Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tom Vera. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tom , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

It was something that I always wanted to do, but never thought it was realistic. You know? One in a million type chances. I might have a better chance of winning the lottery type chances. It wasn’t until my wife recommended I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. If you haven’t read it, go read it! It changed my life.

After reading it, I had a montage of flashbacks to moments in my life where people would me if I was an actor, or a model, or in Hollywood. Back in the day I just laughed those comments off and would say something to the effect of “No, but wouldn’t that be cool?” But after reading the book, I looked at those moments as potential signs from the universe guiding me to where I should go. I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum.

During that reflection, I could help but ask myself the question, why not? Why can’t that one be me? I know for certain that if I don’t try, that one won’t be me. But as long as there is a chance, I’m going to keep aiming…aiming for the edge of the universe, so I can live amongst stars! So I guess to make my short answer long, lol, I would say it has always been something I wanted to do, but I waited for the right time in my life to do it! Now!

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.

I was Cali grown, born and partly raised in Fresno, California. I say partly because my sister and I were young when my parents got a divorce. When I was nine, we moved to Southern California. Looking back on it, the time I lived in Fresno was something special. My mother’s entire side of the family was out there. I’m talking my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. The special part of it is that we were all so close. We used to get together all the time, but my favorite times were the holidays.

After my parent’s got a divorce, we ended up moving to Southern California. That made it hard to see everyone all the time, like we used to. So when the holidays came, that meant family time! To this day, I love the holidays. We go all out for both Halloween and Christmas, decorate every surfaces, throw themed parties, and enjoy being together!

I have an older sister, who has been my steady my entire life. She was like a second mother to me, which I grew to not like very much as I got older lol. My parents had split custody, so she was my one constant and always put my best interest ahead of hers. Though now far geographically, she and I are really close. I owe a lot to her.

I also owe a lot to my mother. I am now a new father and I could not imagine having me as a child lol. And she was a single mother. I have no idea how she did it, especially when we were in Southern California away from her support system. She always supported me, my passions, my dreams, and I never doubted that she’d be there. To her, I owe everything.

My Dad taught me everything I know when it comes to sports and athletics. Our favorite past time was training/practicing (I thought I was playing lol) baseball, basketball, football, diving, billiards. You name it we were doing it. He was definitely a fun dad. Still is. I mean, he is my reader for a lot of my auditions. Now we can add auditioning to our list of favorite past times.

When I got to college, I changed my major three times. They do say third times a charm. I declared geology as my major in undergrad and didn’t look back. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology. You can say that I am a geologist by day and an actor by night lol. I didn’t start acting until 2017, where I really wanted to see what it was about. I dated someone in the industry, so I got to see behind the scenes, but I never got to try it myself. In 2019, I landed my first lead role in the movie The Shipment, where I got the opportunity to work with icons like Lee Majors, Tom Sizemore and Robert LaSardo. You can check this out on Roku.

I became really good friends with director Shawn Welling, where we continued to work together on several movies, like If I Could Ride filmed in VT/NH. This can be watched on Amazon, Roku, Apple, etc. We have done several other that are currently in post-production. I appeared in Season 1 of the CW show Walker with Jared Padalecki and Odette Annable. You can also see me in several commercials.

You can also find me in the upcoming holiday movie A Gettysburg Christmas, The cast on this film was amazing. We had Lee Majors, Bruce Boxleitner, Kate Vernon, Sean Faris, Kelley Jakle, Jake Busey, Sarah Burkett, and Larissa Dali). Shooting a Christmas movie has always been a dream of mine, so I was literally living my dream. After shooting my first one, I definitely want to do more (hint hint Hallmark). But seriously, I want to thank everyone involved in that film for making my dream a reality! Much Love!

I’ve got a few things in the works, so my job isn’t done. It’s just the beginning. You can find me on instagram @tomveratv, facebook username is Tom Vera, you can find me on imdb and see what I’m working on. My website will be coming soon!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think there are a few, but if I had stick to one, I would say it would be to be that I want to be living proof that dreams do come true. It is super important to me personally because I strive to live a life where I practice what I preach. I know one day I am going to tell my daughter to go for it. Chase her dreams. What kind of message would I be sending to my daughter if I didn’t go for mine. I am living proof that you can make your dreams a reality. I wanted to be a geologist…I am. I want to act…I am…I want to act in a Christmas movie…I did that….I want to make it my career…I will!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have had many times where I made a pivot. I feel like my whole life story is an amalgamation of moments where I made a significant change. It started when I was young and we moved to Southern California from Northern California. Even though that was out of my control, it played a huge role in my willingness to embrace change. I changed my major in college from criminal justice to philosophy, then from philosophy to geology. Then, after working 7 years as a geologist, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in acting. All of those changes got me here, to where I am today. And when I zoom out and take a look at my life, I am glad I made those changes. They each gave me opportunities to learn something new about myself. I have come to enjoy the ride we call life. It is unpredictable and change is inevitable. But there is something so beautiful about that!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/tomveratv
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomveratv
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-rivera/

Image Credits
Ray Kuglar Natalie D’Onofrio