I am so grateful to be wrapping up this conversation series with our last guest of the season, Paz Garcia, a beautiful and soulful actress from Majorca - the biggest island of the Balearic Islands, located in the Mediterranean sea.

Before moving to New York, Paz first set foot in Barcelona where she discovered the Meisner Technique. There she started her career doing commercials, short films, prints.  She quickly felt like she needed more and New York looked like the perfect match. "When I follow my instinct something good happens." she tells me. And as a matter of fact, her journey in New York has been incredibly rewarding. You will also hear her opening up about the origins of such an enduring inner trust and vision for herself.

Later on, we dwell upon the importance of saying "no" in a professional setting, the vital and necessary readjustments in one's  career, her vision and project for a more "sensible" education system.  And for the last open mic of the season, Paz will be singing an Alicia Keys song.

Thank you Paz and all of you who have been listening and following Actsiders during this first season! It has been such a blast I cannot wait to launch the second season in the Spring 2018!

Wishing you all a magnificent Christmas!

More about Paz:
Website - pazgarcia.net
facebook.com/PazGarciaActress/ 
twitter.com/pazgarciaactriz
instagram.com/paz__garcia/
imdb.com/name/nm4903690/

Paz: "I love breaking these comfort zones that we all get".

Ninth guest on Actsiders, Riza Takahashi is from Itami, a provincial town in the South of Japan. A dancer, singer and actor Riza is a gifted multifaceted artist. From an early age, she was set on one goal: Broadway. And nothing would stop her.

At 16, she leaves her hometown and move to Canada to learn English. Despite the language barrier, she powers her way through highschool and enrolls at Hartford University within the musical theatre department. Since then, she has performed in a great variety of musicals from "Mamma Mia!", "Les Misérables", "King and I" to "Spamalot" - a hilarious adaptation from the 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

As she tells me in our conversation, the journey has not also always been easy. You will hear us talk about her struggle with the language, the highly demanding training she received in Japan, the pros and cons of being a very specific type in this industry, but also her unwavering determination, and passion for coffee!

As a matter of fact, Riza has become a savvy coffee drinker, she now writes for a Japanese company and has a very popular Instagram account where she relates her coffee adventures. Listen to her give her top 3 NYC coffee shops.
Don't miss out her beautiful performance at the end of the show. She interprets with her ukulele a song from Miyazaki's "The Cat Returns".

Look out early 2018 because you will be able to catch her on BROADWAY!

Actsiders was recently featured in Queens Courrier and LIC Courrier, you can read the article here: http://bit.ly/2fdTOlW

Follow Riza:
facebook.com/riza.takahashi.3
instagram.com/rizatakahashi/
twitter.com/rizatakahashi?lang=fr

Riza's Instagram about coffee:
instagram.com/coffeenyc_riza/

Riza: "My musical theatre studio back in Japan did a lot for me, in a tough way."

Eighth guest on Actsiders, Ali Nasser is originally from Cairo, Egypt. He is an actor, voice actor, an improv performer at UCB and a copywriter!

As he'll demonstrate in the episode, he is a wonderfully gifted voice actor. Proof of his talent, he was chosen by Disney to be the voice of Mickey Mouse back in Egypt.
In an effort to revive the theatre scene back there, he decided as a college student to create a theatre company. He also got cast in the Arabic adaptation of TV series ER.

In our conversation, you will hear us talk about the aftermath of the Arab Spring and how he is often confronted to a catch 22 when it comes to applying for Middle Eastern roles.

Have a look at the novel which Ali talks about; "The Yacoubian Building" by Alaa-Al-Aswany. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yacoubian_Building

More about Ali:
www.thealinasser.com
twitter.com/thealinasser
facebook.com/ali.h.nasser
instagram.com/thealinasser

Ali: "Is it the role that defines the actor, or the actor that defines the role?"

Seventh guest on Actsiders, Christina  Farah is an actress, dancer, and voice over actor from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

From a very early age, she performed, sang, danced and later on worked on multiple film sets, directed and produced short films, commercials, documentaries...
But a little more than a year ago it became clear that she wanted to dedicate herself entirely to acting. A decision that was like a  true liberation for her.

In this conversation, we talk about age and its non relevance, her coming to terms with her Arabic culture and identity, and how New York is helping her shape the actor she wants to become.

At the end, Christina will be singing "Les uns contre les autres", a French song composed by Michel Berger.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did her fiery optimism and joie de vivre.

Follow Christina :) 
IMDB: http://imdb.to/2wjlBJE
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2iDqASk
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2vyGM97
 
Check out the trailer of the film -West Beirut- that Christina highly recommends! http://bit.ly/2xsanCB

Christina: " Acknowledging that I am an actress was the easiest and the hardest thing in the world."

Today, my first guest ever on ACTSIDERS is Hila Naus.
Hila grew up in Bnei Brak, a center of Ultra Orthodox Judaism, just east of Tel Aviv in Israel.
The youngest of five, she attended religious schools where there was little place for the theatre. After her mandatory military service, her life took a different turn when she decided to move to New York six years ago.
Once enrolled in the American Musical and Dramatic Academy she had to adapt herself to a new language, society, culture, mentality, and industry.

When I first met Hila, I was struck and inspired by her fiery determination and fearlessness. I couldn’t be happier that she is starting this series of conversations. I hope you will enjoy this first interview as much as I did hosting it. Let me know what you think. Please subscribe and write a review, it helps us a lot!

More about Hila: http://www.hilanaus.com/

Hila: "Don't give up, just tell yourself you are going to take a break."

“What is Hollywood anyway? Just a bunch of people from other places."
Meryl Streep 

Starting July 3rd, ACTSIDERS is a new weekly show that sheds light upon actors on a visa or a green card trying to make it in the Big Apple! 
Each week one actor from one country reveals her or his "behind the scenes". What is it like to be an outsider in this industry? Stay tuned for next week first episode!
Hosted by Ingrid Raison.

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