Meet Neva Leoncini

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

Neva, 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?

Great question. I need to recharge and take time for myself. A day in LA feels like a week in Italy, where I’m from. And I’m not even joking. It’s essential for me to take a few days off and detach from everything and everyone, every month. The reason I can be social and have this good amount of energy which keeps me going and spinning around is that I go through phases of recharging. Where do I go? Mexico. With? On my own. To a secret little town in Baja California, where I simply sleep, eat fresh fish and mangoes, sleep some more, sunbathe, and swim with sea lions. Then sleep again. Is this happiness to me? It is. When I go on these solo trips, I try to avoid social media and emails – this is key – aiming to detach completely and slow down the rhythm of life. I do massages and watch the sunrise running along the coast. I feel blessed and grateful to have the luxury of having a job which allows me to take this time off for myself.

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

I am Neva. I am an actress, opera singer and linguist originally from Florence, Italy. Current, living and working in Los Angeles. I am born from an designer and a spaceships architect so the atmosphere at my house has always been deeply creative. I remember my parents would host dinners and have friends over and I would just sit in a corner listen to classical music, blues and jazz from my father’s collection. I started singing when I was 6 in a choir and then transitioned to jazz and then to opera, when I was 19. Got into the Florence Opera Academy – graduated in 2019. I learned how to move on a stage, how to breath with the audience, how to respond and feel the spectators, how to listen to actors and how to respond. I have alway been an actor, without even noticing. My first play I was 10: I booked the lead in this international production called ‘I have a Dream’ which we brought to life in Florence. I never felt such a diva, I was thrilled. From there I continued studying all the classics and Shakespeare and got into Maurizio Lombardi’s theatre company in Florence. Travelled all Italy with him in different musicals and musical theatre productions. In the meantime I graduated in Languages and Literatures from the University of Florence where I leaned how to speak and translate in English, French, Spanish and Russian. I started moving across Europe. Lived in London, Paris, Saint Petersburg. About a year and a half ago a Sunday morning I was drinking my green tea in my terrace in Rome and I got a call from Neva (yes I got her name) my grandma who is originally from LA. She is telling me I absolutely need to fly to LA (never been to the States before) for a family related issue. She booked my tickets and one week after I find myself dining at Bob’s in Burbank eating a double cheeseburger. Yup. From that moment what happened sounds like a movie, but it’s the honest truth. I got into USC studying opera and stage performance for a summer program then got accepter into UCLA for the TFT Acting for the Camera and then got offered my first role on a movie production: Raddoppiare: Parità. This co-production between New York and Italy gave me the opportunity to play the lead role of Elettra, a fascinating yet bored upper-class Italian woman. She lives in a grand villa in Umbria and devises clever schemes to exact revenge on her husband’s best friend, Porterino. Set in the 70s among vespas, vogue cigarettes and a tennis court. I was hooked. After that experience on set I got the buzz and that’s forever – just never leaves. So, I went back home, packed and moved to LA. Best decision of my life.

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

One: Listen to what they say, but then forget about it and follow your gut. Only your gut. If something feels off and you’re taking too long to decide, it’s probably not right.

Two: Earn your craft. Be an artisan. Work, work, work. Just do the work, and the rest will follow.

Three: Learn languages. They open portals, not just doors. You’ll discover things about yourself you didn’t even know existed.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

People. Be a people’s person. Host. Have them over. Invite them. Go. Say yes. You will always learn. Listen and respond, but mostly ask and listen. That’s how you learn. Ask questions and let them tell you their stories. Marlon Brando used to go out and just stop on the street and talk to people. Listen and talk. He was working on himself, life, his craft, acting. Everything without even knowing it. I learn so much from friends and people I trust. And they support me when I need advices. Build a strong small trusted circle. This sounds like a cult but it’s not ahah

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14678378/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nevaleoncini/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neva-leoncini-b38147269/