Meet Ruben Russo

We were lucky to catch up with Ruben Russo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ruben , we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

You know, growing up I had incredibly low self-esteem. Truly from age eight to about sixteen I found myself in a position where I had to endure and accept a lot about myself that made me an outcast of sorts. My family moved from South Africa to Australia when I was six years old and, we were all needing to adjust to a vastly different culture. I struggled with ‘fitting in’ a great deal, suddenly learning English as my first language whilst also observing a culture that wildly contrasted what I had been predisposed to in South Africa.
I spent years struggling to make friends and struggling to keep them. After a year in Australian primary school, that had finally changed and I had made some really good friends that I would grow up with. Funnily enough I think we shared that same struggle and that bonded us, all having moved to Australia within the same window of time. Coming out of grade two, I had started putting on a significant amount of weight, so much so, that suddenly I was the ‘big kid’ of my grade. That along with an extremely active imagination I shortly found myself bullied relentlessly for years.
My body became a massive insecurity for me and overall I saw myself just as I was treated, I carried that with me for a long time. As I hit puberty a lot of that weight started shredding, combined with a healthy diet and excessive of course. Along with this came self-confidence, something I hadn’t really experienced up until this point. I was only ever confident about my art, my sketches and paintings.
This confidence however, never really changed my perception of myself. I still very much so saw myself as an ‘outsider’, I still felt like that ‘big kid’ – it was ingrained into me. So, after everything I never really allowed myself to easily open up to others, often I was more comfortable keeping to myself. However, that changed quite recently.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My name is Ruben Russo and I’m an Australian Actor who’s been working in the film industry – both in front and behind the camera – for four years now. I first developed my passion for the film industry at a very young age, enveloped in making stop motion animation shorts with my legos on an old camera that my Dad gifted me. It was always something on my mind, these fictional or non-fictional stories and scenarios that – to me – contain unparalleled importance. Through just watching films I discovered so much about myself and others around me – I’m sure everyone has. I dreamt of directing motion pictures one day, and now I can safely say… I had no idea what that meant at that age.
Later, when I arrived at my teenage years my focus then shifted towards acting. Having taken up drama in high school I quickly became enthralled in the art form and all that it entailed. It was a class I originally joined to coincide my study of film, to give a better all-round understanding of the process… I honestly didn’t take it too seriously. That’s until I was put into the class of one of the best teachers I have ever had, Mrs Skye Strand. With her extreme passion and understanding of the art, she sincerely changed my perception of the power that genuine performance can hold. Classes with Strand sparked my interest in acting as not only a means of artistic expression but as a future endeavour of mine. Over the course of four years she had fostered my passion, challenged it and ultimately fuelled it to what I carry within myself today as a creative.
I then ultimately stumbled my way into the industry after graduating in 2020, chipping my way to my objective tirelessly for years. Working in the industry even to the minimal extent that I have, has been and continues to be the most difficult and rewarding undertaking I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. Taking everything I’ve learned, I made my debut as a Lead Actor in the multi-award-winning Short Film directed by Damian Overton last year, ‘Arlo and The Sea.’ Whereby, I was awarded ‘Best Actor in an Indie Film’ by the L.A Actor Awards. Working on that film was fundamental to my development and journey as an Actor, it was humbling. I walked away from that film having worked with not only an incredibly talented Director but a true friend.
Since ‘Arlo and The Sea’, I have gone on to write my first screenplay, a coming-of-age short film which is currently in the midst of production entitled, ‘All of Us at River’s End.’ I’m ridiculously exited to unveil this project over the coming weeks, it’s been a story I’ve been waiting to tell for a long time. The film is directed by Nick Elson and stars, René Le Feuvre, Alexander McRae, Lachlan Thompson and myself. All I can say is… I couldn’t have asked for a better crew and cast to be working alongside. Later this year I am also re-uniting with Overton to work on another film to be directed by Kieton Beilby, ‘A Little Strange.’ I’m incredibly exited for these films to see the light of day, and I’m so grateful for the diverse array of characters I’ve had the opportunity to portray.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

As an Actor I’ve found myself constantly having to remind myself that there is this invisible line that separates you as an individual from who you are portraying on screen. It’s confronting sometimes what you have to personify and embody, it can be difficult to approach some of these colourful characters in a manner that feels honest without putting a bit of yourself in there. After all that’s where the real self-expression in performance comes to fruition.
So, over time and practice I’ve learned that each character when presented to you will inevitably require a different approach to the next. I’ll receive the script and the first thing I do is deconstruct the motivations, flaws, strengths and weaknesses etc. I’ll have to set that invisible line aside for a moment and find the overlap between said character and myself… where I empathise with them. I facilitate the relationship between my character and myself to develop. To me it’s a personal journey as well as professional, I see a lot of myself in others and sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes not so much. Ultimately, I know that there is no right way to develop your character, there is no technique or series of steps that will allow you to suddenly be able to portray a character successfully.
I’ve found that portraying a character requires fluidity and I’ll tailor my preparation for each role according to what’s embedded within the script, what I relate to and what aspects of their emotional realm reflect my own. Essentially, I don’t regret my time at acting school or in any acting classes… what they taught me is invaluable. I found my approach by taking in those techniques and steps, before, honestly just leaving it all on the floor behind me. I never found working within the confines of the “dos” and “don’ts” of acting to be beneficial or supportive of the character and actor relationship.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Working in the film industry, collaboration is the crux of which all healthy working relationships are founded upon. I’m always looking for new people who are as passionate about the industry as I am to collaborate with. I grew watching genre films of the late eighties and nineties, films such as, Stand By Me, The Talented Mr Ripley, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Sixth Sense, Misery – I could go on and on. These films are so rare to see come from Tinseltown since the turn of the century. Now it’s predominantly independent films that continue to foster these more intimate and lush stories that really focus on the human experience in often brutally honest ways. I’m constantly motivated to move forwards in this industry and continue to work on those kinds of pictures. I’m always looking to collaborate with others who likewise miss those kinds of films and understand their significance in the face of franchise fair. I’m chomping at the bit to work on more films like that with others who resonate with it like I do.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @rubenrussoreturns

Image Credits

Hugo Bazin