Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karolina Larion. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Karolina, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Growing up, I was always a perfectionist due to my classical ballroom dance background. This mindset eventually bled over into other parts of my life. When I started acting, I felt like I had to unlearn so many things and let go of old habits in order to find more freedom. In the beginning, I was so afraid of other peoples opinions and getting a “no” or just no response at all from so many auditions made me feel like I was not good enough. I think, that most of us find ourselves thinking at some point, “Is this whole acting thing even worth it?” and I came to the conclusion that “YES it is”! I had constant pressure, which I put on myself and also from back home. I grew up in Berlin, Germany and when I moved to NYC to give acting a real shot, everyone was expecting me to appear in Hollywood movies. That was the how hight he bar was set and if I wouldn’t meet it, it would mean that I failed. I started wondering what “success” means in this industry? You certainly don’t have to appear in a big picture in order to be proud of yourself and your craft, of course that would be wonderful, but there are so many other ways. I decided to let myself experiment around, put myself into uncomfortable, challenging situations and grow from this experience. For example, I started choreographing, which I would have never dared to do a few years ago, because I didn’t feel I was good enough or creative enough. Now I feel so much more confident in what I’m doing and consider steps like these already as a success. Working towards the big goal by reaching milestones like that allows you to just enjoy the process and have fun. In the end, we’re all in this because we love what we’re doing, right?
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I was born in Ukraine but grew up in the wonderful city of Berlin, Germany. Art was always a big part of my life and happiness. That’s why I decided to dedicate my life to my craft. In other peoples eyes, this was a crazy decision, but to me it was very clear and I’ve never felt so sure about anything else before. Instead of being miserable doing a job that I hate, I wanted to take the risk and move to NYC to fulfill that burning desire of mine to CREATE. 2023 was definitely a big year for me and laid the foundation for everything else that is about to come. I started working as a dance instruction and choreographer, which was way out of my comfort zone. To me, choreographing something felt like magic that I didn’t know how to use yet. After working on a Cabaret show, I was offered to choreograph the Off Broadway musical “Dream on, Baransky!”. Although I was super intimidated, I decided to take on the challenge and ended up learning so much from this experience. When we did a second run of the show, I was so much more confident and excited to realize my visions on stage. Later that year I did a collaboration with NYU Tisch students, which was truly an amazing experience. For the music video “Not My Type”, I had the creative freedom to merge different dance styles like salsa and tango together and perform it with a dear friend of mine for the production. I think if you constantly work on projects and keep the momentum going, you become more daring and dream bigger. That’s why I decided to start writing a sitcom with one of my best friends. Now, every little experience in my daily life can serve as inspiration for the show, which is a beautiful thing. Down the road, my friend and I would like to gather a group of artists and do weekly meetings, where we can discuss industry related topics, motivate each other and work on projects together.
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?
The three most important skills for me were dancing, listening and resilience! Being a dancer helped me having a better understanding of my body and how to use it. In acting, you have to connect your body and soul together and for some people, this is a whole new experience. When I came to NYC, I thought that I had to close the chapter of dancing just to find out, that it is a skill, which is very much needed to add on top of my other skills. All of my acting teachers at the Academy of Dramatic Arts were praising listening and underlined the importance of it. During my first on stage performance I was so nervous, that I had a complete blackout, which is every actors nightmare! I was afraid, it would happen and it did because I was focused on it. Since then I’ve been using listening as a method to avoid finding myself in this situation again. Because I redirect my focus to my scene partner, I’m not panicking internally about my lines. Instead, I’m more focused on responding truthfully and staying in the present moment. I think resilience is one of the most important qualities/skills an actor should have. Hearing so many no’s can seriously not only be discouraging, but also makes you want to give up. Rejection is not a nice feeling and you have to have a certain obsession to continue what you’re doing. I realized that I just have to keep going and never doubt my decision about becoming an actress, because my gut feeling is telling me “this is the right path you’re on right now”. I do believe that resilience requires discipline to some extent. So continue working, creating and dreaming big.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
One book that completely changed my life was “A Star Is Found”. It was written and published in 2006 by the two top casting directors Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins, who discovered actors like Julia Roberts, Winona Ryder, John Cusack and more! This book gave me so much insight on what is going on in a casting directors head, what they are looking for and all the behind-the-scene details. I’ve read this book multiple times and can only recommend it to every actor and actress, who wants to stay in this business for a long time. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of the whole audition process, but I also learned that casting directors are actually rooting for you, they want you to be good and end their long search for the “right” person! This was such a confident booster for me and now I’m entering every in person audition full of excitement! Also, reading about the big actors first auditions just showed me, that everyone has to start somewhere. On top of being lucky to be at the right time at the right place, it is even more important to be prepared! You never know when an opportunity might arise and you better be on top of you game if it presents itself to you! This is what I am working on right now. Have great head shots, always have a few monologues ready to go, be professional and take risks during auditions! Janet and Jane were saying in their book, that although you might not be the right one for this role, casting directors always remember someone who made a good impression on them and might file you away as an actor they would love to see again! The less personally you can take everything, the better off you’ll be. If it’s meant to be, it will be, so stop wasting your time with investing enormous amounts of anxiety or hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: Still in progress!! Will come soon!
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karolinalarion/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karolina.larion
- Other: https://www.backstage.com/u/karolina-larion/
Image Credits
Niko Stycos, Luana Seu, Kevin Feng
