We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mario Corona a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mario, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

It all started when I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, that first impression was everlasting, and I knew from that moment I wanted to do what Harrison Ford was doing there: acting. But also Ke Huy Quan as Shorty, the fact He was a kid my age, it made me think: I can do that too! It was like I was watching my present and my future, so it made me like it even more! Cut to: One year later, I found myself on set doing my first TV commercial ever, along came my mom and my brother, and the following year, and with the introduction of the Handycam, I started shooting my own home movies with my friends and loaded with many Indy adventures. I was twelve and I knew this is what the rest of my life would look like.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Dear people, allow me to introduce myself, you may know a little bit about my starting point from the previous question, but I am pleased to be here talking to you. My name is Mario Corona, Actor and Producer of my own projects. Born and raised in Mexico City and been living in Los Angeles for a decade. As you read, I got into acting from a TV commercial in the first place, but then I needed to continue, to make it a professional path, so time passed, I grew up and started looking for acting schools in Mexico City, and that’s how I got into the Russian School of Acting studying Psychological Realism. Having studied a technique, allowed me to understand a bit more why Actors do what they do in terms of the analysis of a play, a character, a film, which is the active ingredient when you read a script, to then, ‘test’ it on stage, to try it until you get it, and adjust, just like as a second nature. Is difficult, and after so many years, I am still learning from it, art is subjective and that is a good thing, because it can’t be measured or proved scientifically, so instead, you put your own nature into the service of the character. The merge of two worlds, this is where the ‘personal’ magic comes in, and the gradual understanding of the human condition.
In one hand you have that and the art per se, and in the other one, the craft, and here lies some conventions like taking into account your spotlight, never back the camera or the audience, seating and then talking for instance, the NO blinking, etc. This adds to what you discover on rehearsals, so in the end, you have a final result that backs all up. However, in Theatre, even though you have the same actors, words, staging, an audience, every time is different and you don’t question it, you just know it, feel it, this is where transformations take place, this is where inspirations can evolve.
One of those inspirational moments came to me when I was on tour with our play ‘Filomena Marturano’, based upon the 1964 Academy Award best foreign film Nominee ‘Marriage Italian style’ with Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, as we were in North Mexico driving and crossing the Sonoran desert, no cell signal, and suddenly got a call from a Casting Director saying I got a part in the movie ‘Elysium’ starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. I screamed of happiness and woke up my fellow Actors who celebrated with me. That very second is what fullness feels like, no kidding! had everything I needed in that moment, nice company, a job and then another one waiting for me. It was my ‘fortune and glory’ moment.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was 24 when my Brother passed away, this changed my life and I thought I was not prepared for such event. Is one of those things you talk but you never expect it can happen to you, until it happens. But I gotta tell you one thing, the fortitude my parents showed me that day, and the poetry in their words, made me see life in a different way, it was the key I needed to be more prepared, to start the journey of healing, of understanding life from a new perspective. Months later, I found myself working on a cargo ship with my good friend Bori, in exchange for a one way ticket to Antwerpen, Belgium, then onto France for the World Cup.
I decided to go because I was prepared to endure 18 days in the Gulf of Mexico and the solitude of the Atlantic Ocean.
And there I was, enjoying the dolphins and surprised to see flying fish, yes, they have wings! I was experiencing a therapy showing me life, the world, the human condition.
I returned to Mexico after 5 months abroad, so thankful, learned so much about myself, and of course, always with the company of my beloved brother. The first year forges your resilience along with your dreams, I’m not saying there are not sad moments, but definitely you cope with them differently. Somehow death makes you grow exponentially.
A month later I booked a significant gig on a TV Station I loved, it was a show for kids. I am still thankful to this day.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1708588/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mario_corona_/

Image Credits
GUARDIA PICS BY: EDUARDO CISNEROS FILOMENA PICS BY: ALEJANDRO TREVIÑO