We were lucky to catch up with Natsumi Sasabe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Natsumi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?

I signed with my current agent, Myreon Arslan from MJB Talent Agency last November. I am very grateful to MJB for taking a chance on me and welcoming me into their team despite going through an unprecedented strike. As I was looking for theatrical representation, I emailed a couple of agents in the city whose clients seemed to be doing projects I was also interested in. I think it was a very opportune moment; MJB was looking for someone who matches needs in their roster and I fitted in. Myreon and his team are always willing to listen, ask questions, answer questions, be there to talk —- which I feel is essential in working together as a team. They are willing to give honest opinions about my audition materials, and this sense of trust – that we can mutually take critiques, likes, dislikes in a healthy and productive way – is what I appreciate the most in this relationship. It is a true driving force for honing my crafts as a creative professional, and I am very thankful that I have these like-minded people in my team. I am really excited to see what this year has in store for me.

Natsumi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Natsumi Sasabe (she/her) and I am a NYC based actor from Japan.

Selected Credits
New York: So Much Depends (Maria, Open Works), Black Daisies / White Daisies (Ting’an, JCLA Meet the Playwrights) Regional: The Lamp is the Moon(Shawn, Forum Players Theater Company), Tea (Himiko, Geneseng) Film/TV: “For Her” (Supporting, Morningside Collective), “The Silk Kite” (Lead, Dir. Joanna Yuan), “Three Minutes to Smoke a Cig”(Supporting, Dir. Victor Omojola) Live Performance: Merry Menagerie(Puppeteer, Walt Disney World), FIESTA de El CALIENTE (Ensemble, Mojo Studio) Music Video “Tsuki-no-Uta” (Solo Dancer, STUDIO MOVIES), Graduate of Columbia University B.A. Drama and Theater Arts

Growing up in Tokyo, Japan, with parents who love Jazz music and Disney, I was lucky to be exposed to various kinds of art and entertainment. As I gained training in dance, gymnastics, gyrokinesis and swimming to learn body control, I also developed a strong interest in working professionally as a performer from an early age — and so I did. I performed in regional theatres and restaurants in Tokyo as a freelance dancer, auditioning and frivolously training; all the while juggling with school work to fulfil my responsibility as a high school student. After working in the dance industry for five years, I moved to the United States in 2017 to pursue my interest in theatre arts. I continued to work on various projects (theatre, on-camera, live performances etc) both in Japan and the United States, and that’s where I ultimately discovered the art of acting. I chose acting as my main focus because I feel like it allows me the greatest range in the kind of work I take; acting to me is as much of intellectual activity as it is physical. As a first generation Asian immigrant in the United States, a project like Black Daisies / White Daisies particularly resonated with me as it explores and navigates between two diverging cultures in one body. Like many creatives, I am interested in telling a story in a way I wish it to be told, and I very much enjoy a kind of holistic, humane storytelling that acting allows.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Going through some intense physical training and rigorous education, I have long believed that I am somewhat in control of my life, as long as I work hard enough. For the most part, that faith has benefited me in many ways, but every once in a while, I hit a ceiling, whether it was about learning a new technique in a dance routine or doing a scene study of a play that’s very nuanced. At some points, I had to learn not to trust my expectations in order to move forward. (On the most practical level, I had to unlearn flimsy expectations that I was likely or unlikely to get casted for a certain project.) I may be able to make hypotheses and adjust myself accordingly but cannot fully control the result of all the work I put in.

This idea has now become clear to me when I started practicing improvisation, and now I kind of like when the moments are unexpected. Full of surprise, noise, repetition and break from repetition, countless negotiations among all the entities involved – It cracks me up! In a sense, such is life, right? This approach in devising moments pushes me to do real-making on stage/camera and has become the essential part of who I am today and my art making.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am not sure if I can call this my mission but I have a mantra for being in the creative world: to live defenselessly but boldly. By living defenselessly, I mean learning to let go of my guard when engaging in the world; but doing so in a bold way requires a certain sense of trust in myself. It is more vulnerable and sometimes scary even but I find that way of being much kinder both to myself and to people surrounding me. Acting and dancing have both taught me this whimsical way of living, and I want to keep practicing it as much as I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://natsumisasabe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natsymee/

Image Credits
Picture 4: Walt Disney World Resort Picture 5: Yosuke Sumi Picture 8: Anthony Artis