We recently connected with Nina Marcelo and have shared our conversation below.
Nina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
As an actor you kind of go into the industry expecting the unexpected. Things in this field are incredibly unpredictable, that’s a big part of the excitement from it! However, no matter how “prepared” I thought I was I definitely experienced some large unexpected problems. My last year at my acting school was 2020 and of course nobody expected a global pandemic, but it happened. Graduating during that time was absolutely one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced and I know many people feel the same. I had finally reached my moment of living in Los Angeles with good training under my belt and the ability to go out and work, and then everything shut down. Not much was happening which also made my search for representation difficult and also maintaining life in LA with no job was basically impossible. There were times where I just wanted to go back home and wait it out, but I figured if I left it would be very difficult to come back. So I stuck it out and somehow made it work! It took a while for things to start to pick back up, and being in the very beginning of my career I definitely struggled but I have always found the determination to keep trying. Now with the strike it feels similar. Not much going on or work to do. This time I’m using this pause in the industry to polish up my materials, get back into class, and create things with my friends. So now rather than trying to be “prepared” for unexpected problems and issues I try to just work through them as they come!
Nina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
It’s interesting that the hardest question is always the one where I have to tell about myself! My name is Nina and I’m an actor. I’m from Michigan where everyone is overly nice and has a lot of pride to be from there. I really enjoy being in nature, traveling, exercise, and pretty much anything that will keep me away from my phone and in the real world. I pride myself in being very determined, having a lot of belief in myself, and being kind to others. Like many of my fellow actors my love for acting began when I was a young girl, specifically in middle school. None of my family is in the arts, so going into it I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I moved to LA to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts for two years before graduating in 2020. Now I’m out in the industry, working hard to achieve my goals. I really love acting and have a strong appreciation for the craft so I’m in the process for the long haul and willing to put in hard work because I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Graduating from school I figured we’d all go off, get representation, and then work until we found success. However, I learned that’s it’s not that cut and dry. It’s not like college where you get your degree and then go through the motions to get a job in your field. Everybody moves at wildly different paces and I learned that first hand. Some people from school got it right away, began booking, and doing big things quickly after graduation. Some went a different career path, and some went home or to other markets to build their career. I expected to get representation and work to start booking but my path wasn’t going to be quite that way. For a while I saw myself falling behind, not doing as well as my peers, and that was difficult. It took me some time to realize that just because my path wasn’t the same as everyone around me didn’t mean I was failing. In this field it’s very easy to compare your career to others and judge yourself based on that but I had to learn that you can’t do that. Everybody moves at different paces and everybody has a different path and that’s okay. Focus on your own career, be happy for others, and be proud of what you’re doing.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
There are a few, but one I will share is the goal to be happy. I feel that it is very important to be happy in life, which of course means doing things that make us happy. Acting is something that has always brought me joy and I know can bring joy to others. It’s something that I genuinely love and what better way to live a happy life than spending it doing something that means that much to me? My mom has always told me that if I’m doing something I love then I’ll never work a day in my life, and that’s what I feel with acting! Aside from the craft bringing me joy it is also so beautiful to know that you can touch others through acting as well. Being able to connect with people and share stories they can relate to is also something that I feel is essential. To me, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/ninamarcelo51
Image Credits
Milo Fontanez