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

Maite , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

Fifteen days before I moved to New York to pursue acting, I lost the financial support I was counting on to do that. I had two friends who, without me asking and without a moment’s hesitation, lent me a significant amount of money to be able to move forward with my plans. And may I say that these people were not particularly well off and I know for a fact that doing this wasn’t as comfortable as giving away something that you may have plenty of: they could do it, of course, but it required certain sacrifices on their end too. Additionally, it wasn’t only the money: with time, I’ve realized that they were not only lending me money, but making a statement regarding my talent, their belief in my abilities. It’s been many, many years since I’ve paid the sum back, but to this day, whenever I’m insecure or doubt my talent or wether I can continue to pursue this career or not, I always remember them and how much faith they put in me (and in a pretty tangible way!) and I am certain that I must, I simply must perservere.

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

I’m an actress and singer from Madrid, Spain, currently playing the role of Golde with the touring company of the 2015 Broadway Revival of Fiddler on the Roof. I’ve been an actress and a singer for more than 10 years now but I was a lawyer before that. At the age of 27 I quit law to pursue my passion, moved from Madrid to New York City to study at the American Musical Theatre and Dramatic Academy and after graduating I just kept auditioning and one job led to the other. I take pride in having quit a job that did not fulfill me to pursue my passion. I don’t think there’s anything that sets me apart from others other than my dna: everyone is replaceable in this industry: what I do think is that there’s a smaller group of people in every industry that strives to give their best every day, to never run out of passion, determination and curiosity for what they do; and I do make every effort to stay within that group, hoping to be able to, at the very least, entertain other people with the stories that I’m part of.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Put the focus on children. I was exposed to a wide variety of artistic expressions since I was very, very young and my parents always made the arts part of our weekly activities. The school I went to also gave a lot of importance to music, dance and plastic arts (and it wasn’t an arts school). Cultivating the curiosity, imagination and and kindness of a child is one of the most valuable things society can do, not only to nurture a thriving creative acosystem, but to contribute to the betterment of the human experience in every aspect.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To think that someone can be moved to emotion and/or action by our work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maiteuzal.com
• Instagram: maiteuzal

Image Credits
Michael Palma Mir Shirin Tinati (all the headshots) Joan Marcus