Justin Guarini Says Career Setback Led to Personal Growth

After placing second in American Idol's inaugural season in 2002, Justin Guarini expected his early success to lead to a lasting Hollywood career. But in 2003, RCA dropped him, a decision he said he learned about while watching Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.

Guarini described the news in his new book, Center Stage Confidence, as a moment when his assumptions about fame and success fell away. In the months afterward, he wrote, he lost weight, slept increasingly, and withdrew from people and activities as his career stalled.

His debut album came out in 2003 and reached the Billboard 200’s top 20. That year he also starred with fellow Idol contestant Kelly Clarkson in From Justin to Kelly, a film that failed to meet expectations. Guarini later said he struggled to get out of bed, face his reflection, or go out, and spent a period isolated from others.

He eventually shifted his focus from public measures of success to performing. Guarini returned to the stage, taking gigs ranging from charity galas to state fairs. He released a second album independently in 2005, worked in television, and first appeared on Broadway in the 2010 musical adaptation of Almodóvar's Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios.

He later appeared in stage shows such as Green Day's American Idiot, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and Wicked. Guarini said he now sees the setback as a valuable lesson, and that continuing to work through difficult periods helped him find opportunities he might not have had if his initial fame had continued.