Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Yolén.
Denise, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Queens, NY and spent a beautiful childhood in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with my mother and sister. My professional career began in New York after graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. My very first play that I wrote, produced, and was featured in, went up at a charming theatre called TheatreLab in NYC. Over the years, I worked with colleagues developing their plays around NY until finally, I made the leap to come to LA in 2016.
My sister had already been a resident and I came shortly after my mom moved from Ft. Lauderdale; it felt right for the 3 of us to be in the same city together again. After being featured in a number of short films, I decided to turn one of my One Act plays into a full-length feature film. In 2018, I worked with a small fantastic crew to breathe life into Sundays In July (currently in post). In the summer of 2019, I was cast in a brilliant play that filled my spirit with the New York energy I had been missing so very much at The Matrix Theatre on Melrose. Set in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, Scraps, became an LA Times Critics Choice and led to my very first nomination for an award. This past January, I was nominated for “Best Featured Actress” at the LA Stage Alliance’s 30th Ovation award ceremony.
I am currently in rehearsals for The Serpent, an Avant-Garde piece set to go up March 7th as apart of The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s 50th anniversary season.
Has it been a smooth road?
As with most artists the biggest struggle is the one with the person looking back at us in the mirror; to attempt to answer the question, “who am I?” Paradoxically, I believe it is the constant grappling with that question that is the artist’s work.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As a Writer/Actress from NY, I am most proud of my recent role in Scraps, as Aisha, written by Geraldine Inoa and directed by Stevie Walker Webb. Working with Stevie was such a dream, he leads the room with an open heart. My spirit felt so full walking in to the theatre everyday. The story dealt with the black male psyche and takes an inner look at the ramifications of what happens as the cycle of violence against black people continues. What does it take to see someone as a human being? What does it take to truly understand that when this happens, they hurt? Seeing it in the media, I think can be highly desensitizing or so overwhelming for some people that they choose not to look. But for the people that came to see Scraps, I experienced an overwhelming sense of true compassion and empathy, people wanting to understand… people wanting to do SOMETHING about it.
Interestingly enough, the project I’m currently working on, explores the area of personal responsibility in our society. From being an on looker to catastrophic events to grappling with our innermost voices, The Serpent, deals with human duality and how we got to this point. What happened to our oneness? Is it possible to find it again in spite of our ego? It is truly fascinating to work with such a diverse ensemble as we tackle some of life’s deepest concepts.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the landscape-it truly is so beautiful and scenic-I was just saying to my sister the other day, it really does look exactly how it looks on TV. It takes my breath away every time I’m at the beach and I see the way in which the mountains melt into the ocean. Now that I’ve been here for four years, I’ve learned to navigate the things I didn’t quite understand when I first got here. Having family and close friends that I connect with and whom I feel most like myself around really helps.
For more information on The Serpent, dates and tickets:
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deniseyolen.com
- Instagram: Denise Yolén
Image Credit:
David Haverty
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