We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yuli Zorrilla. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yuli below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Yuli with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Hands down I attribute my work ethic to my parents. They are really big on the idea of bringing your best no matter what it is you’re doing and constantly asking the question of how can I do more? In school If got an A they would ask why not an A plus? So because of that I constantly pushed myself to be better. I remember my dad would wake my brother and I up on the weekends, super early, to clean our rooms and we hated it! But what’s funny is now as adults, we are both early risers and can not stay in bed past 7 am. I would definitely say that all those little habits have made a huge difference in all that I do and how I go about whatever it is I’m pursuing.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Well, firstly thank you for having me. My name is Yuli Zorrilla and I am an actor. I have been acting for some time now, although it feels like I’m just now getting my footing. I’m originally from Yonkers, New York and I moved to Los Angeles about 10 or so years ago to pursue acting professionally in Film and Television. I currently play Teresa in season two of Hulu’s “THIS FOOL” and she was such a joy to play.
A lot of what an actor does is reading and trying to find all the nuggets the writer gives you in the scene and then bring it to life. I love what I do because I get to play detective and find all the beautiful nuances a character has, it’s also about connecting and finding similarities between you and the character. I always say I get to play pretend but in a authentic real way and I am really lucky that I get to do this profession, it’s such a responsibilty.
I think what truly makes acting exciting is when you have found the person you are trying to portray, that moment when it clicks! I love when I have a sense of who the person is and what makes them tick because then I can let go and really have fun. That’s when the quirks and the movement and the speech all come together and you no longer view life as “you”, at that point there’s no more thinking you are being in the most truthful way.
A new year will always have you ponder what’s next? and what’s the focus? Now, that we are in 2024 and the actors strike has ended, my focus is to push my own boundaries both personally and professionally. I would love to be a regular in a series and work hand in hand with people who are even more brilliant and talented. The goal is to consistently learn and grow and chase the thing that scares me, whatever that may be in the moment.
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?
I would probably say time management, being good at recognizing what I’m not good at and having commitment have been the most impactful skills in my journey. I found that those three skills allow me to be specific in how I will achieve my goals while giving me tangible ways of measuring what I have done. It has forced me to get really organized on how I run my “business”. As an actor, you are a business. You are a brand and whether you notice it or not you want to be clear as to what you are selling. If I can give advice to anyone early in their journey it would be “know what you are and know what you are not” it will help you get better at the skills you are not good at while strengthening the skills you are good at. Make a plan, stick to it and do the top 3 things on your list that will yield you the highest reward.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Oh gosh, there are so many but the one book that comes to mind is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. As an artist, I did not want to be confined and I thought that structure would dampen my creative process and not allow me to be free but I have learned to embrace structure, in fact, I now need it. This book made me take a good look at what my daily habits were and helped me recognize that those same habits were not helping me get to where I wanted to go. I kept wanting to be a better version of myself but the things I did daily were not coinciding with that. The book taught me to set up systems, active things I do daily to achieve the goals and not just set goals, and it zeroed in on the importance of small daily acts and how powerful they are. If you have any issues with building habits and getting organized this is a book I highly recommend.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6347323/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yulidzorrilla/
Image Credits
Headshot with black top by Paul Smith Headshot with stripped off shoulder top by Leah Huebner
