Today we’d like to introduce you to Marinna Benzon.
Marinna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I actually got started in the fifth grade, strangely enough, when I used to tell made up scary stories to my classmates at recess; sort of as a ploy to make friends. My teachers championed me into creative writing and theatre which I figured was so I could exert some displaced energy outside of the classroom. Meanwhile, I was put into dance classes since the age of six, and learned about stage presence, musicality, audience interaction, theatricality and where downstage left was. As time went on, I studied theatre at various institutions such as Sheldon Studios, Academy of Arts San Francisco, Overcast Theater, Leela Improv theater Company and San Francisco State University. As for writing, I was in a history class, which I despised, and we had to write teacher evaluations and I described in painfully great detail how astoundingly boring this class was; which my history teacher read and told me that he could feel how passionately I did not like history class and as he encouraged me to pursue a career in poetry, I offered up giggles in disbelief.
Shoutout to Mr. Baptist at Moreau Catholic High School! Flashforward to moving to Los Angeles from the Bay Area, I found myself in a two-bedroom apartment in Glendale with some friends from college, getting inebriated and sleeping on the floor of our living room, hoovering over my laptop trying to reach out to Jamie Moyer by whom; I remembered taking an all women environmental improv workshop with. Since then, I found myself as a house performer and conservatory graduate of Second City Hollywood; by which birthed the dark comedic play, ” Neon Apocalypse”. In terms of my poetry, I have let it take a back seat to the stage and as time went on, as heartbreaks ensued, as failures persisted, as displaced my feelings were becoming again; I revisited poetry that brought me to my upcoming chapbook, “Millennial Dogeater”.
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?
Oh no, being a first-generation queer BIPOC living in America as an actor and poet is like having more closed doors and a constantly moving finish line. Not only was I facing limited opportunities for my sexuality, race and gender but I was facing some uneasy push back from my parents at times, who did want me to have higher paying job and to be successful right away. No one will ever have a smooth road, but that’s quite honestly what makes everything worth it so the struggles are always welcomed at my house.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an actor, filmmaker and poet and I specialize in honest and subversive content that is told from the perspective of marginalized communities. What sets myself apart from others is that I don’t really believe people are done learning, so I have taken that upon myself reach my potential in film production, in theater and in poetry. I don’t like slowing down and I want to do all things, not to feed an ego but to create work that I believe deserves a place outside of my thought process. Mind you, there’s not all going to be gems but what I’ve learned from improv is that failure makes room for bigger and greater things and I earnestly hope I can do that.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up was hard, never fit any societal beauty standards, never was the quickest or the most charming but I think growing up with immigrant Filipino parents has taught me to work harder at a very early age. Unfortunately, I was held back one year in the second grade, and my intelligence was always being tested so I resorted to comedy and telling stories to sort of deviate from the fact that I wasn’t exactly an A+ student. My parents were kind enough to get me involved with sports such as basketball and tennis, then I did dance from 6- 26 and I even got involved with student government where I learned how to be an empathetic leader. I sort of feel that it has helped me immensely in the way that I interact with people, how I approach my work and how I take constructive criticism.
Pricing:
- Millennial Dogeater Chapbook is $13
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marinnabenzon.com/
- Instagram: @marinna.benzon
Image Credit:
Photography by Eric Carroll, Neon Apocalypse by Raul Garcia
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