We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marie-Louise Boisnier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marie-Louise , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The decision was very natural. I always migrated to anything more artistic, I found myself at my happiest though music, dancing, and on a stage. I focused a lot of my extra curricular activities on this. I spent my summers at drama camps, drama clubs wherever I could to be amongst what I loved the most and the people that nurtured that.

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

Being a performer I feel like you can’t really narrow down just one thing you do. For example I am classically trained in Musical Theatre, so I tend to get cast in Plays and Musicals. However I recently started auditioning for films/short films/pilots and recently have been dabbling in some on screen work. I also sing, and have written and released some original songs that are available on Spotify and Apple Music, this has led me to perform in cabarets across New York. Every month is unique depending on what show/job I have booked. I love what I do as it is so diverse and you are always meeting new and incredibly talented people who then mould you and inspire you on each project to propel you to the next. The performing arts world is definitely not easy you definitely have to develop a thick skin, especially with the recent changes that have been going on in the world such as Covid-19 and the on going Strike it can feel a little lonely. I do find that with each hurdle it only makes realize how much I love what I do and feel very lucky to be able to pursue it.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Acting is definitely linked with psychology. When you receive a script you definitely need to breakdown the characters brain and why they do the things they do and tap into that. With performing, your body and mind, and voice is your product so I definitely think it is important to take great care of yourself and have your instrument ready. I am a big fan of self help books such as, Mindfulness, MANIFEST, The Secret, 101 Essays To Change The Way You Think, The Artists Way. All these books have taught me that the way you talk to yourself is very important, especially if you are thinking negative thoughts such as ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m not good enough’ your body can register these as truths. These books have taught me to really filter how I talk to myself what message I am sending the Universe. Every morning I wake up, drink my coffee and journal this helps me filter any subconscious thoughts I may have, I also have a positive Journal where I write positive affirmations and things I want to manifest in my life. I also have a to do list that I write every Sunday for the following week and tick off accomplishments as the week goes by. These books have definitely helped me with structure. I have been using them since I was a teenager, if I ever feel like I am at a place in my life where I need to re read them again I do! When it comes to Acting I like to read books that are recently published especially as the industry is changing so fast I want to be informed on what the casting directors are looking for, a recent book that was amazing to read was ACTING IN LA by Kristina Sexton that was very informative.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During Covid I started writing Music, I have been singing from a very young age, I took part in Choirs and Toured with the National Youth Choir in England. I had private singing coaching and would often perform in Jazz Concerts and at Recitals.the reason why I love Musical Theatre so much is because I love to incorporate my biggest love which is singing. I am constantly listening to music, I don’t think anything has healed me, or moved me or changed my mood more than music has. It inspires me and for each character I play I love to listen to music that the character might listen to. During Covid when the world shut down, I continued studying Online. However I was really missing singing live, so I started to write my own songs. I have written 7 and only since released 3, most of which I recorded in LA two years later. I do plan on releasing more in time. I love performing them live in NYC, and have some projects in the works to do with my music. I believe Covid really gave me a chance to reflect on singing that has been a really crucial part of my upbringing and allowed me the time to create my own music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marie-louiseboisnier.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marie_louiseb/

Image Credits
Zuzu valla – photographer