We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leah Finity a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Leah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I was on track to pursue acting professionally right out of college. My professors urged me to move to New York or LA… but I believed people would think I was stupid if I only had a degree in Theatre. (For the record, no one in my life was telling me, or even implying, that they thought I was stupid – my family and friends were all super supportive.) So I ran the other way. I got my Master’s in Ecology. I did research projects on birds and fish and sea worms. I lead an international service learning program for teens in Peru. I started a nonprofit teaching entrepreneurship in Kenya. I pursued public speaking… I was determined to prove to the nameless people out there judging me that I was smart. Those pursuits were all very fun and meaningful, but I kept chasing an emptiness and I didn’t know why. Then my best friend and I did a course called “Find Your Why” about how to find your calling in life. My results clearly pointed toward acting. My best friend pointed this out, and I immediately got defensive. I adamantly declared that I did NOT want to be an actor. It took another year of resistance before I finally surrendered. I see now that I longed to be an actor so badly that I created excuses to avoid it. I rejected myself before other people could reject me. I wish I could go back and help myself navigate those confusing waters.

Leah, 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?

Acting-wise, I love embodying people who live in turbulence. Rich female characters who bubble with life and contradictions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sent roles that just said “Mom”… as if motherhood is a personality trait. Give me a raw, wild woman with high stakes and big feelings.

Writing-wise, I’m currently gravitating toward dark comedy. I’ve written straight dramas and straight comedies, but my favorite flavor right now flips dark situations or dark people on their heads and cracks humor into the darkest of corners.

I’m always on the hunt for people I align with creatively. My favorite thing is collaborating to make creative babies. Features, shorts, plays, skits, you name it, as long as it’s interesting. There are an abundance of creatives in LA, but it’s been surprisingly tricky to find people who take art very seriously, but not themselves… and who can follow through and make things happen.

So if you’re a creative with a unique vision, a strong work ethic, and a hunger to make something interesting, please reach out!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

To explore what’s beneath the surface – the nuances and complexities of feelings. All of us are driven by things far more primitive than what we show the world. I want to dive into people’s wounds, their hidden agendas, their jealousies, their rages, their hypocrisies. First and foremost for purely selfish reasons, simply because I find it interesting. But second, I think it serves humanity to see these aspects of ourselves. When we see the dark and unhealed sides of ourselves portrayed by others we breathe a little more freely and live in less shame. I want to help alleviate shame and generate empathy for even the most broken of us. And also help people to laugh at themselves more. Being able to laugh at myself has helped me a lot.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

How it helps me grow. My ego wants to create perfect art. I want accolades and for people to tell me I’m great and special and superior to others. However, if I can crawl beneath the vanity, art is the greatest teacher. The art I’ve created that I’m the most proud of has not been the result of my perfection. Usually it’s when the things I planned fell off the rails. In those moments, if, instead of giving up or running away in shame, I loosen my ego’s grip and take a little free fall, almost always there’s a creative gift waiting for me that’s far better than whatever I had planned. Those moments humble me and help me re-focus: my goal is not to be perfect, it’s to create art. Messy, alive, imperfect art.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @leahfinity