Meet Coral Mizrachi

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Coral Mizrachi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Coral below.

Coral , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I didn’t really overcome it, I am just living with it. I’m also a perfectionist, so those voices telling me I am not good enough are kind of always there. But I never thought that they were true, I don’t take them personally, in a sense. I almost always question whether I can do something or not, no matter what I try to do. There’s always doubt, unfortunately, and I actually think it’s really OK to just live with imposter syndrome. I mean, if you get to overcome it that’s amazing, but it’s really OK not to. I also don’t see this doubt as necessarily a bad thing, it’s definitely difficult to handle, but it sometimes keeps me from making mistakes, you know.

I really believe that thinking you need to overcome it is part of the problem, because it creates this rat race in your brain, where you always chase the feeling of complete self assuredness, but actually most of us would never ever get there. So why not just be content with those self doubts, give them their place, and then shove them aside and do your own thing? That is the real trick, to just not listen to them. But giving those thoughts a place and living with them is actually giving yourself grace, and if you don’t listen to them, this can actually be more effective and peaceful than fighting them. Just don’t let them consume you. I’ve always chased my dream, and I definitely had those voices in my head. The imposter syndrome grew the more I achieved, but at the same time I had more experience in my belt that I could rely on, and just had to remind myself of who I am and what I am capable of.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m an actress. I was born in Israel, and I worked on stage and on camera for many years. My first ever TV role was on the show Shutafim for HOT Comedy Central, and the same year I was Lucinda in the first ever Hebrew adaptation of the musical Into The Woods. I moved to the United States to further my education, after getting accepted to AADA. In the US I traveled around, working in different productions like Tripping Stacia, and Block Boys. Currently I am based in Europe, and I was lucky enough that I got to work in film and TV around the world. Last Fall I filmed two TV shows, and I am so excited about them. I absolutely love my job, with all the pressure and stress surrounding it. When I get to be on set or on stage, all the things we complain about in our day to day just disappear… and I feel light and fulfilled. I can’t explain it.

Currently you can see me in the new season of the Syfy Channel TV show The Ark, as Latti Meir. Latti is coming to Ark 1 from Ark 15, as she and other crew members want to move out of the tyranny created on the ship by Maddox. I really enjoyed playing Latti, she is a super cool character to play, and I was happy that I was able to use my own natural idiolect, a reduced Israeli accent, in the show. The set was a dream, I had just the best time shooting this show, and I really hope everyone loves this season as much as the last one! Check it out on Syfy Channel and Peacock.

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?

First of all you have to develop your craft. You have to live and breathe acting if you want to succeed in this industry. It’s one of the most competitive artistic industries out there, so the thing you have to do first and foremost is to develop the artistic part of it, you have to be good at what you do. So stay curious, do your homework, go to acting courses and actually listen in class. Do the thing, you know. Never think that you know everything, just continue to be curious about the craft and continue to deepen your work. Because the quality of your acting really matters. We hear a lot of times that people get roles not necessarily on their merit or skill level, and those things are true. You could be the best actor that auditioned and still not get it, and that is frustrating. But what if you audition for the role that you fit perfectly for but you don’t deliver the acting part of it? That would frustrate you even more.

The thing is that you have to love it to do it. Love it enough to learn the craft for the sake of learning the craft. I guess, what helped me the most is understanding why I’m doing this, knowing within myself the reason for pushing so hard. It centers me, grounds me, and then I find creative solutions to every obstacle in my way. I know it’s easy to say don’t get discouraged, but it’s really a big part of it. An actor’s career is actually just starting at the age of 30, statistically. Doubts will always be there, but if you know in your gut the reason you are doing this, and actually loving this profession, you’ll be able to believe in yourself way more easily, in my opinion. Just keep pushing.

Another thing that I believe will move every actor forward is to create your own work. Get together with a group of creatives you trust and jive with, and start creating. Creating stuff on my own or with creatives around me not only helped me keep my acting juices going, but it also created opportunities for us in the long run. You never know when someone will come along and believe in you enough to kick start your career, so why not be that person for yourself?

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I mean it’s a tough question, and I know it’s a copout answer, but I have to say both. I mean, being an expert in your field will obviously open doors for you but in the industry that I’m in (acting) it’s so important to be versatile and to change yourself, to be able to use different techniques and to have different skills, to work with different people. It’s also important to be versatile in your performance of course. Learning different acting techniques will help you find your own process of getting into character, and find a way in. To be versatile is almost a skill on its own. Actors have to be good students, I guess. We have to learn quickly and be flexible, and being skillful is definitely part of it. But the thing is, if you can’t live truthfully under imaginary circumstances, then it doesn’t matter if you can juggle or ride horses. The acting always comes first.

Those things take time. So patience is key. I really believe that it’s important to love what you do. From my point of view, the skills that I have are always in harmony with my expertise, or at least that’s the ideal situation. I had a battle with cancer a few years ago, and I thankfully came out the other side. When I was done with chemotherapy I thought that all of my skills were gone. That I’m rusty, and that I lost what I worked so hard to have. But I picked myself back up and I realized that what mine is mine, and cancer couldn’t take that away from me. It is a muscle, and you should keep training your muscles, keep them in check, but there’s also this thing called muscle memory. I was able to jump right back in, and I was so relieved to discover that I didn’t lose what I worked so hard for. So I guess what I’m saying is trust yourself and trust the process, and focus on both, if you can.

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Image Credits

Neko Photography, Syfy Channel, Boris Lukman, Vesna Lukman, Shir Or.

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