We recently connected with Adrian Espinal and have shared our conversation below.

Adrian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned the basics of acting when my middle school introduced a drama program and a drama club. I was twelve at the time. I was taught a very baseline understanding of line memorization, body language and articulation. I couldn’t wait to participate in school plays and it was the only thing on my mind. When I was in my 8th grade year I was recruited into a theatre program for my four years of high school. In high school I learned the importance of script analysis and character development. Bringing a character to life starts with understanding him, knowing his life, his values, his hobbies, every little detail. I should know this person as I know myself, because once the play starts or once I hear “action,” that is who I am. Knowing this I would advised my younger self what my high school teachers advised me; “READ THE PLAY, THEN READ IT AGAIN, READ IT A THIRD TIME AND FINALLY… READ IT AGAIN!” There is so much subtext, so much content you get from reading the script and seeing your character interact with themselves or others. Some obstacles I faced were not knowing where to find the reading material or being preoccupied with school work, a job or needing to run errands for my family. With my terrible time management, I never found myself setting time aside to give to the script. A lesson I’ve learned and grown from.

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

I am an actor from Jersey City, New Jersey. A first generation American from two Honduran parents. I grew up watching tele novelas with my mom and action movies with me dad. I was glued to the TV. It was so interesting, so entertaining. I was always so curious how they did what they did. That curiosity turned into a dream when I saw Sam Raimi’s “Spider-man 3” in theaters. It was the first movie I ever saw on the big screen. How much louder and pronounced everything was, it ingrained a thought into my head. “I want to do that!” In my middle school and high school days I would audition for every school play and pour my soul into every performance. I studied theatre in high school, two years of college and did so much individual learning being on set. From school plays, to an off broadway show, to student films, to a couple lines on “Law & Order: SVU” I internalized every moment and use it to further my craft. It means everything to me. What once started as a passion has now become my way of understanding humanity. I am welcomed into the lives of so many different fictional characters and I must justify all of their actions and truly understand their motivations and agree with them so that I can bring them to life. You can’t do that without an open mind to even the most ridiculous of ideas, because to that character, it all makes sense. It’s made me more understanding. More capable of speaking to anyone because I understand how to navigate all different mindsets and how people are receptive to tone, and vocabulary. It’s helped me recognize body language that says “I’m offended” or “I feel at ease.” It helps me become more human and to me that is what acting is. Hopefully it is reflected in my work!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Eventually I want to win an Oscar for Best Male Actor. I want to be an inspiration to talent that feel like they don’t have what it takes to become successful, to be a model representation of what the country of Honduras has to offer. I want to educate on the importance of art and self expression. Not necessarily as a career but for the individual who may have emotions they are having trouble processing. That would be a successful mission for my lifetime.

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.

Non creatives tend to focus on practicality. Can this pay the bills? Is this time well spent? How long can you keep this up before you have to move on to something a little more realistic? As creatives we understand where these sentiments come from. It’s concern, worry and care for the creatives who are taking a risk. However we are fully aware of the risk we are taking. We have a passion, a drive, a talent that we think we can offer the world. We know the how large the risk of failure is, but for us, living with regrets and “what if’s” for the rest of our lives isn’t worth any alternatives. We live for what we do. It’s what we feel like we were made for. The best example I can give is this brilliant take on the story of Icarus. Icarus was told he could not fly to close to the sun as his wings could burn up. Icarus heard this warning and still flew high. He wanted to test his limits. He had to know what he was capable of. In the end his wings burned and he fell. But one must imagine Icarus smiling as he fell. He went out on his own terms. He wrote the final page of his story. It isn’t rational I know. But the pursuit of creative greatness isn’t rational. Despite that we watch films all the time, we visit museums, listen to music. If it’s out there who’s to say it can’t be us?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: adrian_espinal187

Image Credits
Renzo Montoya, Jose Saborio, Elijah Perez, Ryan Calloway, Brandon Michael Maddox, Jaden Miller