We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mia Alexandra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mia below.
Mia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Tough question! Every project I worked on always seemed to be meaningful and exactly what I needed to be doing at that moment. Perfect for where I needed to be in my proccess. But I am super excited about my current project! I’m producing and performing a play called MAD MAD MAD, created by the director Michael F. Toomey and our ensemble. It’s my first real producing job, so very challenging, scary and so so so much fun!
We started working on this project back in October, Michael had a clear mission for us – create, write, rehearse and perform this devised comedy, using Clown, all in the span of 6 weeks. I was terrified. I had barely any clown experience, and had many acting teachers tell me I’m not a “funny” actor. And on top of my preconceptions about Clown and my comedy skills, at the time that I was cast, I was going through deep grief. I could barley sleep or eat, how was I going to make people laugh? But this play ended up saving me, it gave me a place to go every day, and let out everything I was going through. Funny, sad, shocking, whatever I was feeling, it belonged in the space. I belonged in the space. Something to not only get me out of bed, but make me laugh! That was huge. I remember in the first rehearsal, Michael had explained to us about the “Red Zone”, a term he uses in clown, where you get your energy so high that you stop thinking, and time gets a bit “Wibbly Wobbely”. After spending most of the rehearsal sobbing as we played games, had a dance party and watched The Muppets for inspiration, I came up to Michael and asked him through tears “What if in my current state, I can’t get myself to the Red Zone?”. He looked at me and said “Mia, I think you already are in the Red Zone.”. That changed my view on Clown forever. To me, It became a place where everyone belongs, in every state, because it’s about being ridiculous. And everyone is ridiculous. Playing in Clown challenges me so much as an artist and performer. It forces me to be the most honest, vulnrable and present I’ve ever been. It forces me to put the parts of myself I’m least comfortable with on full blast, and let people laugh at them. At the end of the show, so many people came up to me to tell me they loved my clown! They loved those parts of myself that I keep hidden. It was so healing. When we had our last performance in November, I immediately came up to Michael and said “How can we do this again?”
You can catch me performing as Colonel Meowski in MAD MAD MAD Sep 6th – 8th and 13th – 15th at Target Margin Theater!
Mia, 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?
My name is Mia Alexandra, I’m an actor, writer and voice actor based in New York City.
I was born and raised in Israel, where I got my start in acting. Creativity and performance have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a very creative household, most of my childhood memories include singing or dancing, doing funny impressions and reading or writing in my room. I used to sit in front of the TV and imitate everything the actors were saying or expressing (I actually still do this, its’ become somewhat involuntary and a little embarrassing). What really drew me to acting specifically was my passion for learning and understanding human behavior. I look at it almost like a puzzle, trying to piece together everything that made a person who they are today, and why they do what they do, with a lot of curiosity and zero judgement.
I often think, if I hadn’t become an actor, I would have definitely ended up as a social worker or teacher. I got my certificate in education and psychology during my military service, where I served as a big sister for immigrant teenagers in a Youth Village. My two years living and working with those teenagers were some of the most meaningful of my life. They taught me about trust and communication, about leadership and mutual respect. It informs my work as a storyteller everyday.
Today I’m always seeking the next story I can tell, while also trying to figure out my own. Honest communication is the most underrated and unused tool Humans have. I believe it’s what really makes a difference in this world and it’s what motivates my art. Making people feel seen, heard and understood.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Well, I have been a planner my whole life. At 8 years old I announced to my parents that when I grow up, I will be moving to New York City. Then at age 10, I made a ten-year plan at the end of which I was going to be getting my degree at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I’m proud to say at age 20 I took my first step into The Academy as a student. Nothing gets me going like a beautifully crafted schedule. And while that’s been very useful to certain aspects of career, and definitely helps me as a producer, when it comes to my acting, it was my biggest hurdle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten the note “Just let go”, “Trust the work” and the most frustrating one “You are too smart of an actor, you’re getting ahead of your character.” But those teachers and directors were right. When I let go, the work showed up. I didn’t have to show it or prove it, it was already in my body. Apparently, mistakes and pivots are gifts! It’s a lesson I’m still learning, I catch myself planning in rehearsal all the time. But if I’m able to truly let go, even for one moment, that’s a huge win in my book. It’s about the baby steps.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
That you can learn how to act. I think a lot of non-actors treat actors as if it’s something you’re either born with or not. That can be extremally frustrating and discouraging, and it erases all the work you put into it. Yes, there are techniques to get you where you want to go. I used to really struggle with big emotional scenes and I thought I need to really be in pain for that. Then I learned techniques that help me get to those emotional states without risking my well-being by revisiting trauma. There’s so much mental and emotional prep that goes into a single scene, but it often doesn’t look like “work”. It’s meditation, and imagination exercises, and journaling and making weird noises, sometimes it’s pretending to be an animal for a couple hours or thinking about your feet in the middle of your huge monologue. Whatever works for you. But the point is, you can learn it, and you can get better at it. Just ask me to show you the difference between my self-tapes today and four years ago. Totally different actor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.miaalexandra.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its.miaalexandra/?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg%253D%253D
- Other: Website for my upcoming play MAD MAD MAD:
https://www.thehumanistproject.org/mad-mad-mad.htmlTickets for MAD MAD MAD:
https://madmadmad.brownpapertickets.com/
Image Credits
Bronwen Sharp
Bianca Jenkins