We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Aleman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Laura , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I get resilience from the women in my family. From the many challenges I endured from a very early age. Resilience is something that I inherited from my people and from being born and raised in the island of Puerto Rico that is still a colony today. Knowing that like all the good things pass, the bad things shall pass too. Resilience is part of who I am and where I come from.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Although I work as an actress, I also like to think of myself as sort of inventor. Allow me to clarify. I grew up surrounded by artists in theaters, recording studios, and stages. My passion for the performing arts was sparked by this. At the age of three, I began taking ballet, hip hop, and latin dance classes. My mother is a singer and vocal teacher, and she gave me a wonderful education in singing and music. It was my granddaughter, a literature professor, who first sparked my interest in writing and reading. My godfather is a music producer and songwriter who started giving me singing parts when I was six years old and started teaching me songwriting when I was nine. My spirit was already entwined by the beauty of the unimagined world, even if I attempted to become something else. I started performing on stage when I was eight years old, thanks to dancing. At the age of 14, I had the opportunity to film my first commercial, and at the age of 16, I had my first antagonistic part on a Telemundo series. My first leading role in a feature film came soon after. I never stopped training to hone my skill set. From dancing seven days a week to attending music school for years and learning the flute and piano, from weekly voice lessons to joining the theater club and participating in plays, to numerous additional workshops, specialized schools, summer camps, and other pursuits that I would strive tirelessly to achieve. To make the money to attend these trainings, I would sell cheesecakes, flans, macramés, dancing coreos, singing commercials, dance shows, etc. Not only did I like it, but I also needed to immerse myself since it was how I dealt with and got over my own painful experiences. Art represent healing for me, because it allows me to turn hardship into beauty and relatable stories that others can identify with. I create narratives that incorporate my passion for storytelling with the hopes of healing others as well.
My sphere of interest over the past decade has broadened to include creating and collaborating with others on multiple facets of the film, advertising, and event production process. In order to have all the knowledge necessary to create and direct, I wanted to go over all possible roles on a crew. I worked in a variety of roles including coordinator, associate producer, creative producer, writer, casting, camera, directing, PA, crafty, makeup artist, art designer, wardrobe, and production managing. I accomplished this while still focusing on my acting profession, which has been extremely generous to me. However, I felt compelled to complete all of these tasks because I wanted to hold myself to a higher standard when it came to knowing how to effectively express my needs to a crew and what these occupations require to be successful. I now yearn to write and direct nonstop and, hopefully, pick up new skills every day.
In terms of my acting profession, I’ve had the good fortune to release a few projects this year for the Latino and American markets. Several of these have included:
– Casa Grande- Follows several families in the farmland of Northern California as it navigates universal themes of class, immigration, culture and family.- Watch it on Prime and Amazon Freevee
– The System- A former Marine whose daughter is in need of money for surgery. Desperate and unemployed, he robs drugs from a local gang but is apprehended. Watch it on Starz, Prime, Hulu & Apple TV
– Perfecto Anfitrión- 3 best friends arrive at a stunning home-share rental for their much-needed girls’ trip. Their stay takes a turn when they start to suspect the property’s charming host may be connected to recent disappearances near the small coastal town. Watch it on Roku and Vix
– An Outfit- A mother of a 2 year old has been uncomfortable with her body since giving birth and has been avoiding shopping for new clothes. With an upcoming social event, she must overcome her fear and begin to re-piece her confidence. Watch it on multiple film festivals and soon to come out digitally.
– Casa Pura- A recent widower inherits a boutique hotel that he used to run with his late wife. Life takes an unexpected turn when reality hits and he is forced to take a decision about his future. Coming out to theaters in February 2024.
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?
1. Adaptability: It was and continues to be essential for handling unforeseen life curves to be able to adjust to the situation while maintaining focus on my goals.
2. Compassion: By showing compassion for both myself and other people, I was able to change my course of action and become more conscious of how critical I was of myself when I didn’t live up to my own standards.
3. discipline: I developed confidence in my capacity to become an artist and live completely from what makes me joyful by committing to and showing up for my goals every day.
If someone is just starting out, I would encourage them to take a risk and devote all of their energy to developing their skill set. Attend classes, practice as much as you can, and have the guts to show up for that audition! Every chance you get to experience life outside of the classroom counts toward getting prepared for your future. Have fun and try not to become fixated on the outcome. Simply have gratitude for the blessing of being able to pursue what you love.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
While I explored alternative production-related professions, I grew accustomed to the security of a steady salary. Over the past few years, I have continued to work as an actress while supplementing my economy as a production manager. Due to unforeseen health problems and the SAG-AFTRA strike that caused reduced employment earlier this year, I had an extremely difficult financial period. This caused me to take on extra work as a PM and temporarily put my aspirations on hold. Not because I didn’t want to go after my dreams, but rather because I had to take care of my health and finances diligently. With time, I realized that my health would deteriorate the more I ignored my creative urges. Life recently made my path more apparent to me by eliminating career choices that did not align with my actual passion. To refocus on my objectives, I’m starting over again and building a new foundation. I created a new routine schedule that is centered on the things I need to work on as a performer, writing every day regardless of my motivation level, and resumed my physical training in order to feel confident, happy, and healthy. I also joined an accountability group and began reading and doing homework from the book The Artist Way and recently enrolled to acting and dancing classes. Every obstacle has a solution. It’s ok to start over a million times if needed, as long as we come back to ourselves and what makes us happy <3 .
Contact Info:
- Website: lauraaleman.com
- Instagram: @lauraalemanofficial
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lauraaleman8
- Twitter: alemanlaura
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LauraAlemanOfficial
Image Credits
Studio picture – Paul Smith Photography
