We recently connected with Vanessa Vazquez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Vanessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Being a free thinker, not caring what people think of you and having studied many forms and schools of acting has actually has actually had its own set of downfalls, though its been mostly artistically fulfilling. I am usually a knowledge is power sort of thinker, but in a town of transplants and few with classical training, you sort of stand out and end up being misunderstood.
Is it possible to be over trained? Is it possible to know so many various forms of comedy and acting and writing and devising that when it comes to just “doing it” people just don’t understand the frame of reference? I recall a role i played where i had to play the piano and sing, while playing a role much older than myself. It was a lot to bite off but I knew i could do it. I know i had the chops, even at age 21, I never felt so determined to be challenged this way cause it was almost like I had been prepared for this. No one else in the cast was very musically inclined, and the few that were were very shy, soft spoken, and still very young in the biz. I really had to fight and push for musical direction and training for the cast, since our “musical director” was oddly MIA the entire process. This made me look demanding, when really, i just had the knowledge and the where with all to lead this ensemble to a better place when we had to come together and get it done. Even though i was just part of the ensemble, I had to step up with my expertise. The musical director never showed up again and we pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps. I think about how not well received this was at first by the creative/management team, and how I was made to feel bad and like I had over stepped, but really, if no one else can do it or will do it, but it must be done, it wasn’t an over step at all. In the end, my leadership got us through and it all made it to the final product.

Vanessa, 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?

I am and LA native actress, based in commercial acting, but mostly in theatre, clown, musicals, mime, bouffon, performance art, comedy, idiot, Shakespeare and improv. I do not identify as a normal or typical actress. I really don’t conflate money with success or fame or any of those sort of superficial ways of experiencing the industry. Im seeing community and a deeper understanding of the humanities, and that is my main objective. Learning sort of non-traditional alternative clown and idiot has really opened my eyes to comedy and how it can lean into the duality of reflecting life and art to an audience. I think being from here, has made my desire for success much more grounded in the craft, and less so in all the fluff and darker side of Hollywood at large, meaning fame or being marketable or brandable. That was never my aim before social media and it’s not now. The way to move people is always at its core, organic and non brandable, it’s from the heart. Knownng how to communicate that is my mission, and each human on earth communicates feelings totally differently.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I never had stage parents, or any adult around me sort of explaining any of the good positive parts of the industry. All I heard was, its going to be hard and your’e not gonna earn your living, you need a regular job always. And though that is very good and sound advise, that I do live by I wish i had more of a soft supporting person who understands auditions and casting directors and passed on that info in a way my young self could understand. Training for kids who maybe don’t have parents telling them how great this world is and how to safely navigate it with joy and safe curiosity. I had a few improv coaches, but it was like, as soon as that term was over or class, they were out of my life it felt. I needed a constant beacon of healthy inspiration as a kid that wasn’t watching my theatre, television and Hollywood legendary icons over and over on VHS. They were all I had.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn to always play to my niche , don’t stray too much from that and not blink so much. Simple things that never would have occurred to me. I guess I discovered that I, Vanessa, naturally blinks a lot, and i really have to get in the zone when I turn the camera on for self-tapes and become “Hip Office Worker Lauren” for a commercial casting. Playing to the niche helps me stay grounded and guided, don’t try to re invent the wheel. Keep it simple and within your wheelhouse.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vanessa-vazquez.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/literalhell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frailty.thy.name.is
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-vazquez-5401ba251/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYZ9NiqUIGg&t=4s&ab_channel=VanessaVazquez
• Other: reels: https://www.vanessa-vazquez.com/footage

Image Credits

Nick Chakwin, Cameron Pack and Miles Roberts