Meet Mark Larwood

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Larwood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mark , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

After I had moved to LA, I didn’t know a lot of people out here Some of buddies from high school had moved out here but trying to meet new people and making new friends has always been a struggle. I went to a bunch of difference schools growing up and most of my life and moved to a bunch of houses all over the Bay Area, like Redwood City, Atherton (twice), Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga, I always would isolate myself from others because I wasn’t sure if anyone was like me or wanted to be friends with me. But as I got older I realized that I was the one that needed to do the work to fit in. And when I say that I don’t mean in order to impress people, I meant just that I have to accept that I had flaws and that I needed to work on them like not getting upset over little things and trying to have more of a sense of humor about things. And luckily because of all of these experiences I’ve had, people have remained in my life and have stayed in touch with me as a result. I still keep in touch from elementary school, middle school, and high school and especially my teachers from all those years. But back to my story of after arriving in LA, I had been in LA for 4 months and I was taking classes at the Andrew Wood Acting Studio which focuses on the Stanislavski method and I wanted to find a acting program that was focused more on Film and TV. I looked at the Sanford Meisner Center in Burbank as an option and did an interview but I continued my research later on I found a acting program that was within walking distance from my apartment called The Richard Lawson Studios. I saw the video promoting the studio and Richard Lawson talked about how before and after every class, everyone is required to dance just to get present and celebrate everyone’s wins, breakthroughs, progress through life, enjoying every bit of the process. There was a program called the Professional Development Program which teaches people how to make films and learning how to audition on camera. Maia Modeste was registar of the RLS at that time and she was very patient with me and I really felt like I had found the right place and weeks later, Maia recommended that I take a look at the Scene Study class as well so I took both the Professional Development Program and the Scene Study class. I’ve been with RLS for 5 years now, and it really changed my life. Other than being an actor and a musician, I’ve become a writer, director, producer, editor, and I’ve been able to do Stand Up Comedy in the real world. I’m so grateful that we were able to continue our studies at RLS, during the pandemic because other than the Professional Development Program and Scene Study, a lot of modular classes were offered and I wanted to make sure that I took all of them and I did. I also was able to take a stand up comedy class that was taught by comedian and actor, Tom Ayers and I’ve done most of my shows at Flapper’s (Burbank) virtually and in person, Dat Phan’s Show over zoom, the Federal (North Hollywood) which is no longer around, and I also did a special called the Astrology Show which is hosted and created by Alex Cave. The show was done in Good Nite Karaoke Bar in North Hollywood. What also has helped develop confidence is a feature film that I wrote called Almost Dead Issues. I started writing in January 2020. It started off as 5 page synopsis that I finished writing during the pandemic and re-writing throughout that year. The following year, I read it out loud in class and worked on plot points then wrote the script and brought into class every week. I did two virtual table reads and after that I was told that I needed to film a proof of concept for this script and so I found a scene and brought into class to read and made revisions and then brought into Scene Study in terms on working on the acting. We shot the project earlier this year in January 2024 and I want to thank Jessica Bassuk, Jasmine Day, Greg Mathis, Jr., Jalen Fauntleroy, Ai-Ling Logan, Mach3, Christian Barron, Alexander McDaniel, Keyboard and A Dream for their contribution to this project. I also want to thank Maia Modeste, Lindsay Hopper for their suggestions and notes in terms of writing the script and Kelly Tighe for her suggestions and coaching me on the acting side of this scene. I also want to thank my parents Mark and Sally Larwood, who helped me in terms pre-production and post production of this proof of concept. I think overall, the fact that I continue to do the work and not always take losses when I face rejection or another bump in the road has helped me develop confidence and being at RLS has helped celebrate the process and not worry about results of something because doing the hard work is the big win.

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?

Being an actor, I’ve realized that it’s all about giving yourself permission. And because I’ve been able to give myself permission and not second guess myself, I don’t feel awkward about seeing myself on camera and I’ve been taught to not have any criticism towards myself as well. One of the things they’ve taught us at the Richard Lawson Studios is that we need to celebrate our wins. And I’ve been able to celebrate whether it’s going to my favorite restaurant, going out for beers, getting a bottle of wine, going to a movie, Disneyland, Universal, or going to a game. Another exciting thing I should mention, I talked about filming a proof of concept for my feature film script, Almost Dead Issues, and one of the most exciting things that has happened other than showing it with my friends and family, it has been selected to screen at the Culver City Film Festival in next month and the festival will be at Regal LA Live. With all the stuff that I’ve experienced in the last 5 years since moving to LA, I’ve seen that so many people that know me have seen what I’ve been working on and have reached out to me to congratulate me on where I’m at in my journey and the fact that I’m hearing from them does my heart a lot of good because even though I’m not always easy on myself and have doubted myself many times, I’m always thrilled to have these people that I grew up getting to know still be a part of my life to this day. My journey as an artist has really lead to many opportunities to grow as a person and to be open to learning things like in terms of film and TV genres and also in music. I’m one of those people who doesn’t really have a favorite genre of music. Music is everywhere and it’s captured my attention over and over again. I remember when I was a very little kid I would watch things like Barney, Sesame Street or the Disney Sing Along Songs from the 80’s and the 90’s so that captured my attention then. My dad would play music in his car when driving me and my sisters to school everyday and he would play country music, rock music, southern rock music, or blues music. If it wasn’t for my dad, I probably wouldn’t have become a big Johnny Cash fan. My grandpa who passed in 2016 was also an influence on my music taste. Some of his favorite artists he listened to were Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, & Nat King Cole. I also got into musical theater growing up and my sister, Casey, had a big hand in getting me interested in participating in plays. So like I said, I’ve let myself be inspired by all kinds of music.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1) One of thing I’ve had to learn how to do is advocate for myself. There were many times where I’ve been scared to ask for help or needed to be honest with someone if my feelings were hurt but despite considerations and fear of the unknown, I always try to make sure that my voice is heard. Homework was always hard for me when I was kid and sometimes I was scared to ask for help and my performance in school wasn’t always great as a result of not speaking up. However there came a point when I was in middle school where I was able to get help from tutors and start asking for help a little more knowing that I needed to get the work done or make sure I was doing it right and my grades got better as a result. And now that I’m an actor advocating is very important because that’s how connections can be made. It can also come in handy when it comes to needing a reader for a self tape audition or rehearsing lines or needing to film a project like a short film or footage for a reel.

2) I’ve always made sure that I listen to my heart. And my move to LA is proof of that because I knew deep down I wanted to perform. A lot of people have told me it would tough to break into this industry but because of my training at the Richard Lawson Studios, I’ve made sure to I’ve been able to not worry about what people might think of me and it’s led me to creating so many opportunities for myself as an artists. I’m not as afraid of letting people see the real me as I would’ve been before I joined the Richard Lawson Studios community.

3) Enjoying life is also a very important thing that I think that is important. Yes, there is a lot of work that goes into be an actor but I’ve made sure that I make sure that I enjoy my life as well. Because of my training the Richard Lawson Studios, not only are we just actors and actresses that work everyday to make their dreams come true, we’re a community. I’ve made so many friends now that I’ve joined RLS and I’ve enjoyed every single moment of being a part of that community. I also make sure to treat myself and celebrate myself because I know that I’m putting in the work to make my dreams come true.

My advice to you all is this. If you have a dream, it doesn’t matter how you are, you have to believe in yourself that you make those dreams a reality. You can’t let the opinions of the others stop you and you can’t let failure stop you either. Failure is part of the process and although it can lead to feelings of confusion, self doubt, or heartbreak, you have to make sure you show up for yourself and do the work that’s required every day to achieve those dreams and stay motivated to keep your journey going. At the end of the day, if you can keep yourself motivated then you’ll have memories to look back on and you’ll end up feeling very proud of yourself.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

Honestly, so many people in my life have help me overcome challenges. My parents of course, have made sure and continue that I don’t cause myself a lot of stress. Especially, given the industry that I’m in and the fact that certain sacrifices that I have to make in terms of my craft, talking with them always helps me calm my nerves town. And since I joined the Richard Lawson Studios in 2019, I have managed to apply the notes that have been given to me by all the teachers that include Richard Lawson, Kelly Tighe, Lindsay Hopper, Beth Berlin, Jorge Ortiz, Maia Modeste & Tom Ayers. Because I’ve been able to both implement and execute their notes & suggestions, I’ve been able apply to as an actor, as a stand up comedian, and in my administration. Because of the RLS community, I’ve been able to share things about myself that I wasn’t comfortable sharing and I’ve been able to advocate for myself when I feel that something’s back and this community has had my back and continues to have my back and has encouraged me not to give up on myself. Both my dance teacher, Maria Del Bano and voice teacher, Zeffin Quinn Hollis have both taught me for the last year to avoid perfection when it comes to the craft and they both continue to help me trust myself as well. My current personal trainer, Hunter Seide, has been giving me some workouts that are challenging but it always pays off in the end. Because of Hunter, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot in these workouts and it’s helped me continue to develop confidence. There are so many people in my life that have help become who I am like my 3 sisters Emily, Casey & Claire, my aunts, uncles, cousins, every teacher that I’ve had in school, every classmate that I had growing up and especially the ones who are still great friends of mine. Although I’m only 30 years old, I’ve had so many experiences in life that I can continue to let myself be open to learning and not getting down about making mistakes. My success has been from learning from failure and continuing to do the work and continue my journey as an artist and as a person.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mlarwood04
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