We recently connected with Jennifer Ann Galvez and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents instilled in me a passion for whatever I chose to do. My mother, Nenita was a hard-working nurse and single mom with three children, two boys and a girl. I have an older brother, Eric who has a career as a VP in Finance & Investments, and a younger brother, Arthur who is an MRI director and technician. My mother was harder on me in a disciplinary way than my brothers. She felt it was important to be a strong female in this very ever-challenging world. It was a good lesson to teach me independence and fearlessness especially when it comes to my career of acting. I am grateful to my mother for many things specifically letting me know everything is earned and you have to work twice as hard to achieve what you want in your life.
Jennifer, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an actor. I started decades ago in New York City acting in every nook and cranny you could think of in the world of theater. I also was featured in Backstage newspaper as an actor who did background work. (For the article: https://www.jenniferanngalvez.com/press) I have worked on television on programs such as Sesame Street. Law & Order and The Cosby Show. I was a regular “under-5 or featured extra” on every soap opera in Manhattan, One Life to Live, All My Children, Guiding Light, and Another World, just to name a few. I was raised in Jersey City, NJ and I always knew I would become an actor. Every day I would look out our picture window in our living room and see the New York skyline and I said to myself I will be an actor living in Manhattan one day! At 21 I began taking classes at William Esper Acting Studio, I went on to study at Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Conservatory of Acting in San Francisco. There I learned the essentials and tools to become an authentic artist. Acting is a business as well as an art form. You have to hone your craft daily and feed your body mind and soul with good stories/scripts and talented actors, directors, and storytellers. What sets me apart is my willingness to be fearless and confident. I am a Filipina-American actress who lives in the Western New York area, where the demographics are primarily Caucasian, Black, and some Latino. Not very many people in our area, let alone actors look like me and have my acting experience; that to me is a gift!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Right before I met my husband, I decided to let acting go for a decade or so and end my passion, for a job that paid me a weekly paycheck in order to pay my bills. I worked a full-time job and did my best to push all my acting inclinations down inside of me so that I do not have to feel the struggles of auditioning and rejection anymore. Unfortunately, it left me feeling empty inside. I knew I wanted more than the life I was leading I was just afraid to go after my dream again. A dream that after over 10 years did not bring me to a “Julia Roberts” or “Meg Ryan” famous actor status. The turning point for me came 10 years ago after my husband and I moved to the Rochester, NY area. I saw an opportunity to do what I love and share my passion for acting in a smaller market than New York City. The Western and Upstate New York area needs actors like me to fill a void. If everyone goes to New York City to pursue acting then the competition and playing field are much narrower because there are more actors in such a small radius. When I first moved to the Rochester area I merely dabbled in theater with play readings and smaller parts in theater but my talent agency then called AMS Models now TMT or Tamara’s Models & Talent reached out to me for a healthcare print ad which I booked and I began submitting my headshot and photo collage more often. The Covid-19 pandemic only shot me into overdrive and made me realize how much I missed the acting and modeling business.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I have several stories of resilience but I will share only two of them. The first one was early in my career, in my twenties, when I lived in Times Square in Manhattan. I found an SRO (single-room occupancy apartment) on the corner of 8th Ave and 43rd Street – right next to the then, New York Times Building. I ate peanut butter sandwiches and ramen noodles daily and as a treat to myself, once a week I would go to McDonalds and pick something out off the dollar menu. I was fortunate enough to have a job working for Madison Square Garden as an executive suite attendant. I loved my life even though I had very little money. The majority of my earnings went to my acting classes, headshots, and rent. I did this lifestyle for nearly a decade and I was extremely ambitious and am richer for the experience. The second story of resilience was more recent. In 2021, at the height of the racial protests, I decided to produce and act in a play reading I always enjoyed called “Love Letters” by A.R. Gurney. It had always been acted by Caucasian actors (with the exception of actor, James Earl Jones on Broadway in the 80s) and that did not make sense to me. I couldn’t understand why two people of color could not attend an Ivy League school or come from wealthy families. People of color also fall in and out of love and get married have children get divorced; all of these things apply. Right then and there, I had a light turn on inside of me and so I defied the advice of friends and went on to produce and act in the lead role of Melissa Gardner and have J. Simmons, an amazingly talented black actor play opposite me. The cast and crew included Esther O’Leary Winter, a stellar black director, and was comprised of a racially diverse group of artists. That was a deliberate choice I made in casting and hiring exclusively people of color. It was so successful that we performed it not only at JCC CenterStage but also at the 2021 Rochester Fringe Festival and at Bristol Valley Theater in 2022.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jenniferanngalvez.com/
- Instagram: @jenniferanngalvezactor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferanngalvezactor
Image Credits
Dan Doyle, Photographer Adam Eaton, Photographer