We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chai Valladares a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chai, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
To answer the first question, ‘Yes! But not all the time.’ There are challenges that test your creativity and your peace of mind. A lot of it stems to having a ‘normal life,’ whatever that is… ‘Normal,’ is generally getting married, having kids, seeing friends on weekends. It’s what I was surrounded by while I was a kid growing up, while taking the world in. At the end of the day, though, I was captivated by stories, especially things that moved away from the ‘normal.’ As a kid I used to play with my action figures and involve my dog, he’d be this huge monster that all my action figures were trying to slay but never could. The stories started getting more complex, my dog wasn’t just a one-note monster, his calm patience, caring gaze, and silent strength became part of the monster he was involuntarily playing. I loved it and I still do. It’s why I play Dungeons & Dragons and why I keep having little snippets of some larger story that I need to write down as a script or something. I think I’d be fine with a normal life if forced into it, but something, some force out there, keeps pulling me back to worldbuilding, to storytelling. Creative challenges do arise, writer’s block occurs, or I feel like I’m making mundane choices as an actor. However, I know they’re temporary, and I know that pursuing other creative outlets (like music) allow me to go back to my writing or acting and re-engage with new energy and a different mindset.
I definitely think about the experience of having a regular job because it’s part of being an actor. I’ve been on the morning commute (I hated it), but I can look at it through the eyes of a character distinct from me. What if they love it because it’s the only time they get to be social? Does a data analyst take lunch at their computer while working, why? How excited is a project manager to meet their new team? The curiosity is not about the ins and outs of the job itself, but the emotionality around it.
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’m a professional actor who is, like many actors, fascinated by stories. Though I don’t think watching or reading stories is my favorite way to experience them. I do enjoy having my own little slice of the pie, you know, living a little bit of the story myself. For example, I enjoy movies like Indiana Jones, and games like Uncharted, so I started rock climbing and kayaking. It’s not enough for me to experience story from a third-hand account. I need a taste of the experience to a healthy degree. It’s exciting to be adventurous this way and it fuels my imagination to no end.
I got into acting at the tail end of high school. My mother says I always wanted to be an actor, but I remember things differently, I remember wanting to be a tyrannosaurus rex! Motion capture can make that dream come true, Little Chai. Back to high school; we did Romeo & Juliet, but threw in modern songs between Shakespeare’s verse, songs like Tal Bachman’s She’s So High, and Price’s Purple Rain. I played Tybalt. Loved. Every. Second. I made a lot of friends and memories, and the immediate audience reactions to my choices, as an actor, live on stage was exciting, uplifting (because thankfully they were positive), and so addictive. They actively engaged with my art. I rode this wave to university where I did more theatre, branching out to play a variety of roles like a failed, misanthropic cloning experiment (The Third Story by Charles Busch), a high-energy servant trying to get payment from two bosses (The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni), and back to Shakespeare to play Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.
I really learned that I had a much wider range than I thought. Infusing energy and quirk into characters to move them away from the expected actions and having them bounce between strength and vulnerability all in service of the story being told. Thankfully this has been noted, one of the best things anyone ever told me after seeing me in several different roles was, “Chai, it doesn’t matter which production you’re in, or who you’re acting with; you’ll always be great.”
To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a stumble forwards, or a leap ahead, I’m happy knowing that I’m always getting better, and a huge part of that is collaborating with my directors, writers, and fellow actors. It’s the lifeblood of so much art: keeping things fresh by having different people, and their experiences, poured into the common challenge of how to bring art to life. Film is where that is most evident, and why I wanted to enter that industry as well (also many of the best film actors have a history on stage). Film takes things to another level, it is not afraid-no-it thrives on a wide range of different artists banding together and attempting to create something greater than the sum of its parts. I include the carpenters, painters, electricians, tailors etc as artists as well. I always seek collaboration, because I believe that art is inherently for the people, by the people.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Taking on a creative challenge is never a straight, or even logical, path. Your gut instinct can show up at any time and show you a road you didn’t even think was feasible. Then, on top of this introduction of a new, strange avenue, you feel compelled to explore it, almost like it’s your duty. Allow us to explore what isn’t the right path, even if the signs are clear. Sometimes, we need to discover the ‘why’ for ourselves. We’re still professional, we won’t dwell too long on something clearly wrong, but we do need to risk venturing down numerous avenues and learning something if we’re pulled in such a direction.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Engagement. Seeing people react to the choices that I’m making, especially in real time because it feels more collaborative. These reactions do not have to be seen as a criticism of the work. I see them as ways in which I evoke some kind of response from the audience, and that is always a win with me because I have something compelling enough to hold their attention and connect with them. I’m here to provide an emotional experience after all. Not every emotion has to be intense, but I’d like to think that I’m making the audience feel something, even a single drop can open a door to who knows where!
And isn’t art about connecting to others after all?
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/chaivalladares/
Image Credits
Tim Leyes (for the primary photo)