Today we’d like to introduce you to Cybil Lake.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up in Rhode Island, I was fortunate to spend a lot of time at the beach. To me, the beach is a super fun and dare I say super spiritual place to be. In front of the ocean, I feel most alive, connected, exhilarated! I loved organizing friends to do dance routines and planned ‘shows’ for my parents in the living room. Early on in school, I was selected for being creative…and dramatic. I was the cliche; the lead in my high school plays, donning a beret, writing poems, reciting them. I went to NYU Tisch School of the Arts and acted in everyone’s films and my own.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I made a feature film in my twenties and got discouraged when it wasn’t received the way that I had hoped and walked away from film and tv for a while. But, the business reeled me back in. Rejection has been my greatest teacher. Rejection has compelled me to push harder, get better, be resilient. As an actor, I’ve not gotten the roles that I’ve wanted. So I decided to make my own film; to act, direct, write Central Park Dark. So even though my film is tiny, I want to dedicate this film to people who work and work and still feel unseen, unrecognized. I want to say — I see you. Or maybe those people who have a dream but are afraid to follow it — I say go after it. When shooting Central Park Dark, we had so many challenges! My cameraman bailed the day before Tom Sizemore flew to NYC. The producer never showed. We had a ten days shoot because Tom had other commitments and I was pregnant and starting to show. The script needed another rewrite by me but there just wasn’t time. Sure enough, when I edited the film it wasn’t working. So we needed to do reshoots, but I was very pregnant, so I created a new mythology and my pregnancy and my son are in the film. On another note, I am an alcoholic and now I’ve been sober for ten years. That’s probably the biggest personal challenge of my life getting sober and staying sober.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
A producer I know calls me a triple threat: an actor, writer, filmmaker. I write all day so I’m a writer through and through. And when it comes to acting, when you are in the zone – it’s the most exhilarating and liberating feeling in the world. What sets me apart from a lot of actors is that I have also written several films and tv projects that are ready to be shot. I’m ready to go. I’ll be on time and work hard to the best of my ability. Failure and life challenges have beat me down and so I am a very humble worker at this point. Not much ego remains here. It’s been ground out of me, mostly. Also, I’ve finally admitted to myself that I’m far too empathetic. I feel what others feel. In fact, I tend to take on what they are feeling. But ultimately, this enables me to know what all characters feel in situations. So it makes my character gain depth and humanity. I’m happy that I sold Central Park Dark starring myself and Tom Sizemore. But what I didn’t know was that there was so much paperwork to sell the film. It was so challenging. My passions are acting and writing – all of the other stuff is tough for me. But it’s good to work at stuff you don’t like — it builds character. The reward of making my most recent film was definitely the process — not the end product of the film itself. Not the distribution deal that I received. My fruit is learning to persevere. I think that’s where you really discover who you are. Sometimes, you’re an entirely different person at the end of a project than you were when you started it. I know I am.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would love to see more and more roles for older women. They are the most exciting and undervalued group in Hollywood.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.cybillake.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cybillake
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cybillake
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cybillake
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5_-DdLW3xXP1oRDHHrm-Yg
- Other: http://www.centralparkdark.com
Image Credits:
The more styled ones are by Bobby Quillard.
