The Creative's Couch
Weekly podcast to inspire creative people to take action to achieve their dreams.
The Creative's Couch
Embracing Vulnerability: Paul Bullion on Acting, Mental Health, and Finding Balance
What if embracing vulnerability could be the key to unlocking your full potential? Join Gemma on the The Creative's Couch as she welcomes the exceptional Paul Bullion, celebrated for his roles in Peaky Blinders and The Witcher. Paul shares his gripping journey from local theatre productions to drama school and his breakthrough in film and television. He also offers a behind-the-scenes look into his latest venture, a William Tell film, where he takes on the complex role of a villain. Learn how Paul balances the emotional intensity of acting with his passion for triathlons, underscoring the importance of physical outlets for mental well-being.
In a candid conversation, we tackle the emotional hurdles faced by men in society and the acting industry. Society often tells men to repress their feelings, but Paul opens up about the necessity of emotional honesty and vulnerability. We discuss the pressures of social media, financial instability, and the unrealistic expectations placed on actors. Paul also highlights how side projects can offer a much-needed financial and mental buffer, and he shares his thoughts on the mixed impact of self-tape auditions on an actor's mental health.
Lastly, we dive into practical advice for those transitioning from theatre to screen acting. Paul emphasizes the need for availability, flexibility, and adapting your craft for the camera. He shares invaluable tips like volunteering for student films to gain experience and stresses the importance of confidence and kindness in the industry. Wrapping up, Paul reflects on his role as a CALM ambassador, discussing the profound impact of contributing to mental health awareness and the joy of meaningful interactions with fans. Don't miss this inspiring episode packed with wisdom and practical advice for aspiring actors and mental health advocates alike.
Welcome to he Creatr's Couch with me, gemma Naylor. Today's guest is one of the UK's finest actors. He's performed in live theatre productions at some of the most prestigious venues in the UK, including the National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe. He's best known for his portrayal of Billy Kitchen in Peaky Blinders and Lambert in the Witcher. It is the incredible Paul Bullion. Paul, thank you for joining me on the Creators Couch.
Paul Bullion:It's a pleasure. Thank you for that very generous, kind introduction.
Gemma Naylor:So what made you want to be an actor?
Paul Bullion:I think I've always enjoyed telling stories and as a kid I was always getting involved with local productions and the little small steps you take as you get older. You know taking drama as a GCSE and then I went and studied at college and then drama school I actively pursued things I enjoyed and then the next step was to make a career out of it. Um, so I never really just took a giant leap. It was little steps and then I find myself in a situation where I'm kind of living my younger self's dream, really so, but what's coming up next for you?
Paul Bullion:um, so I finished um production on a film the end of last year. Yeah, about William Tell. We're filming in Italy. So for those that um don't know, William Tell is the gentleman that was made to shoot the apple off of his son's head, and I was playing one of the villains in that. So that was great fun.
Gemma Naylor:So how does it feel? Obviously, it's an industry full of highs and lows when you're on set and you're filming and that's your day to day life. How does it feel to then suddenly adjusting to maybe a quieter period? Do you think that's something that actors battle with?
Paul Bullion:yeah, I think that, especially early on in their careers, they really um I think I could speak for myself. You take a lot of things quite personally, um, uh, when, when auditions don't go your way or you're not getting auditions, um, and it really is feast or famine in this industry, as, as you know, um, so when I was younger, and it's taken me many years to kind of come to the conclusion that you, you have to have an outlet outside of the industry. You can't take your value from the industry at all because it leads to poor mental health. Um, and I think that's how I got into triathlon and and raising funds for causes to give myself a purpose, when, when you know your phone isn't ringing and so you stop waiting for the phone to ring, um, so you're not as anxious when it does and you don't put.
Gemma Naylor:You know you still put a lot of effort into your career, but you don't put your whole happiness and your life into it I think that's really sound advice, because I think you do see a lot of, like you say, especially young performers who come out of drama school and, let's not lie about it, it does take complete commitment and dedication to make a success of it in this industry yeah but at the same time, you've got to be really careful to not take all your validation from it, otherwise it's a very dangerous place.
Paul Bullion:Yeah, you have to you have to look after yourself, because you can't take your validation from external factors. Um, and other people's opinion? Yeah, because essentially that's what the industry is. Yeah, it's other people's opinions, it's directors opinions, casting directors opinions. And then you start putting them up there and saying, well, their opinion matters more than mine and you, you lose sight of yourself, which is uh which is not a great thing but do you think actually getting into triathlons makes you more interesting to casting directors?
Gemma Naylor:so in turn has helped I think.
Paul Bullion:so you have to, um, you have to lean into certain aspects of yourself and I'm six foot three, um, uh, and I look like the result of a viking invasion, so I have to make sure that, uh, I kind of lean into that and I think I enjoy working out, I enjoy endurance sports. So the physical side of that is almost a kind of side product. I do it for my mental health, but then your body changing and getting into healthy shape is a side product of that, and then that, alongside my career where I get cast as warriors and soldiers, that's part of it.
Gemma Naylor:So, yeah, I lean into it definitely how much training do you have to do for a triathlon?
Paul Bullion:it takes over your whole life into your everyday routine. When I did my first iron man, rather than get the train to work, I'd run 10 miles to work. You know just as just as my commute, yeah, yeah, and then you're grabbing a swim session on your lunch break and things like that.
Gemma Naylor:So, yeah, you just have to be clever with it, really do you find, if you have done a triathlon, does it take a lot of time to recover afterwards? Is it something you could just jump into filming straight after, or would you actually have to be sensible and give yourself?
Paul Bullion:um a week or two actually, when I was filming william tell, we started in uh the end of july and I, um I took part in a triathlon in milton keynes, keynes, and the gun went off at seven in the morning. It was a sprint triathlon but I managed to do it in. I think it was like just over an hour, I think. And yeah, I finished the triathlon, threw my stuff into my mate's car and they drove me to the train station.
Paul Bullion:I then got home to London, picked up my bag and went straight to the airport to fly out and start filming, because I made the commitment. You know, I said I was going to raise money. I'm a proud ambassador of calm. I didn't want to let them down and I said well, is it possible to do the race? Yes, I can. So I switched from the Olympic distance to the sprint distance, which is, you know's a 750 swim, uh, a 20k bike and then a 5k run, um, which is very doable um like for me, having done ironman and things like that. So I thought I'll do that. I keep my commitment to um, to the amazing uh charity, and then I get to go out and film. I was a bit stiff on the plane I was gonna say and all the dehydration from the flight.
Paul Bullion:That's just what you need.
Gemma Naylor:So is it pure adrenaline that just carries you through?
Paul Bullion:Yeah, I think so and I just love it. You feel like you're part of something. I think the human instinct is you know, we're pack animals, yeah, and you're swimming in a pack. You're then on a bike on the road and you're with like-minded people and then you're running in a group, you know, and then you push yourself when you realise you could maybe finish in the top five.
Gemma Naylor:Oh, my goodness, is that where you finished? Yeah, I did this time, Congratulations.
Paul Bullion:Yeah, but there were no pro athletes in this one, but there were some really decent triathletes and, yeah, I was very proud, I think it was like wanting to catch my flight.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, I've got to get to the airport. So let's talk a little bit about calm, the charity that you were, you know, racing. For what exactly do they represent? What is it that they do?
Paul Bullion:so it stands for campaign against living miserably. Yeah, it's a suicide prevention charity. Uh, their, their kind of main aims is to um, to really uh spark conversation, uh, around mental health and suicide. It's a real taboo subject for a lot of people. It is one of the biggest killer of men my age, yes, so it's something that I'm very acutely aware of.
Paul Bullion:So I've always wanted and I've always said to myself if I ever get to a position in my career where I have any kind of platform, then I'll use it to promote that conversation, because I know what it's like for myself and my friends and I'm. You know we are in a bit of a bubble within a creative industry where we are open about our emotions and as an actor, you you almost trade off your emotions and you learn to be vulnerable to, to help play characters. But I'm very, very aware that that's not the real world. You know we live in a we we operate in a bubble within the industry where people are very kind and open most of the time. That's not what the real world's like.
Gemma Naylor:No.
Paul Bullion:And you know, friends of mine I went to school with have a very different experience and they bottle up their emotions and that results in, I think, what we're seeing and those uh stats that we always read. Um, I think it's important to remember that and and don't just think, but, but we are progressive and we are, you know, open and we do listen and you know it is okay to cry because we're not told that. No, you know, like reality check, you grow up as a, as a young lad, and you're told not to cry. Um, you're told to man up, you're told to get on with it.
Paul Bullion:You know and and within you know, within reason, taking accountability for your actions and taking accountability for yourself is a healthy thing that should be encouraged. However, bottling up emotions in 2024, when we're just bombarded with social media and comparison and the financial aspects of you know, people not being able to afford rent, let alone buy a house, and then told you know, and people not being able to afford rent, let alone buy a house, and then told you know, and trying to provide and and and be that pillar for everyone, and then have no outlet for their emotions, it's not going to end well. No, so that's what calm is about. Let's talk about it. It's okay to talk about it. About it, not only is it okay to talk about it, it's healthy. So let's do that. So that's that's why I'm so passionate about it.
Gemma Naylor:It's a really positive thing that you're doing. It's really interesting what you said there, where you feel that men sort of not in the creative industries maybe have a harder time opening up than say just use actors, actors as an example. But do you feel maybe when actors are out of work or out of favour or not in the limelight that they're used to, that that potentially can be a difficult time for them, for their mental health?
Paul Bullion:I think. So yeah, the highs are so high and the lows are so low, because it's an industry of extremes. So one moment you're on a set, you know, uh, you're not really having any, uh, financial worries because you're earning a regular wage for a bit, and then, and then, literally it's done.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:It's, you know it's wrapped, your character's wrapped Um. Sometimes your character's wrapped um. Sometimes your character's wrapped forever if you just filmed your death scene.
Gemma Naylor:Oh no, that's not the one you want to see.
Paul Bullion:Very well, it's over um, but you just have to stay. You have to stay inspired, and I think it's important to remember that instagram is a highlights reel yeah, it's not real life.
Paul Bullion:It's not real life. Um. So I, you know I could take it, for example, any red carpet I've been on. You see, see the red carpet, you see walking down, you see the interviews. Next morning I'm waking up in my flat alone, you know, and then you're kind of working on your next audition, or you're back. You know myself and many actors, I, I know you have side things going on, um, and I, you know, I do theater carpentry, I build theater sets and and you're trying to juggle all of these things. Um, so you've got to ride that that kind of uh energy in the middle and be like, okay, well, I'm not. That's lovely and I'm going to fill up on the good stuff when it happens, but I've also need to remember that that's not my whole personality yeah, and.
Paul Bullion:I want other people to know that as well yeah, you know what I think?
Gemma Naylor:you're gaining a very positive reputation within the industry of being someone who's incredibly genuine and authentic that's very kind, no it's the truth and I think people really respect the fact that you are very honest and transparent about the fact that you know. When things are going well in the industry, that's brilliant, but don't let it become your whole identity. And also, you know, unless you're from an incredibly privileged background where you don't need to make a living outside of just the creative work.
Gemma Naylor:it's about considering what you can do to balance your acting work so you're always, you know, earning a healthy wage.
Paul Bullion:Yeah, it's. You know, we all know that. You know it's an expensive place to exist anywhere in the world at the moment. So you have to. And also, like, I love acting, I love the industry, but you know it doesn't owe you anything. Yeah, um, you know, I do think there are elements of it that could be more kind.
Gemma Naylor:Um, but it doesn't owe you anything and you have to, you have to make sure that you you go out and do what you need to do do you think picking up back on sort of the loneliness theme, um, and it's obviously that's something that calm does help people with are you finding that all these self-tapes, self-tape requests now, rather than actually going into a room and connecting with real people, has an effect on actors' mental health, or do you not think that has a great impact?
Paul Bullion:Yeah, if I speak open and honestly about it, I think it can be very negative for actors. It can be very positive, yeah, um, for example, you know not having to book the day off work to do an audition, so you're not what you know financially worried about. I remember early on in my career you know you get, you know, two or three auditions in the week and you're ruined because you can't make your rent and then you're picking up overtime and you're working yourself silly with no guarantee of a job. But obviously self-tapes kind of erases that.
Paul Bullion:I think self-tapes would be welcomed 100%, uh, with open arms, if communication was better okay because I feel at the moment, you know, just continuously asking an actor to self-tape and then hearing nothing, that can be um, that can be um detrimental.
Gemma Naylor:It's like uh, ghosting yeah, it feels a bit like that, doesn't it?
Paul Bullion:on an industrial on an industrial level. Um, you know, you ask a couple of hundred actors to self-tape and then you only tell the actors that have been recalled yeah um, that that you know, that recall again might be another. Another self-tape and you're missing that personal in the room. Energy, yeah, that I used to love.
Paul Bullion:And that connection, yeah, before the pandemic it's, it was going to meet someone and it's almost reminding people that you are a human yeah um, so now I feel that my way of like dealing with that is just completely disconnecting emotionally from the experience, and you just do the tape and then you send it, and then you, um, if you hear something great, if you don't, you don't you have, you have to try not to invest in it.
Paul Bullion:Uh, too heavily emotionally, which is which is a weird thing to say with self tapes, but, um, I do think it doesn't even have to be. Feedback is into what they actually think about your tape, but just um, I know some casting directors do it where they just let people know that the role is now cast or it's not going any further.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, so that's fine, so you can draw a line under it. Um, it's a waiting game.
Paul Bullion:That's hard. Yeah, I just miss. I mean, we know it's an industry of relationships and communication. Yeah, it seems so disconnected, I think, with with self-tapes and that's I'm going to sit like. Reserve the right to say that's my personal opinion, yeah, yeah, I just think communication is so important and there are pros and cons to self-tapes. I don't think that it's a perfect thing. Yeah, is what I'm going to say.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, but like you say, it does have some positives because it does save people time so they totally understand why they're doing it.
Gemma Naylor:It's just a balance being actually there that probably hasn't been struck fully yet. Yeah, balance being actually there that probably hasn't been struck fully yet. Yeah, exactly that. So you're one of the brilliant actors that's worked sort of a lot in theatre and managed to do that very tricky transition to then getting cast in major tv and film projects. What would your advice be to an actor who has just done live performance work, who's really craving that experience, to sort of transition across?
Paul Bullion:um, first of all, always remain proud of your work. I think I think a lot of people the first thing that they do is is try and say oh, you know well, I'm in theater but I don't really like it, or I'm not, it's not really me.
Paul Bullion:Um, live theater is amazing yeah you know I started in in musical theater. There is nothing more tiring than doing eight shows a week and building that endurance and being able to turn out the goods for eight shows a week yeah, very physically demanding and that experience of telling a story live brilliant. And may I continue to do some more in the future. I think my main advice, practically if you've worked in theatre for a long time, you're normally used to being cast quite far in advance of the production starting and sometimes if you're in a commercial contract they can run a year, sometimes longer, and they offer renewals. So there's weird to say but a little bit of job security sometimes.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, that is a strange thing to say, isn't it?
Paul Bullion:a year is job security and I think with tv and film I was very aware early on that sometimes, unless you're the big name attached to the project, you're going to be one of the last pieces in place. By that I mean you could be behind the bar one night on set the next day, because sometimes people drop out or they're casting. You know what they would call a day player if you just got a couple of lines in something they'll cast out a couple of days before week or two before if you've got costume fittings.
Paul Bullion:So availability is your best asset. That that is the thing with with performing in general, but with tv and film, you have to be available. So you're going to have to be comfortable being out of work. Um, because you, the cast, is the last thing to be put in place. Yeah, locations, camera crew, directors, creatives, producers, all of these, um, people and jobs are in place first. Oh, okay, this, this character, is only in an episode or two. Let's work on casting that character now. Okay, when do we need them? We need them in. Okay, we need them in two weeks.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, last piece of the jigsaw.
Paul Bullion:Yeah, last piece of the jigsaw. So you have to stay inspired enough to know that something will happen at some point. Yeah, but you have to be comfortable saying no to auditions when they come through and you know agents, you know will. I think sometimes they might test it and be like, okay, well, they said that they want to do more of this kind of work, but let's see if they go for this audition.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:And understandably it's a business right and it might be a project that they think you genuinely want to do. I just say just be confident and your actions speak louder than words, and you're going to have to start saying no to those kinds of jobs and see what happens.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah. So from a skillset perspective, do you think people who've just worked in theatre are ready to jump behind the camera, or is it more? I'm sorry in front of the of the camera, but is it more? Is there things they should do with their skills, like? Is there training, I think?
Paul Bullion:I think you know, acting is acting, um, I think, skill wise, and what I did is I started by volunteering for student films so that I could ask loads of questions. You know, okay, what's this person doing? Okay, what's their job. What does this person do? So when I turned up loads of questions, you know, okay, what's this person doing. Okay, what's their job, what does this person do? So when I turned up on a big set, you know I wasn't thrown by any of the terminology or anything like that. That's all the practical, technical side of things.
Paul Bullion:I think, performance-wise, you realise it's weird to say I feel like you're almost acting in the camera. By that I mean like, like it's often right in your face and you've got to think you're going to be on someone's television screen in the front room or you're on a cinema screen. So everything you do is going to be picked up, no matter how minimal. However, with theatre, you're always playing to the back row. You're always playing to sometimes, sometimes. I remember I played in edinburgh playhouse, which I think is like three thousand isn't it yeah?
Paul Bullion:yeah, so you just have to remember, sometimes the camera's in there it's picking up your thoughts and you know, I'll look at some of my early performances. I'm like, oh, I won't do that again or do it differently. Um, I think, yeah, watching like watching yourself and learning, but not watching yourself objectively and you know, and seeing what you think works and holding on to that and what doesn't work, and you can do that. Just, you know, practicing self-tapes with your mates, I think as a skill, it's all storytelling. You know, I have nothing but respect and love for, for my roots, which is, you know, uh, live theater and musical theater yeah, so would you do.
Paul Bullion:You would do a musical again in the future, maybe, or whatever comes along there, yeah, and you know, if it's a project, that, yeah, that you know I really interest me and, um, I think it's something that I've got the skill set for. That's the other thing. You know, I'd want me and I think it's something that I've got the skill set for. That's the other thing. You know, I'd want to challenge myself, but also know that I'd be able to do it justice. I'd love to and I just think it's. Would I do something for a year? Probably not, but you know, I'd love to do a run somewhere. But yeah, we'll see what happens.
Gemma Naylor:So what qualities do you really admire in other successful actors? Is there something that you see somebody do on set and you think you know what that makes them really exquisite or makes them stand out?
Paul Bullion:Confidence, yeah, whether they're faking it or not, but I don't mean like arrogance, because that's different. I can't stand that confidence of like they seem to, you know, really assured in what they're doing um, because I feel like I fake that sometimes um, and whether it's genuine in other people. Um, it's certainly something that, um, that I admire in other actors, and also like a kindness like from from actors that have done like a lot of amazing work, yeah, and and yet they're still very kind to people around them.
Gemma Naylor:I feel like that can be lost because you work with some, well, the biggest names in the business have you found? Yeah, did that strike you sort of?
Paul Bullion:your first experience on set was your first major project, peaky Blinders, in TV I think that was the first recurring kind of season regular role that I had, yeah, um, where I returned episode after episode, um, until I was shot in the face.
Paul Bullion:But no spoiler, it was 10 years ago so yeah, I'm sure most people that know the show would know that. But yeah, I think so. Before that I was kind of just like in an episode here, in an episode there and yeah, and that was my first kind of experience having a real stab at a character on TV yeah, so working with now an Oscar winner yeah, yeah, and he deserved it.
Paul Bullion:He really did. He really did um, a very kind man, like very kind. I learned so much from being on set with him and uh, and I think that really showed me that you know you could be very, very successful and very, very kind and open and encouraging.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:And that's something that I try now with younger actors. I run workshops for various companies and I try to be encouraging and caring and nurturing with younger actors, because everybody just wants to learn, yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at on that, really.
Gemma Naylor:What do you think is the biggest obstacle that sort of actors, at any age, face? Do you think they get in their own way? A lot sort of get in their own heads. What do you think stops people from really moving forward or going after what they want?
Paul Bullion:I think they sometimes fall into the trap of showing creatives what they think they want to see.
Gemma Naylor:Okay.
Paul Bullion:Rather than seeing yourself on an even level and saying this is how I'd play the part.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:Does that help?
Gemma Naylor:This is what I bring to the table.
Paul Bullion:Yeah, this is me, because I see acting as bringing elements of yourself to a character yeah, rather than taking on a character.
Paul Bullion:You're bringing yourself to a character, yeah, rather than taking on a character you're bringing yourself to a character, and I say that in workshops and I think that, um, some people fall into the trap of trying to please the cast and director or the director. Yeah, rather than, the best performance you can give is your performance otherwise. Otherwise it becomes diluted and you'd be like how do you want it played? And, first off, I think if you ask questions before you show them, it might show a little bit of a lack of confidence maybe, whereas if you just say, oh, this is, this is how I see the character, even if you're off the mark, they would respect your confidence. Yeah, and I feel like you have to see other creative people as people that you work with, not work for.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:And so you can say I love the script and this is how I play the character and I think that's how to keep going, because it's basically valuing your own instinct and opinion. But I do think there's an element of, yeah, just being authentic to yourself and understanding your strengths and your weaknesses and how to play to them. And you know, sometimes it's okay not to do the audition because I think I think that was when you're young it's like do the audition, do the audition, do the audition, whereas I think now I would encourage people to say do the audition if you want to, because what's the point if you're not going to be happy doing the job?
Gemma Naylor:yeah, and do you think that can be damaging to their mental health and confidence as well? If you're to, because what's the point if you're not going to be happy doing the job? Yeah, and do you think that can be damaging to their mental health and confidence as well If you're going up for things that you know internally are not a good fit for you?
Paul Bullion:I think, I think, when your heart's not in anything, it's bad for your mental health Cause, then you, you know you'll, you'll go. You're making like you know my heart, sometimes not in going to the gym in the morning, but I never regret it after I've gone, yeah, whereas sometimes I think when I was younger, I would feel sometimes disappointed in myself coming out of an audition that I didn't want to go to, but I was trying to keep people happy okay, where did the disappointment come?
Gemma Naylor:from literally just because you didn't want to be there, or more about sort of the performance. What happened in the room?
Paul Bullion:I mean, I think maybe a little bit of it was like maybe the kind of young man's ego when I was 22, 23, saying I don't want to go to a tap audition.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:I'm not a tapper.
Gemma Naylor:Don't make me do it.
Paul Bullion:Case in point point. Ask anybody at my drama school. But then, oh, but you know, I'm fresh out of college, I've not been seen by that casting director and I'd you know I should have stuck to my guns more.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:And I get it Like it was coming from a good place. This was my old agent. It was coming from a good place. They wanted to create opportunities, but I wouldn't have even been happy doing the show anyway.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:So I just feel like I was trying to keep everyone happy Except yourself, except myself, exactly, accept yourself, except myself. Exactly that I was abandoning my own beliefs and and happiness sometimes. Uh, for a handful of auditions I did do in my early 20s where I would have been much happier, because it's not just the day that, um, you waste doing an audition you don't want to do, it's to build up to it as well. Yeah, and then I like I say afterwards you come out and you're like but I knew I shouldn't have come to this.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, so do you think a big part of it is trusting your own intuition and making choices about your career that are from your core, rather than what you think you should be doing or what other people are saying you should be doing.
Paul Bullion:Nobody knows yourself better than you, so don't let anybody else tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing.
Gemma Naylor:take every every bit of advice as opinion and see what works for you. I think that's amazing advice. What um? Before we finish, what's one bit of advice that you would have given to your younger self starting off in the career?
Paul Bullion:um, I think what I just said there yeah kind of like I must have had that inside me and not not really known that I had that inside me, but to to look out for yourself, because I think I was a bit of a I think even now I'm still a bit of a people pleaser, in the sense that, um, I want to help other people and sometimes I do abandon myself, um, in that process. So, um, I'd probably put my arm around 21 year old me and say it's going to be okay, um, your opinion does matter and um, don't worry about taking up space, because I used to feel like I didn't want to tread on anyone's toes. I didn't want to cause any friction, but I think boundaries are important like not just in our industry, but in life, in relationships.
Paul Bullion:Um, I would tell my 21 year old self to set boundaries and to and to stick to them. Um, because it's you know, I think my younger self was worried about damaging relationships when actually, whether they're professional or personal, sometimes you sit in relationships that are not good for you, whether they are business or personal, and that's at your own detriment.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:And I think, yeah, I would try and, you know, kick a bit of confidence into my 21-year-old self, but you get, I think, as you get older you do. I saw this meme the other day which resonated. This meme the other day resonated with me and it said as you get older, you grow into the person you should have always been.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah.
Paul Bullion:Which is for me, very Beautiful, yeah, and very true, Because you go. Oh, that's why I didn't like going out when I was younger, because I loved just staying in the complete contrast to what you were doing.
Paul Bullion:You know I found myself sometimes like someone says oh, do you want to come out tonight, do you want to meet me for a drink? And I used to like go, oh, okay, or or I'd say some excuse that maybe wasn't true, oh, I can't tonight because of x, y, z, and now I just say no, and they say why, and I go, I don't want to and that's fine.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, yeah, just be honest. Yeah, you know, and that's enough. That's what I go for, yeah.
Paul Bullion:Just be honest you know, so, yeah, I think that's it. I think it's like, yeah, just set your boundaries and you'll work out what you like and don't like as life goes on.
Gemma Naylor:Yeah, and your proudest achievement to date.
Paul Bullion:Probably being involved with Calm.
Paul Bullion:Oh, really, above all the amazing things you've done in your career, because those amazing things I've done in your career, because those those amazing things I've done in my career have allowed me to do something that really helps people and I think that is the proudest thing, because it's nice when somebody comes up to you and says you know, I ran a half marathon in LA and two, two women flew from different parts of america to meet me, one from san francisco and the other one was from ohio and they flew to la because they knew that I was running this half marathon just just to meet me, and they said, um, that they loved my character in the witcher um, and being able to just spend a bit of time.
Paul Bullion:I I think after the, at the finish line, I bought them a cup of coffee each because at least I could do. After they flew the length of America, I bought them a cup of coffee and we chatted like 10, 15 minutes and if you can put a smile on somebody's face because of something that you've done, great Like that, for me is amazing. That, um, something I've done allows me to have that kind of impact on someone, because I'm not used to feeling like that then and then to have the opportunity and when I spoke to the calm charity, about becoming an ambassador to spark that conversation, to use my platform for good. None of that would have come about without the opportunities that I've been given, and for me it is the proudest thing that I'm able to put it to good use. So, yeah, I would say being part of Calm and check out their website, calm Zone.
Paul Bullion:Brilliant Paul, you're an inspiration thank you, that's very kind, thank you.