We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victoria Ippolito a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Victoria, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to pursue acting at an extremely young age. I was lucky enough to attend performing arts magnet elementary schools and was introduced to theatre in kindergarten by my teacher, Mr. Boston. It was quite literally all fun and games until I got my first lead role as Molly from Annie in third grade, which Mr. Boston ended up directing. From the moment I was told I could jump on Miss Hannigan’s desk and dance, I was truly hooked. I’ve honestly never looked back since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, I’ve taken the craft of acting very seriously. From my performing arts magnet eduction landing in advanced acting, through my high school’s highest level, Boxed in Theatre Troupe, to an acting conservatory in Los Altos Hills, to my BA degree in Theatre from USC, I’ve always loved the study of people. For me, acting is living out the true circumstance of any given character (the person you are portraying). The more you understand about that person and their circumstances, the better your performance will be. As actors we’re always looking for truth and authenticity. When those to things collide it’s truly magical. I often tell people, I’m a regular Nancy Drew. I look to the facts given to me within the script. I dig and dig until I uncover the base for my character. The prep work, or homework as some call it, becomes like solving a mystery for me and extremely fun. From there I still use a musical technique shown to me by one of my conservatory professors, Tom Gough. I literally pick a song, artist, or album that speaks to the inner life of the character. I listen to that while creating the rest of their world and the again while getting ready to go to set or perform. Tom told me to think of music like the soundtrack to their life and for me that stuck. I’ve pick the soundtrack to each one of my character’s life.

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

My mission is to create the Hollywood I want to see. Very similar to a value of the film production company and community I am apart of as the LA Program Coordinator, We Make Movies. That value is make the movie you want to see. Now what I mean by this is, I want to see a movie or tv series about people simply playing people. I would love narratives to reflect who actually lives where. We keep seeing areas populated by a certain ethnic group when the genetic makeup of that area has changed over time. Metropolitan areas in particular have become extremely diverse and why voting demographics have changed. I would love people to do their research and support adding diversity into scripts. We have a chance as artists to truly hold a mirror up to society. I believe people should be responsible for their art and with their art. We need to ask ourselves, what message are we sending and what narrative are we telling or reinforcing? Let’s get to a place where all people feel seen and heard. That’s the Hollywood I want to be apart of.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe society can best support artists and creatives by recognizing the arts as an essential part of life. When I was in high school, I gave the school tours because we got to pick our schools in my district. One father asked me what I thought I would do with a degree in theatre and I told him what I still believe to be true today; acting has many key benefits to everyday life. It helps you with public speaking, critical thinking, problem solving, language, compassion, and memorization. I can still remember the look on his face when I told him all of that. He was stunned and could only admit I was correct. Acting itself helps you regardless of whether you pursue a career in it. Luckily, I’ve been given many opportunities to continue the pursuit of my passion and I look forward to more of them to come.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vicippolito
• Twitter: @vicippolito
• Other: imdb.me/VictoriaIppolito