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

Alex, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful projects I’ve been a part of have been when social issues intersected with the material we were working on. I was in the world premiere of “Freedom Rider” at Alabama Shakespeare Festival which focused on the 2 week bus journey taken in 1961 by a small group of integrated college students. The goal was to protest segregated areas of the south, but nobody could have predicted how vastly violent and dangerous it became. Doing a play about this very important moment in history for the civil rights movement while in the confederate capital of America was an important opportunity for me to see the power of storytelling in real time. It was the first time I took part in a theatrical experience which served a purpose that transcended the production itself. It remains one of my most exciting experiences as an actor.

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

My name is Alex Scoloveno and I’ve been acting since I was a little kid. One of my first moments where I felt like acting was going to be my path was when I was an extra in Spider-man 3 ( 2007.) you can see me a few seconds in the corner of the screen. i made myself a skintight suit just like spiderman. I was kinda pudgy and had a buzzcut. I looked like a grape. As time went on I continued training and developing my skills. I think it started as a yearn for attention and a captivation towards that special feeling I would get whenever I saw a movie or play. Looking back, what I realize it was, was a drive to find the most essential elements of the human experience in as many different ways as possible.

Maybe I could think of the kind of actor I am as being a cardioligist for the spirit. Im no Dr. by any stretch of mind, but I know when hearts are unhealthy it can be because they have plaque built up in their ateries and affecting ones ability to pump blood properly. I’d like to think of the actor as the stent that moves blockage and helps open peoples emotional channels back up.

As I grew, I did a pretty traditional actor thing. I went to conservatory and graduated. I did some cool things as a result. I perfomed on the Globe Stage in London and got connected with a wide network of people. I also am very proud with the training I got which is rarer than you’d think.

But after graduation, I was hit with a feeling of calaminity. How do I find work, and how can I be happy, even if i’m not working? This is the dilemma many in my circle have faced and it’s a dilemma of desperation.

There’ a whole essay I could give write on how I reached this conclusion, but after a good couple years of feeling deeply unfulfilled and unwanted, I decided to take ownership of my own career.

I stopped looking like “acting” as one thing. To say “I want to be an “actor” feels too general to me and a little dishonest. To go back to the cardiologist analogy, at some point most medical professionals have to pick a concentration and a point of expertise. You wouldn’t hear a foot doctor say, I dabble with heart stuff. Maybe he/she wants to stick to feet.

I chose to pick a point of concentration and ask myself, “what is important to me and what stories do I feel a drive to tell?” From that train of thought I rediscovered what it felt to be passionate about acting. I would seek the stories I wanted and not just see myself as an actor. I would be a specific storyteller looking to portray a character that best fits the story I feel driven to tell.

At first I was passionate about eating disorders, so I produced a film about eating disorders. (Getting There) Next I felt a drive towards the awkwardness of young relationships, so I produced a film about that. (Coupling). I started writing sketch comedies, and producing them. (The Lost Assassin) I did standup comedy and talked about what I wanted. I felt empowered. Picking specific points of focus one at a time allowed me to continuously evolve my point of view. soon I was working on a bunch of different stuff in a variety of different ways.

After developing my own film company producing a handful of short films, (Mindful Lion Films). I realized I was driven towards civil rights and activism. Whattaya know, but I got an opportunity to audition for a World Premiere about the 1961 Freedom Rides and I booked it. (Freedom Rider)

By having this new outlook of seeing myself as a specialized storyteller for whatever spoke to me at the time, it took the pressure off of being an “Actor” whatever that may mean, and focused me to apply my skills as an actor to what was required of me at the time. From that so many doors opened. It turns out,
I didn’t need to pick one lane. I could act in many different things, but my approach was backwards at first.

For a while, I approached It the other way around. I auditioned for things because I wanted to act but didn’t really think much further. And when I auditioned for things I didn’t feel interest in, I thought “Do I hate acting?” Turns out, no. I just hated acting in things that didn’t speak to me.

Today I am 27 and am about to play Henry in “The marriage” by Witold Gombrowicz at LaMama in NYC, which will promptly tour in Poland. How did I book that? By getting coffee with an actor who happened to be of interest to me and also happened to be cast in the production. I wanted to learn more about him and hear his perspective. I had no idea he was cast in a really cool play and would recommend me to the director, but he did and I am a blessed man for it. What an assuring example of how this philosophy can work! I do my best to seek what interests me and through that, work has come. Sure, sometimes things fall on the table that may not tug my heart strings, like the occasional toothpaste commercial or really cheesy short. As I have aged though, my financial responsibilities have also increased and a decent paycheck quickly factored into my list of interests.

I am grateful to share that I am a now a Filmmaker who has written, produced and of course, acted in 5 of my own projects. I have been another handfuls of indipendant films, many of which I got by meeting the right people at the right time. I have had things presented to me that I never thought would even be a thing months, weeks, or days prior.

Ironically, by alleviating myself of the pressure to be the idea of an “actor” I had in my head, I was free to empower myself and approach projects with genuine investment, not desperation for someone to cast me, but because I WANTED to be there and bring whatever I can offer to the project I’m doing. And sometimes that investment begins and ends with a simple self tape, other times it blossoms into more. The outcome is not up to me, but what is up to me is how I show up and advocate for the stories that speak to me. I say all this to say, this is my highlight reel. I still struggle very much at times and there are dead periods, but I’d like to think the trend is moving upwards one day at a time.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have battled an eating disorder since a young kid, and probably always will have an eating disorder. I am resilient because I decided to face it and get honest about it. Through that honesty, solutions presented themselves. I am now a normal body weight, but that is not what really matters. What matters is I currently am no longer engaging in the behaviors or eating the foods that were killing me. I also was able to challenge this major part of my life into my debut short film “Getting There”

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society can help by thinking a little more outside the box of how artists can be utilized beyond just film/tv and stage. Artists have skills just like any other professional concentration and can be applied so many different ways. An example of this is one of my biggest sources of income for a while was acting as a patient for medical students. This was inceridibly rewarding because I could see my skills as an actor, directly apply to giving a student a real experience, without the high stakes of a real life situation. Using my skill sets for training scenarios is something I never really thought about initially, but it’s a service that lends itself perfectly to the craft of acting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alexscoloveno.com
• Instagram: @mindfullion
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flJh9RiG65w&t=1301s

Image Credits