Karan Tacker is finally getting to do what he aspired for when he quit TV over half a decade ago. In fact, the actor, who is exploring the OTT space, won an award for his stint in Special Ops at the Yellowstone International Film Festival recently. “Looking back it all feels worth it,” Tacker posted on Instagram. He also wrote about the “volley of auditions” he had to go through before landing the role.

The 36-year-old agrees that not all auditions lead to selections, and rejections can be disheartening: “As much as I want to sound like a bigger person and say, ‘Oh, it’s a part and parcel of the industry’, [the truth is that] it really hits you hard. There have been times when I’ve tested for projects, they (the makers) have taken my dates and I have done readings with co-stars, but things didn’t work out. That can be a real heartbreak.”

When the actor quit TV six years ago, he admits that he was turned down multiple times. “There have been a lot of rejections. My biggest grouse is that sometimes, people don’t even want to put you on camera because they are like, ‘Oh, you are from TV, you don’t fall under the category of actors that we want to put in a project’ or ‘Let’s not test him because he is from TV’,” Tacker elaborates.

He adds that it’s imperative for actors to stay strong and not feel dejected when things don’t work: “To put yourself out there again, audition and message people, ‘I would like to meet you’, and go through the whole process (of screen tests and auditions), can be scary. However, you have no option, but to stay strong.”