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

Clare, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

I have been working professionally as a performer for over twenty years – and I have been teaching and coaching actors for over a decade. Before I launched The WholeHearted Actor, I had been working as a coach and Director of Education for another acting studio in central Florida. Never in my wildest dreams had I had any ambition to start my own company. But when the studio closed, and I suddenly became unemployed, I started seeking out creative leadership roles. I soon realized that it was difficult to find organizations that aligned with my values and lived experience. I very much wanted to work for a woman and minority owned business. I the company I work for to align with my values and take special care in supporting an actor’s wellness – outside the industry.

But I had yet to see an acting studio dedicated to supporting actors as humans as well as actors. Our industry has a long-standing history of perpetuating a toxic hustle culture, scarcity, and competition. From early on, we are taught that sacrificing our health, relationships, and mental wellbeing is the price we pay for a successful acting career. These problematic practices within the Theatre/TV/Film industry are imbedded into our educational and training programs. Actors everywhere are treated as if it is a ‘rite of passage’ to go a month without a day off. Being overworked and underpaid are how we pay our dues. Nowhere in my own actor training have I ever had an acting instructor tell me it would be any other way. Nowhere did I experience instructors who chose to combat this culture or acknowledge that the industry is racist, ableist, fatphobic, transphobic, homophobic and misogynistic.

I realized, if I can’t find a place that is women run, BIPOC lead, with an orientation around mental health and community care – then perhaps – it was my job to create that space. That is how The WholeHearted Actor began. I wanted to build a little corner of the earth where actors could train at the craft while fostering a healthier, more compassionate relationship with their careers. My focus was on building community over competition. I wanted to help actors grant themselves grace in an unforgiving industry. The WholeHearted Actor is both a creative home, and a place where actors can be active disrupters to the harmful narrative we’ve inherited. From the start, I knew our industry needed this company – because I knew, if I was craving this level of connection and care- I am certain other actors were as well.

It has been incredibly rewarding to be a part of this really vital work of helping actors understand their boundaries and communicate them with their agents, directors, and fellow actors. I am so humbled by the actors who are leaning to show up daily for themselves – and find joy regardless of the industry’s ups and downs.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my training as an actor in college and then conservatory. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Music from Saint Martin’s University (https://www.stmartin.edu) and am a graduate of The Pacific Conservatory of The Performing Arts (https://www.pcpa.org ). My acting career has spanned 9 states and 10 countries, including regional theatre, film, TV, commercial, and voice over work. I am SAG-AFTRA Eligible actor and represented by Brevard Talent Group (https://brevardtalentgroup.com ) . As an actor, I feel most aligned getting to do work that amplifies voices of underrepresented communities. I love working on new works, devised theatre, and theatre for social change. I am Latina, and neurodivergent – and very much a multi-hyphenate. A part from my work as an actor, I also work as a director, playwright, casting director, and instructor. No matter the role, I consider myself, first and foremost, a storyteller.

Teaching was something that I loved – but it was also a means to support my work as a performer. I started working as an assistant director at my alma mater – PCPA Conservatory Theatre – while also working full time with AmeriCorps, and interning as a dramaturge. I’ve taught hundreds of courses in on-camera acting, script analysis, audition technique, Shakespeare, writing, musical theatre, and movement at acting studios and theatre companies across the country.

I founded The WholeHearted Actor because I wanted to offer exceptional acting training that honors actors as humans first – and actors second. At the studio I get to help actors build their process – while helping them create a sustainable and joy-full career. My work centers on the actor as a *whole* person. My goal is to meet actors where they are – and make sure they feel valued and supported.

As a studio, I offer all of the services I’ve been offering for the last decade: Classes, Private Coaching, Audition Taping, Headshot Styling, Workshops, Agency Preparation Consultations – but now added an intentional support for actors through community centered programming. As a business owner – I have found myself able to create initiatives that were impossible to implement as an employee. I’ve offered free monthly workshops, free resource guides, a monthly newsletter, as well as discounts to offset the cost for historically marginalized communities. I advocate for the actor’s wellness and mindset while helping them develop a sustainable and connected acting process. I provide consent-forward and trauma informed training – and I am especially passionate about supporting historically marginalized communities, neuro-divergent actors, and actors of color.

When it comes to methodology – I believe that there isn’t only one ‘right’ method to do this work. My own training as an actor is an amalgam of many practitioners: Stanisklavski, Uta Hagen, Grotowski, Anne Bogart, Chekhov, Laban, Meisner, and many others. I believe that the nature of acting means there are infinite playable versions of a scene, and that it is my job as a coach, to guide actors in uncovering their own unique interpretation. The most exciting choices emerge when we are free to explore, get on our feet, and *play*. I focus on honoring the actor’s instincts to uncover where the text lives in the breath and body. Every actor’s path is different. As a career coach, I work to ensure an actor’s materials authentically reflect who they are and showcase their strengths as performers. I believe that actors are first and foremost, storytellers – who each have a story that only *they* can tell.

When it comes to the actors I work with, what I a most proud of, isn’t the roles they book or the amount of auditions they get. What I am most proud of is seeing an actor who can trust themselves–who knows how to approach the work with both bravery and curiosity – and who knows that at the end of the day – they are enough- whether they book the role or not.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am a huge nerd when it comes to tools and resources.

Some of my absolute favorites include:

BOOKS:

+ THE ARTIST’S WAY – (2016) Julia Cameron
+ ATOMIC HABITS – (2018) James Clear
+ THE BIG LEAP: CONQUER YOUR HIDDEN FEAR AND TAKE LIFE TO THE
NEXT LEVEL – (2009) – Gay Hendricks
+ DARE TO LEAD – (2018)- Brené Brown

VIDEOS:

+JIM CARREY’S MIU COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
+ STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST: AUSTIN KLEON AT TEDXKC
+ THE POWER OF VULNERABILITY – TEDEX Houston Brené Brown

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I consider myself a recovering perfectionist and overachiever. In the past, I’ve found a false sense of security in my performance. I’ve centered my entire worth around my ability to produce, and achieve, and do so without making a single mistake. I am know this is a trauma response- that my need to be perfect was a way to keep me safe, and protect me from harm. But this is one of those recurring lessons I have to learn and learn again: perfection does not exist.

I love what Brene Brown has to say about perfectionism, “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It’s a shield. It’s a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from flight.”― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

I know perfection is impossible. I’ve been learning to let go of that false belief, that only if I work hard enough – I could be perfect. But the best way I’ve learned to let go of perfection – is embracing my clumsy. I tend to drop things — I bump into things. I make stupid or otherwise thoughtless mistakes. I might make a 3 course meal – and just as I am finally about to sit down, and enjoy my dinner – in those last milliseconds before my body hits the chair: I’ll inevitably knock over the fork. It’s just par for the course. For a long time, I hated it – I was always so frustrated, so mad at myself.

But I am learning that this particular flaw has been a gift. Each time I drop something – I am reminded that I am not perfect – and that – as an imperfect person – I am okay. I am safe. I am worthy. I learned, that I can only do something so many times, before it becomes comical. I have become my own farce.
I drop one fork, and I think ‘Shit. Ugh. Now I have to get another one”. Drop another fork and I think “Jesus! What are the odds?” and then reluctantly grab another one. After the third fork, I think “Hey, we gotta stop meeting like this”. I have become my own personal sit-com – and now I find the redundancy comforting. I am thrilled to be reminded that I am human and I am allowed to make mistakes. And it reminds me that my flaws are what make me lovable, and interesting and creative. And its how my imperfection reminds me to have fun – to grant myself grace – and take risks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewholeheartedactor.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewholeheartedactor/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarelopez/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/clarelopez/

Image Credits

Personal Photo image:
Nayshka Miranda

Black and White Full body image:
Stephanie Garcia Mullins

Film Still from “What’s New With You?” – Kevin O’Brien

Horizontal Headshot photo:
Scott Dentinger

Studio Photo –
Clare Lopez