We recently connected with Jasmine Lopez and have shared our conversation below.
Jasmine , so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
With sharing how I overcame burnout, I should probably begin with how I ended up there. I was juggling attending two acting classes from different schools, training with two vocal coaches, attending events where I could connect with creative people to possibly collaborate, attending high school and dual enrolling at a local university, and lastly trying to spend time with my friends. I was in a constant state of exhaustion and panic to get the next assignment done. I let this lifestyle continue for a bit, over two months, until I finally made the decision to go through my schedule and cut off the activities that were not urgent to my immediate plans. Making that decision did give me relief, and it took a while until I finally was at peace. Through the process of elimination, I learned a valuable lesson of knowing when I must take a step back to move forward. This also became a time where I relearned how to reward myself after accomplishing a big task.
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?
Well, I’m Jasmine Lopez. I’m in my senior year of high school in Spring Hill, Tennessee. In 2022, I took a wild step embarking on a professional career in the entertainment industry. To be honest, I thought about becoming an actress for many years prior. The decision to pursue acting came when I watched the behind the scenes of Star Wars Attack of the Clones. Before that, in my 9-year-old mind I thought the industry was led with an iron fist.
One mistake and you’re fired, which led to the end of your entire career. My whole perspective changed after I saw one clip of Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin, riding an electric scooter laughing and smiling. I realized, oh being an actor can be fun? I began asking my parents if I could take acting classes. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right as I was committing my time training in dance and piano. But by 2019, I convinced my parents to add acting into my schedule. My mom did the research to find a theatre group that was the best fit. Christian Youth Theatre was on top of the list. My dad and I watched their production of Cinderella and we both were blown away by the level of professionalism for their young cast. Two years later I turned my focus to building my career. Within a year, I hired a production company to make my dance reels, I wrote, composed, and sang my first single, Building Fences. After some time, I found two incredible film schools The Actors School, and Nashville Acting Studio (NAS). I was hired for a local commercial, and short film. Besides that, attending my first premiere, and film festival was an amazing experience! The most exciting and special part of my career is the journey. I’m able to meet incredible individuals. I love to learn not only about the parts I play but also the roles other creatives play for a project. The celebration of my own or a friend’s accomplishment, and I enjoy helping others in their journey as well.
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?
I would say three areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey of becoming an actress were
(1) how to communicate with an agent –knowing what I wanted from them, being flexible with their expectations, and letting them know my ‘hard no’s;’
(2) learning as an actress that not only am I a business, but also a brand, and when signed to an agent, I represent another brand; lastly
(3), learning how to interact with other creative people, hearing how they developed their skills to showcase their talents, and getting feedback from what I have done.
Learning the relationship between you and an agent is very important because an agent is supposed to advance and elevate you from where you are to where you desire to be. If an agent cannot do that, it may be time to find the agent who is a more suitable fit. What I personally have done is ask actresses and actors on set their thoughts and opinions about their experience with their agency. In addition, when I see an agency I’m interested in, I contact their clients and ask them how do they feel about the agency they’re signed with, and what has it been like working with them. Thankfully, I now have amazing coaches and friends who have given me great feedback on my journey. Also, with connecting with other creatives, I love attending workshops, film festivals, and other social gatherings to put myself out there and learn something from both the event as well as the people I have the honor of meeting before and after.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always looking to collaborate with other creatives. Because I’m apart of several different industries, I’m interested in exploring a variety of opportunities. If someone has a cool idea –whether a photographer or a makeup artist– I’m up for creating content for social media or working on a big project as well. A lot of my friends in the industry keep advising me to learn how to work with other creatives and gain knowledge from the experiences. So if you are interested in connecting with me, you can either contact me on my Instagram: jasmine.lo112 or my email: [email protected].
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jasmine.lo1112?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_2RdLPzjbfrFKkjILzg0w
Image Credits
Hollywood Headshots
