Today we’d like to introduce you to Leo Jerez

Hi Leo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

Hello, my name is Leo Jerez and I am the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic! I was born in New York City, ever since I was a child I always very curious and artistic. I was always interested in art and acting, in 2008 “The Dark Knight” comes out in theaters by Christopher Nolan, watching Heath ledger act as the Joker changed my life forever. I was instantly inspired and wanted to be an actor, I did stage as a child and then did theater acting in high school, I also competed in theatre competitions around New York City. I continued to train in acting by taking classes in “The Barrow Group” around midtown manhattan.

In 2020 the pandemic hit and I transitioned to Voice Acting, I started to take it seriously in 2021 and in the span of two years after taking training/coaching by some of the industry’s best I got signed by CESD Talent Agency for voice acting/on camera commercial’s. I made sure to have all of my marketing materials in order meaning my voice demos, resume, website and headshots, I then marketed myself on LinkedIn, next thing you know I get a message in my inbox! Since then I have been the Spanish voice of Pizza Hut on national television, the voice for Lunazul Tequila, voiced for many games and animated projects that can be seen on HBO Max/Cartoon Network! I no longer partake in theatre as much but the love and admiration will always be there, now I primarily focus on voice acting and on camera film acting!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

It has not been a smooth road and it never will be for the majority. There are many obstacles when pursuing your dreams/passions as an actor. As an actor you can become very dependent and that can be detrimental. You need to pay bills but you need to get hired for work consistently, you need to audition for roles but none of the character’s fit your demographic. Authentic casting may limit your roles, lack of representation among various ethic groups can make it difficult to get opportunities. An agent needs to like and believe in you, the industry is very subjective and over time it can hurt the performers not only professionally but mentally. Investing in classes, marketing materials like demos and professional headshots, casting sites can get expensive very fast. Location plays a factor as well, as much as I’ve heard people say “location doesn’t matter”, let me tell you first hand, it does. Depending on how you want your career to look and play out, you have to go to where the work is. But it’s apart of the game, you chose to be an actor because you love it!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I am a professional actor/voice actor based in New York City. I am the voice of Pizza Hut in Spanish on national television, I also have many roles in animation and video games. I specialize in character work, I am most proud of how far I’ve come in a short period of time. What sets me apart is my “relentless pursuit”. There isn’t a day that I am not working, even on weekends I’m working on my craft and planning, investing, learning and growing!

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?

I believe luck is preparation and opportunity meeting. It has helped tremendously, I was prepared for agency representation and the stars aligned for me, just consistently show up and put yourself out there!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leojerez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leojerezz/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leojerezvo/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeoJerezVO
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leojerezvo
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/@leojerezvids/videos