UB grad breaks into Hollywood

Having found success in the intensely competitive show-business world of Hollywood, UB graduate Parry Shen has learned to juggle an acting job and a teaching profession along with fatherhood. He actively seeks roles in television series and movies while raising his newborn daughter.

Shen graduated from the University at Buffalo in 1995 at the age of 22. He earned a bachelor's in marketing with a minor in media studies and certification in public relations and advertising.

Although he didn't receive his first professional break until the age of 23, he had been acting in minor productions both at school and on his own since the age of 18. In an email conversation Shen spoke about his early entrance into stardom.

"My girlfriend and I used to write and direct our friends in these huge productions to get our theater fix in while we were business students by day," Shen wrote.

Shen also stated that his first real job was in 1997, and that job helped to get his career off the ground.

"My first gig was a Stouffer's commercial in 1997. And once I started doing feature films in 2001, films then started snowballing," Shen wrote.

Since his earlier days as an amateur director and business student, Shen has come a long way.

With roles in films like "First Daughter" with Katie Holmes, "Game Day," and "The Hatchet," as well as roles on popular television shows such as "Tru Calling," "Party of Five," and "Beverly Hills 90210," Shen has managed to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry, but he says that it did not come easy.

"Acting is harder than it looks. Basically, you've got a crew of 40 people who basically can't move onto the next shot until you get it right. Then once that job is over you've got to hustle and get yourself another gig after that," Shen wrote. "I still think about quitting every 6 months but have recently come to realize that this is the pattern of the job and have come to embrace it."

Along with acting roles, Shen has managed to spread his name through interviews and exposure from magazines and journals. Shen has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Magazine, Rolling Stone, People magazine and Vibe magazine, to name a few.

Along with his acting career, Shen also takes pride in his teaching profession. He wrote that by not being far removed from his students, he can help them and answer their questions by also breaking down the acting process step by step.

"When more experienced 'celebrities' come in to lecture/teach, most of them are very ethereal; telling great stories of their vast careers and sometimes it works itself into a lesson. But by not being so far removed from the students, when they ask 'How do I get an agent?' I can give them the step-by-step answers that most 'celebrity' instructors can no longer recall," Shen wrote.

Shen comes back to Buffalo to teach courses and provide workshops during the summer sessions. He takes pride in his hands-on teaching methods.

"I practice what I preach in class. If they don't understand my lessons I get right in there and show them. Everyone's always heard the phrase 'those who can't do, teach,'" Shen wrote. "But there should be a flipside to that which says, 'only those who can articulate it to others, know it well enough to do so.'"

According to Shen, his students can learn a great deal from his experience and career thus far.

"There is a different set of lessons to be garnered from someone who is still in the trenches. I have enough presence of mind to realize that I don't know all the answers and am still figuring things out," Shen wrote.

His lessons consist of everything from tips on improvisation and screenplay techniques to the business of acting. Shen provides his students with a firm foundation of what is expected in the entertainment industry.

Shen advises his students on where to begin, from getting an agent to preparing a headshot and properly marketing oneself.

Although his teaching career is fulfilling, Shen has decided that he wishes to continue to pursue acting along with teaching instead of giving up one for the other.

"I don't think I would ever teach full-time because in doing so, I would lose the very thing that makes me an effective and unique teacher, which is bringing to my students what I've been experiencing in the trenches and that information changes year to year as I grow myself as an actor."

Shen is pleased with his line of work, finding it effortless because he enjoys it so much.

"I've been blessed that I can honestly say that I've never felt I've worked a day in my life in a laboring sense," Shen wrote. "I work hard but it doesn't seem like work because it's so much fun."