We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Rojas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path when I was in high school, well, let me say it goes back to when I was a child. Drama class really helped get me out of my shell during my senior year of high school. I always knew the introverted person in me wouldn’t budge from being extroverted. Up to this day, I’m still an introverted person, but once that camera is on me and “Action!” is called, you better believe that introverted little child isn’t around. I give it my full 100%!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello everyone! My name is Stephanie Rojas and I’m a Los Angeles native. To become an actor it took me a few years to get into the industry after I graduated high school. When you’re fresh out of high school one is trying to figure out what to do in life. I knew I wanted to act but didn’t have the resources or people to direct me in the right direction. Thank goodness for the internet, I started to do some research on my own, and checked out all the acting sites available. Of course, you realize which ones aren’t legit and which ones are, when you’re on your own trying to figure all this out it can be quite overwhelming, but I was determined. Started digging into Casting Networks and then Actors Access. I knew these were the main two sites that my fellow creatives we’re using. Had to be careful about scammers, there are plenty of people who don’t have good intentions in helping you advance in your acting career. There’s still companies who simply just want your money and lead you nowhere in the end. One of the reasons why I enjoy helping new actors who are starting and leading them on the right path because I don’t want them to waste their time.

Once I got my first headshots, I started submitting myself for background work. You learn firsthand how sets work when you’re a background actor. I started auditioning for student films and got some under my belt. One student film I worked on was a short film called, “Martyrs” directed by LaJuan Johnson. In 2018 the short film was seen on the big screen at the Laughlin International Film Festival. It was pretty surreal to know that was being seen on the big screen! Proud moment for me I have to say. In 2020, another short film I got to work on was, “Slate” directed and written by Nicholas R. Varela. This was a short film during the time of the #METOO movement. The short film was chosen as an official selection at Marina Del Rey Film Festival. This was another great moment for all of us who were part of this short film.

In 2019, I was pretty excited to be part of an indie film called, “A Quarantine Christmas” the title says it all. Funny enough (well, not funny), this film was shot before the pandemic occurred, it’s as if the director, Alexander Ray Williams predicted we were going to have a pandemic the following year. The film can be seen on Prime video if you’re interested in seeing it.

Being an actor you learn to wear different hats in this industry. I produced, cast and starred on a comical web series called, “My Real Life”. You can catch it on YouTube under @myreallife10. It was nice to experience being on the other side of the table and watch actors audition and see if there was chemistry between me and the actors when we were reading then deciding who would join the cast. I had a fun time working on this series, unfortunately, we never got to do a second season.

Throughout the years, I continued to produce more short films and continue acting. Then one year, I bumped into a fellow actor who was interested in making their own content. Since that day, my friend and creative partner, Dominique Rodriguez had me come to join her comedy sketch show called, “Take It From Me”. Can be seen on Youtube under @DominiqueRodriguezOfficial. We started an actors group where we would create our own content for different genres, all diverse actors. We shot some stuff but had to put it off for now. Hoping that we’ll be able to start our group Welcome House Creatives real soon and get back to shooting some good stuff. We can be found on Instagram and TikTok under @WelcomeHouseCreatives.

Being in this industry you must have thick skin and you learn to build that thick skin needed to survive all the rejections an actor goes through when they don’t book an audition. It’s hard and the more I’ve taken acting classes, you learn especially in the commercial world that casting directors don’t get to choose the actor they want in the end, it comes down to the client of the product. You can send in a great self tape, but in the end, the client is looking for a type to represent their product. The more you know. Never stop learning in this industry.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is coming across different people on different sets. I’ve come to meet several fellow actors who have become friends and love seeing them achieve their goals and successes. I love rooting for my fellow creatives they’re all doing their thing whether it’s a commercial, movie or show. I’m there rooting for them and I make them know that I am. When you’re on a set it’s nice to see familiar faces — you come to the realization that the industry is truly a small world. I’ve also encountered some celebrities on set that are extremely down to earth and willing to chat. Seeing yourself on screen has been rewarding to me especially when friends and family see me on something.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Two years ago, I decided to pivot my life in a very unimaginable way. In order to do something you love, you must have a day job to support you and be able to do both things. I have a very supporting partner who basically told me it’s time to focus on my acting career full time instead of part time, I worked for the school district for many years, I enjoyed what I was doing, loved working with the students and having great relationships with parents, but all good things must come to an end. It was a very difficult decision to make for myself and writing a resignation letter isn’t something easy to do. When that email got sent to my supervisor, lots of mixed emotions hit me right after. I knew deep in my heart it was the right decision and time to begin a new chapter in my life. I did start a new chapter, being a workaholic, I decided to continue working for the YMCA. Last October, again, my partner wanted me to focus on my acting career and so I left. Technically, you can say I’ve been retired from the workforce for some time now, sounds really weird when I say it. I enjoyed working with such amazing people during my time at the school district and the YMCA. I can’t ever forget the people who made a difference in my life or the difference I made in theirs.

Ever since not having a day job, I’ve been focusing on my acting career. Took plenty of classes that extremely helped me, thanks to Judy Kain and the other wonderful teachers at Keep It Real Acting who gave me that push to get out of my shell more. Need a great acting class to go, take their classes seriously! From taking those classes I was able to get an agency to represent me and believe in me. If I was still working full time, I wouldn’t have been able to sign up with an agency and drop everything to do a self tape at a certain time, get it edited and submitted. It would’ve been impossible with the former schedule I used to have.

For that, I’m genuinely thankful that I do have a partner that believes in me and lets me be able to focus on doing what I love so much. Not being out there in the workforce was at first rough, I missed being out and working with kids and my coworkers, as the months went by, I realized how much I was able to get done on a daily basis… It felt GREAT!

I’ve been able to spend more time with my pets, we have a zoo and foster dogs/cats. Has given me time to renovate our cabin in the mountains, cabin life has taken over my world these last four months. I’ve been enjoying the life I have now and if I book a role where I need to travel, I know I can just plan it without worrying about a work schedule or asking permission to call out. It’s been quite liberating and a huge THANK YOU to my partner who always pushes me to do better and who at times has to audition with me when we have couples auditions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @rojas_out
• Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/rojas_out
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3275133/

Image Credits
Modeling Pictures taken by: Danny Diaz