asked Liam to be well prepared before auditioning for a role. He eventually learned to stand out from the crowd by developing thorough professional demeanor that paid off. Not long after, Liam landed roles in action thrillers like Empire State and Paranoia , managing to escape a long line of rejections many actors face early in their careers.

Actively practice gratitude to stay on top of an overactive, messy head

Struggling to make it alone in a foreign countryIt’s not easy. Fearing the intense paparazzi scrutiny of his relationship with Miley and worrying about committing to his work, Liam often lost confidence.

There’s no bigger buzz in life than low self-esteem. In an interview on Men’s Fitness , Liam confessed that there was a time he was too over-analyzing every part of his life. Not only did it separate him from his family and friends, but it also caused him to lose the ability to appreciate whatever went in his favor.

In an industry where fame and money are often made by losing sight of what’s important, an inability to stay in the present moment is enough to stall your progress. After making meditation a regular part of his routine and developing greater acceptance of his life, Liam has honed his emotional strength to recover from setbacks that are beyond his control.