Meet Emily Morales-cabrera

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Morales-cabrera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with EMILY below.

EMILY, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

My mental health has stopped me from doing so many things in the past, It has been a challenge that I am STILL trying to overcome and work on, 2023 was a very difficult year for me but also a huge wake-up call. I was neglecting my mental health and physical health, I was putting all of my self-worth into how many jobs I was booking it got to a point where when I wasn’t working anymore because of the strike, I unraveled and became worse. I didn’t know how to manage any of it, it was time for me to try and care for myself, I started seeing a psychiatrist and therapist, started going to the doctor more regularly, and even got on medication. I was taking acting classes at Howard Fines studio with the most amazing teachers Howard Fine and Mr.Coury, which helped me so much with my confidence and rediscover my complete love of acting, I am hoping to get back in class soon. With not much-acting work for myself in the year 2023 taking classes helped me build my acting muscles back up and have FUN with acting, I started taking more risks not only in acting but even traveling and not focusing my entire mind and life over maybe booking a job or missing an audition, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders just by simply living life. I know a lot of that is because I started working on my mental health and it took a very long for me to find a way to manage it, with therapy and medication I have found a good balance, I have even found joy in auditions again, whereas after the strike I was freaking out with every audition I got because I felt as though I needed to book to be worth something, overcoming these challenges have made me a more emotionally stable person which has led to me feeling more confident.

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

I am an actress, I love to do TV and Film the most, Something about the magic of coming together with a huge team and watching people do the work they love or meeting some of the kindest people. I have learned that working with those who are better than you and working with those who are just starting makes you a better performer, you learn so much from each other and you GROW as an artist. It is so exciting to be in a new world on set and let go of whatever is happening outside of that world, My closest friends also work in the industry (acting and crew) when things started to slow down due to the strike it was the time to work on passion projects, take risks and have fun creating art with your best friends. My close friend Damian Alonso and I worked on a proof of concept for his film ‘The No Sabo Kid’ which stands for ‘The I don’t know Kid’ It is a common saying that Latino family members say to kids that do not speak Spanish, in the film you follow Seb (The No Sabo Kid-Damian Alonso) and Sarah (Me) the cousin who is fluent in Spanish, two cousins that go on a crazy adventure trying to figure out who they are. It was a very special project to me because as a Latina I love to do projects that represent our generation. Damian is also like a real-life cousin to me and we are planning on working on more projects that don’t revolve around just the Latino experience, but more horror projects and more projects with our friends involved too! I love bringing my Guatemalan roots into these projects and Damian allows me to do that.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three quality skills that were impactful on my journey are
1. Kindness: It is such a basic task but being kind to not only your cast mates but to the crew, wardrobe, mua, pa’s, and everyone involved in the production is so important, you want to be someone who people like to work with and also you get what you give out. You never know what people are going through and putting a smile on someone’s face or making them laugh is such a heartwarming feeling, I truly feel that kindness is the backbone of any job.
2. Adaptability: In the acting world things are constantly changing, your script could be changed the day of, scene changes, time changes, and direction. It is important to be able to adapt and handle things gracefully, that is not to say let people take advantage of you.
3. Confidence: This is one I am still working on and is the hardest one for me. Being able to be confident about your choices even if they aren’t the best ones is important, you want to take risks, you want to give not only the director but yourself choices that will help your performance, sometimes it will even be choices you are not certain of about but you have to trust that they see something you don’t. Having that confidence and determination will help with imposter syndrome and standing out (Be kind and humble always though.)

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Definitely my partner, family, and friends. My partner has the most patience with me and during difficult times of having meltdowns during auditions he has found a way to calm my nerves and give me patience, he is often my reader on the other side of the camera and I am so grateful of the confidence he gives me. I can’t say it is just one person but my friends have been extremely supportive by reading with me when no one is available, giving me notes, honesty, and giving me confidence, I am very grateful to them and they know who they are. Another is my family my parents, brother, aunts, grandma, uncles, and cousins they have always supported me, they always went to my shows and watched whatever I was in even if it was just for a minute of screen time, they motivated me to pursue this dream and never give up, I constantly think of their sacrifices and determinations. I remember being in The Crucible my freshman year of high school and I literally had one line at the beginning of the play and then maybe two towards the end, it was a 3-hour long show and my family sat through it all, even if some of them didn’t fully understand it, they were there showing me support.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @emilymoralescabrera
• Other: IMDb: Emily Morales-Cabrera