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

Desiree, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned to act by getting a great foundation at New World School of the Arts highschool & college program,taking several classes around the Bay Area (A.C.T ,Seydeways Studios, Multi-Ethnic-Theater and more) and by being in shows. From my personal preparation process to being in rehearsals with the rest of the cast and on through to the performance process… it all adds up if you stay open to change.

One way I could have sped up my learning process was by trusting myself sooner, taking more risks in rehearsals and not limiting my character’s development.
I think the most essential skills I’ve learned are to listen-fully & carefully, take up space and time, stretch-physically, mentally & emotionally and to not judge my work right away or judge
my characters.

I think the obstacles that stood in my way were financial & personal. Limited funds available for “something that might or might not pan out as a viable long term plan.” And on a personal level, fear and a little apathy got in the way. When I was younger and extremely sensitive… if I wasn’t getting helpful feed back or I got the wrong comments from the wrong people on the wrong day…it shut something down in me. It could actually have me abandoning something valuable and important to me… luckily I grew out of that.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a actor and poet. I got into acting because I inadvertently got a huge laugh at school production when I was 7. Before that I wasn’t aware I could have much of an impact on anyone besides my immediate family. I was fascinated by the fact that I could cause a ripple.

Later, when I began to recognize that some folks would ignore my voice and create a vision of me I had no real part in the formation of…I noticed that I could actually… be heard and seen… better… if I stood two inches off the ground in the center of a room with a few lights shining on me. Then I thought,
“Hey, if they could see me better and possibly understand me better standing up here… maybe…with the cloak of the script they could see others better.” I realized that I could impact the way people understood other people’s lives. I could do something that I love and believe in…that could entertain while ,informing/educating and create compassion, understanding & interest in the lives/plights of other human beings.

Each performance and each show is an opportunity to learn more about the subjects we delve into in the piece, (play,film, web episode,TV show) our own humanity, the humanity of others and the world. I find that being prepared, staying humble, relaxed & wide open to inspiration, my peers & the magic of art and empathy…helps me grow and support other people in their growth.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Giving audience members a “whole” person to know & care about deeply… so they have more awareness, understanding and compassion for a person and/or situation when they read a news story…that they once held at an emotion distance is important to me. I want to support myself & others in knowing about & caring about each other more. Expand our sense of self & our awareness of what’s going on in the lives of other people, challenge beliefs we’ve accepted without exploring them for truth.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Because I recently closed a show the one that is most on my mind is…unlearning invisibility.

Being African-American…in America has taught me a lot of idiotic, hypocritical lessons (from outside of my community) that are based on ignorance, fear & bias (I don’t know how some people…did/do… the mental gymnastics they did/do to attempts to make lies true…but..)
It created a hyper vigilance in me. A way to combat the negativity I was experiencing was to be quiet, to disappear. I couldn’t…so I struggled.
What essential helped me come through that was that at my core…my Mother had instilled a belief in me that I was worthy of being listened to… by listening to me… that I had something to say… by encouraging me to tell her how I felt. My feelings held weight & mattered. So, eventually I stopped looking for outside validation, built up my self confidence and convinced myself that if I took the risk to show up with all of myself I would find deeper rewards.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: acting_desiree
• Youtube: @desireerogers7123

Image Credits
heidialletzhauser.photo giammarco.com Joseph Giammarco African-American Shakespeare Company-The Trial Susan Strolis