We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marlene Forte. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marlene below.

Marlene, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

The working class actor is disappearing. This is why we are on strike. The future of the working class actor is in danger of extinction. I worry about the young artists coming up right now. I joined the union in 1988. And except for a few years, I pretty much made a living acting. I was a single mom who needed health insurance so I worked in all mediums. Commercials, industrials, TV shows, movies (mostly Indies), theater, and even extra work! I was an extra in EVER New Year’s Eve scenes in the movie When Harry Met Sally. Two long cold weeks at The Puke Building in NYC. But I got paid as an actor. I made my health and pension yearly and I was able to call myself an actor. I’m afraid I not see a path for that anymore. I’m afraid extra aren’t making much more than I got paid in 1988 and with the prospect of AI replacing us with a one-time-fee will put an end to even that. I’m not saying that one should aspire to be an extra. Extra work was just one more way to add to your paycheck. Unfortunately, back in 1988 I only needed to make $3000 to qualify for health care, Today it is $29,000.

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’ve been working as an actor for over 30 years. Some better years than others. But I’m still here. The older I get the more I understand that song! I’m Still Here lol. . I think I knew I wanted to be an actor at the age of 10. But my mom and dad did not pull me out of Cuba so I can become a song and dance person. I was supposed to be a lawyer or a doctor. A teach would have been a respectable career choice. But I managed to get on stage at the age of 10 years old, in a small adaption of Great Expectations and I got bit! It took me 20 years to get back to it. I was a good immigrant daughter. Married her high school sweetheart. Had a child by the age of 21, and I had already taking the LSAT’s twice. I was going to law school. Maybe have a couple of more kids before I graduated. . But unfortunately that little girl of 10 who was now 21, realized I needed to jump ship. I never sent in those law school recommendations. And I came home and told my dad i was going to get a divorce and I had just gotten into a brand new theater company for Latinos that was starting in New York City, called the LAB ( Latino’s Actor Base) AND I was coming back home! I was not going to law school. I was going to become an actor! Today that theater company is called Labyrinth Theater and it was my MF A in acting. .

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

For me this moment in time, right now is a pivot. I always used to say that actors don’t retire. Actors die. Preferably while you’re working lol. I truly love what I do. And I truly love all the mediums. I like working on TV shows. I like making movies. I love working in the theater. I even enjoy making commercials. It’s still the best temp job in the world for an actor. What I don’t like is this new emphasis and urgency to have 1 million followers. Or to have a video go viral. Maybe I show my age. Because my eyes are definitely not good enough to live tweet. And my spelling sucks! Lol But the pandemic taught me how to embrace a whole new aspect of my career that did not exist when I first started. I’ve learned to use my phone and my iPad now to record myself and send in my auditions myself. How do hook up to a live zoom meetings for callbacks. And for that I am grateful. Although again, I think I’m old-school, and coming from the theater, I miss walking into a room with an audience Even if the audience was made up of casting directors and executives. Today we have to come in with our own audiences. Our own followers. We didn’t want followers back in the day. “Followers” were creepy. If someone was “following”you, you would probably call the police lol. I try to make light of this because I don’t understand it. It makes me think about retiring lol.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think we have to start with bringing back the arts into our public school systems. I was very blessed to go to a public school system in New Jersey, which actually did adaptations of great literature like Great Expectations in grammar school. .our forms of communicating are disappearing. Acting classes or public speaking.classes are actually very useful for any career. They are forms of communication. Our public school systems are no longer teach penmanship! I know I sound old again. But writing is a form of communication. Will our signatures become X’s? . I remember having debate teams. Where we would have to argue both sides.. The arts and sciences and businesses must work hand-in-hand to move a civilized nation forward. And allowing its people to respect artists and understand the importance of art and science at an early age in school really helps.

Contact Info:

• Website: Marleneforte.com
• Instagram: @marleneforte
• Facebook: Ana Marlene Forte Machado
• Linkedin: Marlene Forte
• Twitter: @marleneforte

Image Credits
Photographer Julian Juaquin too the red turtle neck head shot. David Zaugh is the photographer of the black turtle neck head shot The others are my personal stash. The young one is me at LAByrinth Theater The other one is with my husband OLIVER MAYER and my daughter Giselle Rodriguez