Today we’d like to introduce you to Gloria De Leon.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a storyteller, or, in the words of my people, a big ol’ chismosa (a gossip). Yes, “my people” are Mexican moms. I grew up watching Spanish-language telenovelas since I was very little, which didn’t make me dramatic at all! Add to this that I was a middle child, starving for attention, and voila: Gloria, The Actress.
Growing up, since my parents and older sister were undocumented for many years, we were careful about going out too much, and we didn’t have much money to go anywhere anyways, so we spent a lot of time at the local library (shout out to Blanchard Community Library in Santa Paula!), and watching novelas at home. I always knew that I wanted to be an actress, even though my parents kept telling me that “se te va a pasar” (“you’ll get over it”) as if wanting to be an actress was just some persistent form of indigestion.
When I was very young, my mother told me that as a woman, I had two choices in life: either go to school, get educated, and learn to support myself, OR learn to be a good housewife. Since I hated all forms of housework and I’ve never enjoyed being someone’s anything, I made it my mission to become educated so that I could be whatever I wanted to be. Chauvenistic bulls***, aside, it was very good advice. So I studied hard, and thanks to student loans, I graduated with a degree in Theater from UCLA.
After college, I returned to my parents’ home and more importantly, I returned to my home theater: the Santa Paula Theater Center, where I’d first experienced professional theater as a kid. I found out that they were looking to open up a second venue and I quickly hopped on board, which is how I became one of the founding members of the Backstage venue at SPTC. Aside from the fact that this gave me a chance to perform with actors I’d grown up admiring (looking at you Leslie Nichols!), it also provided me with playwriting and directing opportunities. I’ve always loved writing, but writing plays allowed me to bring attention to important issues that I felt needed to be addressed. As a Latina writer, I felt that there was much about my experience that needed to be said, and through plays, I got the chance to share that.
I eventually moved back to LA where I had the chance to perform at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts for a few seasons until I refocused my career towards other forms of performance. I booked my first voice-over job and got signed to a VO agency, which marked a huge milestone in my life. Through voice-over, I met my writing and creative partner, actress Delia Gomez. We connected over our love of novelas, and we now have a bi-monthly podcast called NOVELEANDO, where we talk about novelas. We use the themes in novelas as a jumping off point to discuss important issues of the Latin American experience. We also talk about how delicious Ricky Martin is. A lot.
Throughout my acting journey, I have never forgotten that the true value of storytelling is in the power it has to shape our views on life. So, while I love performing for fun, I have always hoped that my work inspires and motivates, not just in an abstract “let’s make everything rainbows and unicorns way”, but in a “here’s what I’m going to do to make life better” way. That’s why, when I read about Nikki Bailey’s idea for a fat, sketch comedy team, I knew this was something with which I needed to be involved. I understood that her idea wasn’t just about allowing fat actresses a space to be funny, but about publicly standing up to a culture that attempts to erase the existence of anyone who doesn’t fit in.
FATCH, the Fat Sketch Comedy Show, has brought together some really kick-ass women, and through our fat-positive sketches, we are creating a space where all bodies are valued. Through my work with FATCH, I get to write and be funny in a safe space, but I also get to learn a lot from the stories of other fat women. Sometimes, in life, we are kinder to others than we are to ourselves because asking things for ourselves seems selfish, but when I get to hear how fatphobia has affected so many other people, it motivates me to do more. In addition to supporting me professionally, by connecting me to the fat community, FATCH has helped me on a personal level. It introduced me to organizations like Health At Every Size (HAES), to fat content like the “Plus This Show”, and the “She’s Too Fat” web series, and to the Plus Bus, a plus-size consignment store here in LA. For the first time, I can say that yes, I’m fat, I’m healthy, I’m sexy, and I’m enjoying life without shame. That’s what I want my work to do for others.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve been very lucky in a lot of ways so I don’t have much to complain about. There are really just two main struggles that have significantly hindered my ability to move forward in my career. The first one is a financial hardship. Being an artist is, unfortunately, a luxury. It shouldn’t be but it is. I often wonder how lovely life would be if I didn’t have this addiction to performance and storytelling. I imagine I’d have a steady income, I’d own a home, get paid time-off, have four dogs, a hot pool guy, and a few oversized hats, so that when I go out, people would see the edge of my face under my hat, and they’d be like “Oh wow, that woman is Rose-from-Titanic levels of doing well.” But then again, maybe this “what life could be” is just another story I’m making up in my head. Being an artist is a lot of hustling because you don’t have a steady job and bills still gotta get paid. On top of living expenses, being an actor requires constant large investments: promo materials, classes, paying for performance spaces, coaching sessions, plus the expense of time, because being an actor means you spend a TON of time doing prep work for things for which you will never get paid. I think there is a misconception that actors get to have part-time jobs and then just kick back the rest of the time, but there’s a reason for the huge turnover rate of actors who move to LA (and of LA restaurant staff): to be a working actor, you have to WORK! Like ALL. THE. TIME.
Another challenge for me has been body bias in the performance industry. I’m fat. This is not a complaint, or a criticism, or a reflection of my self-esteem. It’s simply a description. I love my body. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of prejudice openly expressed against fat people, and as an actress, this has often hindered my ability to even be allowed in the room. There are a list of reasons people will give to justify demonizing fatness, and I’m not going to list them here, but what I will say is that anti-fat bias doesn’t exist without other internalized prejudices, and that I will not apologize for being fat, any more than I would apologize for being brown, queer, or a woman. It’s a part of who I am, and I get to be happy living in my body. The road to self-acceptance and love, has been difficult and long, but I am grateful to the wonderful fat women I’ve met along the way who have helped me identify my own fatphobia, and I continue to work on a daily basis to fight against it and to fight for myself.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I currently have two projects that I am a part of:
FATCH, the Fat Sketch Comedy Show, is a fat-positive comedy show that promotes the representation of all bodies on stage. We are a diverse, multi-cultural, group of women who identify as fat, and through our sketches, we break down body bias. As fat activists, we both educate about fat topics and listen to stories from the fat community. As a fat-positive sketch comedy team, what sets us apart from other teams is that, rather than use fatness as a joke, fatness is simply a part of our experience, so when we tell jokes they are told from the fat perspective. We are also unique in that we are not competitive amongst each other. We do not subscribe to the belief that there is only room for some of us a the table, so we consistently encourage and support each other in both creative and personal endeavors. On a professional level, I’m super proud of the fact that we were accepted into San Francisco Sketch Fest 2020!!! We will be performing on January 16th and 17th, and we’re really excited to bring our show to new audiences. We don’t get paid for any of it, so if anyone wants to support us they can contribute to our FundRazr, and if we have supporters out there who are not able to donate, we are happy to get a follow or share on social media, and of course, come see our live shows!
My second baby is: NOVELEANDO Podcast
NOVELEANDO Podcast is a podcast where we discuss Spanish-language telenovelas. The podcast is in English, although we make some Spanish references throughout. Actress, Delia Gomez and I both grew up in Mexican households (in her case, Mexican-Colombian) in southern California, and we began the podcast as a nostalgia show about the novelas we loved to watch as kids. However, we also felt that if we were going to put something out into the world, we had a responsibility to put out something of value to the listener, beyond just reminiscing about the past. That created the format for the show. While we discuss the novelas, we also talk about important issues within the Latin American community, like mental health, colorism, substance abuse, family ties, faith, and many other important subjects.
We are the only podcast that talks about novelas. I’m proud that we get to discuss important issues, while also establishing a bond with other novela-watchers. Like us, our listeners are passionate people, and I love getting messages and hearing about how novelas have affected people on a personal level. I was surprised to find out that some of our listeners are not even native Spanish-speakers, but rather, English-speakers who developed a love of novelas when they were exposed to them at friends’ houses. I’m glad we get to share something fun with people we’ve never even met.
What were you like growing up?
Annoying mostly, I think. I’ve always been a performer, but I come from a working-class family and my parents are both very practical people, so I’m sure having a tiny drama-queen prancing around the house was not super fun. I loved play-acting novelas, and watching girl-power shows like Sailor Moon, She-Ra, Power Puff Girls, and, my all time fav, Xena: Warrior Princess. I love fantasy: reading it, watching it, living it. I guess if I had to describe myself as a child, I’d say: Over-dramatic Nerd. And that’s….yeah, pretty much adult me too.
Contact Info:
- Website: GloriaTheActress.com, NoveleandoPodcast.libsyn.com, FatchComedy.com
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Edrea Lara, Mayra De Leon, Delia Gomez
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