We were lucky to catch up with Tanya Gorlow recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tanya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2016, I produced and acted in Hamlet with Inner Circle Theatre (Los Angeles). This was an especially powerful experience for me, because it helped me trust my voice as a creative, not just on-stage, but during the production process. The throughline that we chose for the show was “there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” That message was especially important for me at the time, and it continues to inform how I reframe challenging situations in my life.

I can’t thank enough the amazing talent, friends, mentors, and creatives who supported that show and brought it to life. It was truly a pivotal moment for me and has forever changed how I see myself as an artist and a human.

Tanya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have known since I was a wee one that I wanted to be an actor. I love digging into complex characters and creating something unexpected and thought provoking. I have studied a variety of methods and techniques, and have created my own way of approaching a role that helps me serve the story and bring the character to life.

Through acting in Los Angeles, I started producing indie film projects and eventually theatre. I believe that a good producer is essentially an excellent problem solver, and that can be no small feat. I now work for a production company, Butcher Bird Studios, and I’m especially proud of the work that we do. We do really compelling brand activations, as well as develop our own IP. What makes us especially unique is the amount of technology we leverage to bring our projects to life. We want to make sure that we’re creating the most exceptional experiences possible for our clients and for their audiences, so creating strong communities and engaging those communities through interactivity is a must for us.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started acting, it was impressed on me that it was an extremely competitive profession. Multiple folks, from professors to acting coaching to agents to managers to strangers in line at the bank, said one of two things (sometimes they said both in the same breath). 1 – “Don’t do this if it’s not the most important thing in your life. You will never be successful and the pain and sacrifice will not be worth it, if you don’t live and breath it.” 2 – “Don’t say no to anything. You never know who the next Steven Spielberg will be.”

Both of these put undue pressure on young creatives to be rigid in their pursuit of their art and to say yes to things that don’t sit right.

Acting can be incredibly important in your life, but if it’s the only thing you care about, you end up being fairly one dimensional as a human, and you set yourself up to be pretty miserable most of the time. It is a competitive profession and there may be long stretches when you’re not actively working on a project. Having other things in your life that bring you joy and keep you housed and fed is so important. I have had lots of “day jobs” that I hated because I felt that if I liked the job that supported my career, then I was somehow betraying my art. That’s complete bunk. If I had been happier as a person, I would have been a better artist. I love working and producing with the creatives at Butcher Bird Studios, and I wish younger me had known that working with wonderful people and doing work I loved outside of performing did not make me less of an actor.

Saying yes to things that you don’t want to do, have a bad feeling about, that offer no benefit to your career or your development as an artist, or are not aligned to your values in the hopes that someone involved will someday become “the next Steven Spielberg” is a waste of your precious time. In any profession, who you know is extremely important, and that’s especially true in Hollywood. But don’t you want to fill your life and time with people you’re excited to work with, who fill you up creatively, who energize you and your art, rather than bring you down? Trust your gut. You’re going to be right more often than you’re wrong, and to preserve your sanity and protect your time, betting on your gut has the best odds.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, it’s the connection. Acting is a communal art. I can “act” without anyone else, but doing monologues in my living room does not fill my cup. Working with talented and energetic people to bring someone else’s words and story to life in front of a crew or audience that is leaning in and hanging on every word is so joyful to me that I can’t imagine my life without it. As I’ve gotten older, my goals for my career have changed, but the desire to connect and create in a community has not. It is my why and the greatest gift of my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tanyagorlow.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tigerhaus/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanya.gorlow
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyagorlow/

Image Credits

Rowan Daly
Dawn Sam Alden
Mackenzie Lorena
Best Frame Forward
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Method and Madness