Story & Lesson Highlights with Mark Larwood of North Hollywood

We recently had the chance to connect with Mark Larwood and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: When have you felt most loved—and did you believe you deserved it?
Two years ago, I did a personal monologue in my acting class at the Richard Lawson Studios, and although Richard Lawson was not there to teach that night, one of my other mentors there who is one of my closest friends, Kelly Tighe filled in for him that night. I was sharing with the class that I was experiencing high levels of anxiety and they were increasing overtime. After Kelly had assessed me after the personal monologue, she gave me an exercise to do in class which was a cold dance. She had me put on my sunglasses and dance to the song Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Jefferson Starship I really got to experience freedom and I gave myself the permission to dance crazy but still have a lot of fun doing it. Luckily I was able to get support from all my other friends from RLS that night whether they were in person or on Zoom, since our classes are hybrid and we have people all over the world that come and study with us and are able to achieve the dreams that they see for themselves. After I finished, all of my in-person classmates gave me a standing ovation and I felt better and I felt experienced so much love and then that was the end of class and we danced right after since we have a policy before and after every class which to dance so that we can present, celebrate all of our wins throughout the week, and to take our minds off of anything that’s bothering us. I’m really grateful for Kelly Tighe giving me this exercise on that night because for the 6 years, Kelly has mentored me, she’s always made sure that I don’t give up on myself, and she’s become of my best friends, and I think all the people that know her, are close friends of hers and loved by her are very lucky people. She sees the good in everyone and she sees potential in everyone.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Mark Larwood. I’m an actor based in Los Angeles. I’ve been actor for 8 years and I moved to LA in 2019. I have studied acting at First Take, the Andrew Wood Studio, and I’m currently taking acting classes at the Richard Lawson Studios where I have been studying for 6 years. I have also learned how work in other areas like writing, directing, producing, working behind the camera, I’ve also done stand up in the real world as well. For the last year, my short film has been screening at film festivals. It has been an amazing journey for me to develop all these skills and it’s been amazing to have worked with the people I’ve gotten to know and have developed such amazing friendships with those artists and I am forever grateful that I’ve receive their support and that they have allowed me to be part of their community because at the Richard Lawson Studios, we are a community and I do look forward to seeing them every week whether in class or anywhere else.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Honestly, one of the things I think that there were two things as a kid where I felt powerful which was singing and learning how to play the guitar. I remember my dad used to play Johnny Cash a lot in the car and I loved it so much that I wanted to have that same skill and then when I was in 6th grade I learned how to play the guitar and luckily for me I’ve been able to play so many songs without having to read music. Having those skills has given me a chance to believe in myself and my morale has boosted as an artist and as a person with those skills.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
If I were to say one thing to my younger self I probably would say “Don’t worry about what others say or think about you, I know you’ve had to start from scratch over and over again and you’ve had again but take the opportunity to get know people and mingle, learn about what their favorite things to do are and maybe it’ll become your favorite thing to do.”

From 3rd to 5th grade I had to change schools and I know that I didn’t make it easy for myself to adapt to change and I’m grateful to all the people that helped me through that tough time because they made me welcome and they were honest with me even at times when I didn’t want to hear it but I needed to hear it. And a lot of those relationships still exist today because these people help me make sure I didn’t give up on myself so I’m grateful that many of the people were in my life then are still a part in my life today.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
One belief that I’m committed to and has really beneficial for me is that I always think it’s important for people to listen to their heart. Listening to my heart has not always been the easiest thing I’ve done but I know for a fact that it’s helped me accept where I’m at in my life and that I just need to be patient with myself and with my career. Since I joined the Richard Lawson Studios six years ago, I have been taught to celebrate the process and celebrate my wins like getting an audition done or booking an acting job, or finishing a project like a script or a short film or putting a scene in my scene study class. The fact that I’ve had to be patient with where I’m at in my career has helped me understand that things do take time and I’ve been able to get a lot more done and I feel it’s made become a better actor and it’s also helped me not be so doubtful of myself. Self care has also been a huge factor in making my way through this journey because I do have to make sure I have the energy to play a different character every time or do any other tasks behind the camera.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When do you feel most at peace?
When I feel most at peace is probably when I celebrate my wins. Being an actor is something I will continue to do for the rest of my life but celebrating the process is vital. Sometimes it’ll be going to Universal Studios or Disneyland. Before I shared a first cut of my short film, Almost Dead Issues, to my friends, I made sure to have a celebration prepared so I bought myself a ticket to Universal Studios that Saturday. When I shared the final cut, I celebrated by taking myself to Disneyland and I always going on the weekend because they have a show at night that I love called Fantasmic. Another I celebrate is ordering certain foods like getting a milkshake, or a pizza, or having pancakes or an omelette. Since I moved to LA, another thing I’ve had done to enjoy my time living out here is driving to Anaheim to see the Angels play. I’m a big baseball fan and the San Francisco Giants are my favorite team. Some of my earliest memories of watching baseball was seeing Barry Bonds play. I also got to see a World Series game when I was in high school. As a teenager, I got to see some great players like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mlarwood04
• Facebook: Mark Larwood

Image Credits
Photo #1/Personal Photo – Jayne Marin

Photo #2 – Mark Larwood (Selfie)

Photo #3 – Jayne Marin

Photo #4 – Mark Larwood (Selfie)

Photo #5 – Emily Sandifer

Photo #6 – Corey Barker

Photo #7 – Corey Barker

Photo #8 – Emily Sandifer

Photo #9 – Steven Foley