Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Susana Elena Boyce. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Susana Elena thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Since I was a child, growing up in the small city of Sonora, Mexico, I was surrounded by
very artistic parents. My mother worked at the biggest advertising company in the city
as a graphic designer and in her free/not so free time she was known for her sewing
skills and for making the most beautiful dresses. My father, also an artist, played in a
band. He was the lead singer and played the piano as well as the guitar. Creativity was
always around me.
At four years old they placed me in a ballet studio where I had my first debut. I
performed in the biggest auditorium in the city, in front of hundreds of people, a ballet
choreography of “My Heart Will Go On” the theme song from the film Titanic. It was
then when I can say the spark started for performing arts. So as young as four I knew
being an entertainer was for me.
Starting around age eight, my brother and I created home videos of ourselves with a pass down low quality video camera. Acting out skits that we wrote and we would have watch parties with neighborhood friends and family for their professional feedback. A few years later, my domestic foundations became complicated. My parents split up, my mother and father both left the home leaving my brother and I to be raised by my grandmother and our financial situation was less than ideal. I had no opportunity to pursue aforementioned artistic private school, or costly extracurriculars. During my early teen years, I felt forced to “grow up” and the feeling of being an artist became a “childish idea”. The artist in me was almost entirely shut down by my surroundings and the growing weight of the world around me.
As the years went on, I pushed down the idea mostly out of fear, shame, and a feeling
of being judged. I am sure I share this same feeling with many other artists. But deep
down in my heart it was something I have always wanted. When I was 15 years old, I
went to an audition to attend the best performing arts school in my hometown, without
telling my family. In Mexico, there are different high schools for different academic
pathways. But I was rejected. Rejected and heartbroken. Talking about being an “artist”
felt taboo, much less an already failed one, so I did not share this experience with my
family.
At 17, my life took a wild turn. My mother got remarried to an active duty Naval officer
and I moved to the United States for the first time, where he was stationed in San
Antonio, Texas. During this time, I was new to learning English and for the first time I
saw the world of opportunities that being in the United States offered me. So, in my high
school theater class, my teacher Anne Bridges saw the spark in my eye. Although I
never performed in any of her plays, she linked me to the local Univision Channel to try
out as a news anchor. And I did, but they ultimately invited me to try it again later in life,
since I was still too young.
After three years in Texas, my step-dad got orders for Yokosuka, Japan. I had the
opportunity to live on a military base in a foreign country with my family for three and a
half years! The dream of a first-generation immigrant household is to have a doctor in
the family. It felt like I couldn’t “waste my time” on something like being an actress, so I
decided to become a psychologist. I did two years of college while at the Yokosuka
military base. But even then my spark was always for performing, it never went away.
One day at a local coffee shop, I was handed a flyer advertising a modeling audition on-
base, looking for talent. I saved the flyer and the date and I went to the audition. I had
presented the idea to my parents as “something fun”, nothing too serious, even though
deep down it was the most exciting thing ever! So at 19 years of age, I booked my first
commercial agency in Japan. I got sent out to do commercials for different companies,
mostly electronics, like Microsoft, RICHO, some beer ads like KIRIN, and even got to
work with the New Zealand All Blacks international rugby team in Osaka. The flame was
growing, I booked many jobs and had even more auditions while in Japan. Then, sadly,
our time was up and we needed to come back to the United States.
I went from a working actress in Tokyo to start over again in the mid-sized Midwestern
city of Toledo, Ohio. I started working minimum wage service industry jobs to save
money and keep busy. During my year and a half living in Ohio, I found Star Bound
acting school. It was then when I finally came forward to my family and said this is what
I want to do. I’m 22 now and my deepest passion is being an actress. So I worked
overtime and took all kinds of jobs to save enough to make my move to Los Angeles,
with the help of my acting studio and my beautiful mother who said, “If I can’t go against
you, I’ll go with you.” In September 2019 we drove from Ohio to Santa Clarita California. My car
packed with all my worldly possessions, I officially said goodbye to my family to be
alone in this world. That day, I faced myself and I realized if you’re not willing to sacrifice
everything for what you love then what’s the point?
The years that followed have been crucial to who I am today. Embracing my dreams
and working toward them becoming a reality. I am an actress and my spark became a
fire that grows every time I am in front of a camera. Since moving to Los Angeles, I
have worked in many films, playing different roles, commercials, and even as the lead for
independent and short films. But the most important part has been the fantastic and
talented film industry peers I met along the way.
To answer the question, today I can honestly say I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic
path from almost the day I was born. Now as an adult woman, I’m pursuing it
professionally. It’s not an easy path. It’s a very demanding career full of rejections and
moments of self-doubt and uncertainty. But when there’s an opportunity to allow that
spark to blaze, that’s what makes it all worth it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I come from a long line of hardworking women. My grandmother worked three jobs while raising me and my older brother when my mother left everything behind to find a better life for all of us in the United States. Until this day she’s the hardest working woman I know. I strive to live up to their work ethic and I am constantly trying to make them proud. I am my abeulita’s and mother’s daughter. I love all the women in my life. They inspire me and I find a little of myself in each of them.
I like to think of myself as a team player. I work with my heart and I give it my all. I believe when I’m working on set, I have on my shoulders the responsibility of holding together the director’s vision and combining it with the crew. From production, sound, camera department, makeup/hair, wardrobe, art department, cast, and everyone taking a role on set, I acknowledge you and I thank you. I take my job seriously by knowing that the entire crew is giving their time, efforts and talent into every second of a shoot day. I see it and to demonstrate my appreciation I give my absolute best performance. Everything I do I do 110%. It doesn’t matter how I feel, it all goes out the window once we are filming. I represent every single one of them. Truly I thank you for your work, time and attention for we are a team.
The path of becoming a working artist is never the same from one person to the next. When I first started I wished there was a manual on “how to become a working actress” but the reality is there’s so much work to do. You have to show up for yourself every day, and believe in your brand more than anyone out there.
I am an optimistic character yet fear the simple things. I assume the best of people and often find myself battling why I’m so trusting. I make mistakes and I try to learn from them as much as possible. When I am on screen and I’m living the life of the character, for me it’s the most beautiful thing of this job. I try not to sound too cliché about the whole “moving to Hollywood to be a star” as it is often seen as a joke, but in reality, I packed my bags and moved to Los Angeles to follow a career path that seems to be almost impossible to achieve, but all I want is to be a working actress.
Finally, I am a military wife, my husband Thomas has been the biggest supporter of my career. Not only believing in me more than anybody I have ever met, but he actively pushes me to achieve my goals. He’s the one that makes my dreams a reality and I’m beyond grateful for him.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There’s truly a compilation of many rewarding reasons arising from the performing arts. The people you meet and the relationships you build along the way as well as the simple freedom of being and expressing yourself. When my mind is in a creative state and I’m performing in front of a camera, my brain goes into a moment of peace and silence, almost like nothing else matters and it’s you being present. The feeling of bliss that follows is so rewarding. I believe in doing everything with honesty and truthfulness, it’s the best path for an artist’s creative mind.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
To stop trying to please or make people like me. That means everyone. I would try to make people like me as I’m sure it’s in our human nature to be liked. But there were times that I would let go completely of who I am in order to be liked or fit in. Especially when it came to auditioning or meeting peers in the entertainment industry. I would try to say “the right thing” or avoid saying facts about myself that I did not think would impress them. A perfect example of my most amateur hour was, I attended a film festival where the emcee was a very credentialed producer. When it came time for me to meet her I exclaimed how much I loved her work to which she replied, “oh that’s awesome! Which is your favorite?”. I had no idea who she was or what she had done. So that was awkward but it taught me a huge lesson. If only I was honest and tried to get to know her maybe I would have made a different impact and potentially made a good connection. The what if’s are not worth exploring but I most definitely carry this lesson with me. I don’t need to fit in, in fact the more you stand out by being you, the better.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/susanaelena
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susannaelenna/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11458248/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaaSKzANOw1NJmlQvOWUxTpnqNclLjAhGXua3_usgeu0_iHxj8EgAH2gtcc_aem_uvoVdojRj-1aCHagnlYs3A&ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Image Credits
Paul Smith Photography
Paula Crichton
Damaris Velázquez