We were lucky to catch up with Victoria Sawal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
My first conversation about pursuing a career in the arts and entertainment industry did not go well at all. At the age of 12, I was about to graduate from elementary school and I began looking into arts focused secondary schools like Etobicoke School of Arts because I was convinced my life would be exactly like ‘High School Musical’. During that time my parents brought me out to dinner at my favourite buffet, without my three older siblings (which was already a red flag). After excitedly filling up my plate, I took a seat and they asked me “What do you want to do after high school?” I expressed my wishes to become a singer and actor in the future, something I thought was obvious, considering my participation in many school and church theatre productions. They swiftly responded with “those are just hobbies, not a real job. What about business management instead?”. I was stunned by their response and started crying onto my full plate. I know now, they just wanted to ensure that I had financial security in whatever career I chose. I knew from that moment on, I would have to prove that a career in the arts was just as legitimate as any other job. Thankfully, I was able to book my first role right after I graduated from High School (the normal, non-musical kind) and my parents have been my number one supporters since then!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
As a Canadian actor, I’ve done my fair share of Tim Hortons commercials and luckily a few incrediblee indie films. But my start in the acting world came from left field. Initially, I was concentrating on my music career; performing at festivals, song-writing, and busking in Toronto. A friend of mine suggested I sign up as a background actor for a production filming in the city to make a little extra cash. I walked up to the studio with a guitar on my back, it was during winter, call time was at 4am, and there was a sea of 500+ asian extras bustling in and out of heated tents in the studio lot. I was absolutely green and had no clue what to expect, but it was immediately intoxicating. I hadn’t slept the night before in fear of missing my call time, but I was buzzing with energy as soon as I got into wardrobe and walked onto set. So much so, that I could not contain my excitement and ended up blurting out some unscripted lines. I was placed next to a cage with a live chicken in it, and told that I would be pretending to sell this chicken to anyone passing by. I took that background work seriously, some would say TOO seriously and I started yelling chicken related lines left and right. At some point, I yelled “this is not KFC!” in Charlie Day’s face. Next thing I know, they yell cut and multiple people started swirling around me with iPads taking photos of my clothes and hair. I was certain I was about to be fired, and they were simply collecting my mugshot to put me in film jail or something. But then, I hear a hearty laugh coming from, what I now know as video village. A man with thick glasses, wearing all black, walked towards me and asked me if I was free later on that month, because there was another role he wanted me to play in the film. Guillermo Del Toro had just plucked me out of 500 extras to be upgraded to an actor role on ‘Pacific Rim’. Everyone proceeded to call me ‘Chicken girl’ for the remainder of filming. That opportunity started everything for me, it was love at first set. I had gotten a small taste of movie magic and became hungry for anything to do with acting. I immediately signed up for acting classes and found an incredible agent who I still adore 10+ years later.
Since then I’ve had the pleasure of working on productions like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ as Tyler, the ex-handmaid with a somewhat violent streak and most recently, the newest and final season of Star Trek: Discovery as Lt. Naya, now streaming on Paramount+! Which is probably what I am most of proud of so far in my acting career. My father is a Trekkie and raised me on re-runs of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager; so it’s truly an honour to be part of the Star Trek family. I have a few other projects coming out this year, though I can’t share much; I can tell you that I am extremely excited for what is to come and though more than 10 years have passed since my first acting job, I am still learning and growing and still in love with what I get to do. Just goes to show you, making bold choices and enjoying what you do can really catapult you into the right direction.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Going from music to acting was a massive pivot in my career. I had been working on music for years prior to getting into tv and film. Singing and playing guitar, ghost writing for different artists from the age of 18. Though music and acting are two different beasts, there were many parallels and transferrable skills between the two art forms. Both mediums require a lot of time and devotion to truly see progress. Both require training and a lot of practice. Music taught me to embody lyrics, the same way actors must embody the characters lines. Music built the basis of my confidence as a performer. Once you’ve performed in front of a cold crowd on stage, you become immune to rejection, which came in handy for the auditioning process. Being a singer helped me sharpen my ability to use my voice to command and influence an environment, to evoke emotions within an audience. Though I still sing today, I chose to pursue acting full-time rather than music, to capitalize on the momentum I experienced early on in tv/film. Acting provided me the opportunity to sustain myself consistently while still pursuing music whenever I have time off. I’m currently in the process of recording an album with my band ‘Sans Serif’.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Adaptability can sometimes be perceived as flightiness. As a creative, I have to wear many different hats and be as flexible as possible when it comes to my skill sets. It may be seen as an overly whimsical approach to a profession, when I pursue other things such as FMA (Filipino Martial Arts) or dance. Some may see these classes as aimless hobbies that having nothing to do with my current career path, but I see it as an expansion of my own craft as an actor. I tailor my training to the roles I want to book. I have an interest in action roles, therefore I seek out different styles of fight and movement training. I suppose non-creatives may also think of it as a waste of money, if I’m not immediately booking something as a result of training, but that’s the thing about pursuing a career in the arts; it requires a steady investment in your personal growth to translate into your professional growth. And quite frankly… it’s fun. I know. WILD. Give it a shot! You never know where your next “hobby” will take you.
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Image Credits
Rafy Photography Robin Careless Patrick de Belen