We were lucky to catch up with Tati Colombo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tati thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful projects Ive worked on as an actor are Under The L, “Mi Viejo Ahora Despues” (My Dad Now and Then) and Rent. I love working on projects that tell untold stories, that work with themes that as a society we don’t want to see and talk about. I feel like theater and film should definitely entertain and make us have a nice time but it should also invite us to think, re-think and meet with what we don’t want to meet in real life, face to face. In Argentina I worked on a production of the broadway musical “Rent”. It’s a story about struggling artists in New York during HIV crisis in the 80s/90s. It’s crazy how a story about living in peace, accepting one another and living in a community can still be so relevant after more than 20 years. As a queer artist one would have thought that this type of problems would be over after so many years but it seems like we need to be constantly reminded of these type of stories that talk about love and acceptance.
Tati, 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?
Im an latin actor based in NYC. I came to the city 2 years ago and I think I have a love/hate relationship with it, however, I can’t see myself living anywhere else now. I come from a very conservative place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even tho I feel like I was an artist since I was a kid, It took me some time to make the decision to fully commit to my art and pursue a professional career in acting. I used to paint a lot as a kid, then I started playing the guitar which took me into singing and then acting. I feel like it transformed and mutated into something different as I was growing up. However, I went to college for Business Administration and economics. After three years, when I was about to finish and get my degree I dropped out of school to become an actor. I remember being pressured to send my resume to different companies to get a job while studying and the sole idea of having to leave behind my acting classes and different projects that I was working on scared the shit out of me. That was when I knew I had to leave all of that behind and dedicate my life to what I really wanted to do. I was in algebra class when I stood up and left to never come back. After a couple of years working in different Argentinian productions, taking classes and going to auditions I decided I wanted to come to the US. I got accepted in a bunch of different acting schools here and in LA but I decided to study method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in NYC. Since then I have met a lot of amazing professionals from the industry while being parto of some Wonderfull projects like The Student prince, Five Times in One Night, Phoenix, Under the L and Dogs Dont do Wolves.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I would say make art part of their lives too. Both consuming art and also incorporating it as a way of living. Lawyers, engineers, doctors may thing that they have nothing to do with it but they would be surprised about how fulfilling and beneficios it can be for them to incorporate creative activities in their lives. Either playing an instrument, taking acting classes or even painting can connect them to a creative, joyful, young part of themselves which can really make them live a better life and do better at their own jobs. I always recommend acting classes to everyone. Also going to art galleries, small concerts, going to the theater, all of these are fun activities and support an industry that is alive thanks to their audiences. We are here to entertain you and make life more bearable, let us do that.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Discounts and free tickets to shows. Nah, Im just kidding. Although I love that, I would say the art itself. Being an artist can be so difficult some times, specially when you are starting your career and if you are an immigrant, even more so. Not having a stable job, dealing with constant rejection, the absolute uncertainty about the future, all of that makes sense when you do what you love. It sounds cliche and stupid maybe but for me at least, all of that makes sense after I come out of a rehearsal, after I watch a friend in a really good show, during a class or being in touch with an audience during a performance. Thats what gives us the energy needed to go on. The art itself is what turns one the flame.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.taticolombo.com
- Instagram: @santiagooooo.ooo