At the beginning of his career, Justin Guarini seemed to have it all: fame, fortune, and a promising future in Hollywood.
Guarini, who placed second on the first season of “American Idol” in 2002, was thrust into the spotlight seemingly overnight. But when his Hollywood dream collapsed, he found himself in a dark place that he would eventually consider one of his greatest blessings.
“I think it was one of the best things that could have happened to me,” Guarini, who recently released her book “Center Stage Confidence: How to Own Your Story and Command Every Room,” told Fox News Digital.
“Failure is the greatest teacher, one of the greatest teachers we can have in any situation because there are only two ways to go about it. You either give up or you keep going.”
However, this mentality did not take hold until much later.
In his book, Guarini recalled the moment in 2003 when he learned he had been laid off by record label RCA.
Guarini, who said he learned the news in the “Weekend Update” episode of “Saturday Night Live”, wrote in his book, “I looked at the television in shock as my whole world collapsed around my ears.” “Any illusion of fame, fortune and glory vanished in an instant and was replaced by the silence of loss. In that moment, the veil of my arrogance, assumptions and entitlements was lifted and I saw what my life had become.”
“I spent months replaying my sob story over and over again,” she added. “I lost weight, I slept more, I started to look less and less like myself, and the people who loved me began to notice and worry. I was living the ghost of the life I’d always dreamed of, burning money and time in equal and ridiculous proportions.”
Guarini, who came second in “Idol” history, believed his future in the entertainment industry was secure. But his early success proved difficult to sustain.
He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 and starred opposite Kelly Clarkson in the musical romantic comedy “From Justin to Kelly.” While her album reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, the film was a failure and criticism of her performance and appearance continued.
As his career stalled, Guarini struggled to reconcile his newfound reality with the life he dreamed of.
“There have been a lot of people who have given up, failed, and found other things,” Guarini told Fox News Digital. “It’s really great. But for me, that dark place of not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to look at myself in the mirror, not wanting to go out and see anything, was just a period of isolation. And it’s so easy to do that when you live behind a door in an privileged community.”
Over time, Guarini began to change his perspective.
“I realized there were still people congratulating me,” he said. “I realized there was still something worth celebrating in my life. And it wasn’t the vanity measurements of how many people voted for me or how many followers I would have or the amount of money I could make or blah blah blah. It was just doing something and getting back to something that I really, really loved.”
For Guarini, this meant returning to the stage.
“For me, that was going out and getting on stage and singing to people. And I would do that from gala events to state fairs and everywhere.”
These small performances eventually paved the way for a new chapter in his career.
After independently releasing her second album in 2005, Guarini found opportunities in television before making her Broadway debut in 2010 in “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
He later appeared in various Broadway productions such as “American Idiot”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Wicked”. In 2015, she introduced audiences to another side of her talent when she began portraying Lil’ Sweet, the flamboyant character featured in Diet Dr Pepper advertising campaigns.
Looking back, Guarini said his willingness to embrace failure rather than run away from it led to opportunities he would never have experienced had his initial fame continued.
“So there was a cascading effect. What it comes down to is being willing to sit in a place of failure, of discontent, of darkness, but to keep going and just say, ‘Okay, how can I continue to move through this space of discomfort, learn about myself, and move on?’ was to keep saying. “And ultimately that led to growth that I didn’t think would have happened if I had stayed famous.”
Now, almost 25 years after his “Idol” debut, Guarini said his successes and failures have taught him one thing: don’t give up.
“And for me, it’s been almost 25 years of great ups and downs, and every time I’ve gone up and down, up and down, it’s just been the consistency again of staying in the game,” he said.
“And finally, just staying in the game… because it doesn’t matter if it’s media, it doesn’t matter if it’s entertainment, it doesn’t matter if it’s business. Life in this world is cyclical, and if you stay in the game and do good work and be kind to people, opportunity will always present itself and you’ll be better prepared to take advantage of it when it comes,” he added.