Today we’d like to introduce you to Zuri Starks.
Hi Zuri, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was 9 my mom took my brother and me to see our first professional play and we saw Miracle on 34th St in Chicago. It was back when McDonald’s had the $0.59 cheeseburger deals and the limit was like 6 per person, clearly this was back in the day (I said what I said). I was so mesmerized by the whole experience: the lights, the audience, the stage, but then I saw the child actress playing the daughter in the show and I was completely stunned. All I thought was wow, she looks like she’s my age, that is so cool, I want to be up there. That’s when the spark started to grow, but I let the flame stay low. I was an athlete, that was my focus and what I was used to, though I had a deep love for the arts. As that love began to take over, it started to bleed into my athletic life. I not only was heavily committed to soccer, but I was also on a competitive cheerleading team. My schedule got so crazy, I’d show up to soccer games with a giant bow in my hair and sunglasses that were too big for my face, which earned me the nickname “Hollywood”.
Little did I know, that nickname helped me end my soccer career and focus on my truest passion. I then auditioned for the Theatre Department at seven colleges, most of them in LA. I got into Loyola Marymount, but my family was like “Congratulations!! You’re not going to California”. Heartbroken and bummed, I jetted off to the University of Iowa for Theatre. After college, I went back home and worked a 9-5 because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to act again. College fatigued me. I was drained and didn’t feel like I was good enough to pursue acting as a career. That whole year I was battling a deep depression I didn’t fully understand and a heavy heartbreak. Till finally one day my mom said, “If you’re not happy here why don’t you just move to LA? You’ve talked about it for so long. Do it. You have nothing holding you back”. And she was right. But before I left, someone told me to find my “why” and to make it incredibly strong and important. Because even on the toughest days when you’re ready to quit and go back to Chicago, you want your why to always win. So a strong “why” and working everyday with occasional doubles for eight months has brought me to almost five years of being an LA resident. These five years have blessed me with a few commercials, a musical, plays, short films, feature films, soul-full and filled friends, amazing mentors, incredible teachers who truly see me, wild adventures, and surprising discoveries. Today I am filled with immense gratitude and a “why” that is always getting stronger and constantly fueling me…
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If by smooth you mean driving over all the potholes in Chicago post-winter, then yeah, it’s been real, real smooth. I experienced maybe one of the hardest, if not the hardest periods of my life here. When I first got to LA, I was a baby 23 and really living up my Jordan year. As I was coming up on my one year of moving to LA, I was all hyped and ready to take the town. On my first LA 4th of July, 2 days before my 1 year move-iversary, I was found unconscious in an alley with my clothes next to me. Luckily, two young college women found me and were able to get in contact with my roommate, who was able to get me to the hospital. Post hospital, I was so distraught that I went home, took a nap, woke up a few hours later, and went to work. I didn’t deal with that pain for a whole year and a half. It was after my 25th birthday when the depression from it all really kicked in. I was miserable. I didn’t look well, I didn’t feel well, I wasn’t behaving “normally”. There would be days where I’d lay in bed for 8 hours doing absolutely nothing or I’d lay on the floor sobbing for hours just hoping the floor would swallow me whole. I contemplated suicide probably every other day. Everything hurt and I felt like there was nothing left to do that could help. What finally helped me change my mind was thinking of my why and how giving up actually felt worse than ending my life. That experience made me feel incredibly broken. But what comes with something broken is the ability to put it back together in a variety of ways. As traumatic and terrible as that was, it taught me how strong I am and how I don’t have to be defined by what happens to me. It helped me redefine my voice and gave me a new purpose of reclaiming my power. Although it hasn’t been a smooth road, I can’t say that it hasn’t been a teaching and rewarding one.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an actor and a writer/director/producer/CEO in progress. HA! I love acting and bringing 2-dimensional people to life. I truly believe that every single person’s story matters and deserves to be told. And that’s what I want to do and be a part of. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt seen, understood, and not alone from watching and reading plays, movies, tv shows, books, and poems. Sometimes as humans, we can’t find the words to express how we feel or we feel so freaking alone and that no one gets it. And then you allow yourself to dive into someone else’s story and are very connected to it and you let yourself go to those places you normally wouldn’t in your everyday life, even if it’s for a second. But in actuality you’re so invested and drawn in because you see yourself in that character/story. That’s how I feel sometimes, and that’s how I want to make others feel. I will be very content if I can make just one person feel seen, heard, understood, and alive. When I was two years old, I saw a man jump into the deep end at the pool and decided it looked cool and I was curious so I did it too. I went under fast, then my dad jumped in and quickly pulled me up to the surface. I came up screaming and crying, but within 5 min I was completely fine and tried to jump in again. I don’t remember a moment of this, but my parents do vividly. It was probably when they realized that I was always going to be incredibly curious, do the unexpected, groove to the beat of my own drum, and always take a leap of faith wholeheartedly. That’s the core of who I am, and that is what and will always set me apart from others.
What’s next?
TRAVEL! I love love LOVE to travel. 2020 stopped all of that. I cannot wait to purposely get lost in a space I’ve never been in as I immerse myself into a different culture. I think the first place I’m going to is Costa Rica. If anyone has any tips please let me know! I plan on creating my own work and writing way more. I have a lot of ideas that are too possible to create to just leave hidden in my journal. I’ve been letting my fear and internal critique win way too much. There’s no room for that anymore, but let’s be serious, I’m human, so no room for a lot of that. I also really want to get back into teaching fitness classes. I’m a certified Hot Yoga Sculpt instructor, and I let my anxiety and self-doubt get the best of me when I had the opportunity to teach classes. In full transparency, I’m in the process of shedding this lack of confidence skin I feel like I’ve been living in for months. I’m like a snake, slowly shedding its old skin to make room for the new skin. Although the process feels as slow as molasses, there is something in my more immediate future that I’m really excited about: I just booked and filmed my first guest star role on a TV show! The episode airs in a few weeks, so be sure to check my IG page for more details. So much adventure awaits me (and all of us), and I am looking forward to witnessing it all!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zurrrs/
Image Credits:
Payson Lewis Jacoby R. Breaux Yordanos Himed
