We recently connected with Jatnna Marte and have shared our conversation below.

Jatnna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I remember being 4-5 years old and performing as a “grandma” for Mother’s Day in front of people. I didn’t know what that was, I was just playing and it was fun. Then, a year later I went to the movie theater for the first time and I remember how magical that place was. I watched the movie “Angelito Mio”, with the performance of Mexican child star Daniela Lujan. I couldn’t fathom the fact that I had just seen her on my television a few hours prior and now I was seeing her as an angel on a big screen. I knew right there that I wanted to do what she was doing. That thing that I didn’t know how to call it, but it was the way the I knew how to express myself, that game that I wanted to play my whole life, telling stories other than mine, it’s called “Acting”.

Jatnna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a proud Latina that was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. I started as a tv host back in my country, in one of the most acclaimed tv shows at the moment, “Con Domingo y El Pacha”, next to Domingo Bautista and Frederick Martinez, this show was nominated as a “Best Weekly Show” at the Soberano Awards (the most important award given to the television, radio, dance, and film industry in the DR). At the same time, I was doing a daily radio show called “A la hora de las 12” with Milton Cordero and Lorenna Pierre. All of that happening as I was finishing my BA in Social Communications and working on my thesis. After that, my friend Dahiana Castro and I created a short film called “Honor & Honra” that won the first place in the Fine Arts International Film Festival and then was sent to the Havana International Film Festival. Two of the top rated film festivals in the Latin market.

Then, I moved to New York City to pursue acting full time, graduating from the Two-Year Conservatory Program at Stella Adler Studio. After graduating, I started auditioning for plays being part of some Off Broadway productions, like: “Paper Towels”, “…But she must have roses, too”, “In Arabia We’d All be Kings”, “Crónicas desquiciadas”, among others. Working alongside amazing creators and artists, like Venezuelan actor and director, Pablo Andrade, actress Marianly Tejada, playwright Nelson Diaz-Marcano. Then the pandemic hit, the world stopped and so did my income. One day, during my prayer time, I felt it so clear that Voice Over was the way to go for me, even thought I had never thought about it up to that point. I reached out to different agencies and within 30 minutes I was already signed with one of the top agencies in the United States. That gave me the opportunity to work and give my voice to brands like Target, Walgreens, Pfizer, McDonalds, Pepsi and many more.

I moved out of New York and moved to Los Angeles. had the opportunity to work on the Peacock Show “One of Us is lying” and then worked on the movie “Bound” (now doing screenings on festivals).

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Media and the way some stories are portrayed can make you feel that you need to fill the mold and that if you don’t, then you don’t belong. Specially with acting. What I used to see growing up was a standard of beauty that was hard to achieve. However, I’ve realized that it’s not true. We don’t need any more carbon copies of what’s out there, people want authenticity. We are all unique, each individual has a very particular experience and way to see life that’s unique to them and that’s what draws people in. Humans want to see humans, see other points of views and stories. If anything, we need to be unapologetically ourselves.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When you study acting, you learn that you can’t judge your character, so I’ve learned to not judge people either. We all have a story that it’s unknown to the people on the outside. We all have struggles and fears, dreams and hopes. So seeing the humanity in people can actually connect you more to the world around you. Being more present and more understanding. Seeing people through the lens of compassion and love. The second thing, is being able to transport people to another reality and opening up their eyes to other stories. Lastly, through art, certain feelings are touched, the most sensible fibers in the body, it is an experience where humans allow themselves to feel and be humans.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: JatnnaMarte

Image Credits
Simon Espinal