Podcast Summary: The Observable Unknown with Dr. Juan Carlos Rey — Episode: Jordan Feldman
Date: November 16, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Dr. Juan Carlos Rey dives deep with actor and producer Jordan Feldman into the nuanced intersections of creativity, mental health, ego, and vulnerability within the performing arts. The conversation spans the personal and professional—the tolls and healing of performance, navigating uncertain industry waters post-COVID, and how creative expression functions both as art and as medicine. Feldman offers candid insights about leadership on set, the emotional costs of acting, protecting personal values, and sustaining creative energy in tumultuous times.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Art and Ensemble: Ego, Empathy, and the Collective

• Collaborative Influence: Feldman values ensemble work, highlighting how shared energy and ideas enrich performance.
  "It's having other people's ideas influence the choices you make and the exchange of, like, really honest energy right in front of each other as it's happening..." (03:00)
• Leadership & Emotional Climate: He learned the importance of positivity from observing how negativity from lead actors can trickle through an entire set.
  "If you're at the top of the call sheet, like, if you're the star of the show, it is your responsibility to be the leader... everything you do... helps keep the group afloat." (04:09)

2. Navigating the Emotional Landscape of Performance

• Empathy Becoming Exhaustion: Feldman admits that working closely with admired peers can initially be overwhelming and emotionally draining, but this intensity gives way to a sense of play. (05:38)
• Post-Performance Loneliness: After the 'high' of a collaborative project, he describes the emotional drop-off and cycles of uncertainty actors endure.
  "It's literally always the worst when you walk offset... you get all sorts of positive reinforcement... then when you're done, you're like, oh God, now I have to wait to get cast again." (06:53)

3. Endurance of the Actor’s Life: Pressure and Progress

• Unceasing Demands: Unlike certain professions with clearer boundaries, Feldman notes acting requires constant creative output and rarely feels “enough.”
  "It's never enough. It's not like you're a doctor and you go to… but it just doesn't stop." (07:49)
• Wisdom from the Top: He recounts advice from a renowned actress about the never-ending ‘ladder’—even at the highest levels, insecurity persists.
  "[She] said, you get to the top of one level... then you're at the bottom of the next... it never gets any better. It's crazy." (09:18)

4. Choosing (and Surviving) Roles: Integrity and Risk

• Vulnerability in Auditioning: Feldman shares an anecdote about a casting workshop where, by accident, his most vulnerable, stripped-down performance became his best-received.
  "I was just as honest and vulnerable as possible… that was the best scene I've ever seen you do." (13:31–15:44)
• Navigating Nerves: His personal mantra to combat audition anxiety:
  "My only business is the choices I make for this role, for this scene. Everything else is none of my business." (16:53)
• Turning Down Exploitation: He recounts refusing projects that felt exploitative, despite pressure or enticing opportunities.
  "The producer called me and he was like… this is Hollywood calling, and you're not answering. And I'm like, that's the grossest thing I've ever heard... I had to pass." (22:14–23:59)

5. The Toll and Healing of Creation

• Art as Healing: Feldman affirms that every opportunity to act is inherently healing—a chance to actualize his potential and experience genuine joy.
  "Every time I get the opportunity to act, it's healing because... it's helping me actualize my potential." (46:12)
• Ritual and Renewal: Reflecting on old notes and journals helps rekindle his creative drive and reconnects him to his original inspiration.
  "Going back and looking at notes and journals... takes me back to where I felt the most pure about the craft and your future, that kind of brings you back to... ignite that spark." (40:22)
• On Vulnerability: For Feldman, true acting demands complete vulnerability—allowing oneself to be emotionally ‘naked’, despite the personal risk.
  "You’re unzipping your skin and holding open your body and letting everyone see it. And that’s scary, but it’s also super challenging." (42:28)

6. From Actor to Producer: Responsibility and Empathy

• Safety and Leadership: As a producer, he’s mindful about creating safe spaces and ensuring everyone—from PAs to stars—is respected and supported.
  "Every single person needs… should be treated exactly the same with the utmost respect and care." (30:38–32:24)
• Illusion of Control: He dismisses any notion of control in production; it’s about continual adaptation.
  "There is no control... there is no control. I think we're constantly... fixing the things that are glitching or need oil." (32:37)

7. COVID, Industry Upheaval, and the Future

• Personal & Professional Shifts: COVID led Feldman to leave Los Angeles, giving him respite but also detaching him creatively over time.
  "For the first couple years, it was heaven... after 21 years of the grind... but then it turned into almost five years now." (34:54–36:25)
• Outlook on Hollywood: He’s candid about the present grim state of the entertainment industry and the challenges of re-entering creative work, especially without the infrastructure that once sustained it.
  "People are losing their homes. It's insane. So it's a really difficult time to sort of get back in." (34:54–38:21)

8. Sacredness, Ritual, and Aspiration

• What Remains Sacred: Despite the commodification of emotion in performance, his private ritual of revisiting the creative “pilot light” keeps him centered.
• Stories He Longs to Tell: Feldman dreams of sharing his failures and growth through an autobiography, wanting his experiences to serve others.
  "I would just love, I think, a story that shares my failures so others can learn... let my mistakes be your goal posts." (43:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you're the star of the show, it is your responsibility to be the leader... everything that you do and everything that you say helps keep the group afloat." — Jordan Feldman (04:09)
• "You get to the top of one level and you're at the top of that level and then you become a little more successful, but then you're in the bottom of the next level… it never gets any better." — Feldman paraphrasing advice from a successful actress (09:18)
• "My only business is the choices I make for this role, for this scene. That's my only business. Everything else is none of my business." — Feldman (16:53)
• "The producer called me and he was like, 'Jordan, this is Hollywood calling, and you're not answering.' And I'm like, that's the grossest thing I've ever heard." — Feldman (23:20)
• "Every single person… should be treated exactly the same with the utmost respect and care. And so I think that… in order for a production to be successful… that's sort of my belief." — Feldman (30:38–32:24)
• "There is no control… you're constantly fixing the things that are glitching or need oil or… It's almost like a Tin Man." — Feldman (32:37)
• "Every time I get the opportunity to act, it's healing because it's help. It's going through the motions and helping me actualize my potential." — Feldman (46:12)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:16 — The power and responsibility of ensemble leadership
• 06:53 — The emotional rollercoaster after finishing a project
• 09:18 — The endless ladder of insecurity in acting
• 13:31–15:44 — Vulnerability and “accidental” authenticity in casting workshops
• 16:53 — Feldman’s mantra for overcoming audition anxiety
• 23:20 — Turning down roles that violate personal values
• 30:38–32:24 — Empathy, safety, and respect behind the camera
• 34:54–38:21 — The impact of COVID and industry crisis
• 40:22–42:28 — Sacred rituals and the necessity of vulnerability in acting
• 43:50–44:10 — Aspiration to tell stories of personal failure for others’ benefit
• 46:12 — Acting as a healing act and source of joy

Tone & Takeaway

The dialogue between Dr. Rey and Jordan Feldman resonates with warmth, humor, and unflinching honesty about the realities and paradoxes of creative life. Feldman’s stories reveal the pressures of Hollywood, but also a steadfast commitment to integrity, empathy, and self-care. The episode is a rich meditation on the invisible labor behind art, the endurance required to persist, and the sometimes quiet, sometimes defiant, rituals that keep the creative pilot light burning.

For listeners hungry for both reality and wisdom in the creative arts, this conversation bridges science and soul, offering validation and hope to anyone navigating uncertainty in pursuit of authentic expression.