Meet Rosa Frausto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosa Frausto.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My love for acting began at the age of 16 when I was a junior in high school. A senior friend,(Yelyna De Leon) who was a theatre major, had asked me to audition for her play titled, “Rising Star” as a supporting lead. That’s where it all happened. SIDE NOTE: I was majoring in computers (I.T) with No acting experience whatsoever, but because I have always been a social butterfly, she knew this would be something I would like. And I did! FUN FACT: I grew up watching classic films my whole childhood and I still do with all of my 6 siblings. We’d watch all types of films and we would re-watch them religiously and quote lines from films ’til this day. Another reason she believed I’d be up for acting. Also, it helped having an older brother, (Juan J. Frausto) as a director and writer but it never occurred to either of us for me to pursue acting because I was way too involved with learning the ways of computer technology.

Auditioning for the very first time for this play in high school was very memorable and fun. I hadn’t been told what to expect only to come to this one classroom where 3 theatre teachers will be making their chooses by giving us questions and having us perform 3 things. I went into this a classroom and each theatre teacher had me do one thing each. One had me dance to a Selena song, the other had me perform a few lines of the play and lastly, the other teacher had me sing a Selena song. I remember clearly stating to them in the beginning that I could dance, read/perform lines but I could not sing at all to save my life. They had me sing anyway and as soon as I started singing, Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, they quickly stopped me from continuing. This felt very comedic to me at the moment because I chuckled and I remember saying to them, “See, I told you I couldn’t sing, but I could, however do singalongs”. They all laughed and the next thing I knew I was picked to be part of the show.

When rehearsals started, I felt a certain energy being on stage for the first time. A loving energy and happy energy.

Then came the moments to dress and perform and create. A sudden spark of fresh breath came into my soul. It was definitely the acting bug. This launched a new world inside of me. The most impactful moment for me that led me to fall in love with acting was when I experienced the audience’s reactions. It was the way they engaged, smiled, laughed, teared but mostly the happiness of it all. The clapping, they cheers, the excitement of bringing joy to people really inspired me to continue this. It was that moment where I thought to myself, “if this helps anyone feel happy, I want to learn and create more of this as possible”.

Being that I was majoring in computers, my teachers saw me perform, applaud me for it but also informed me that there’s no real money made in the performing arts and that I should focus only on a career that will keep me financially stable. This remained in me for quite a while and I studied all that I needed in the field of being educated and getting trained in all I needed to be computer savvy. However, in my heart, I knew I had to go for what really made me truly happy. Don’t get me wrong, I love, love and still love working with computers and I studied all I had to and gained much knowledge that it gave me a great office job for many years. During those office years, I decided to start slow and go into acting as a hobby so I took some night and weekend classes.

Straight after High School, I attended MacCormac Junior College where I received an Associate’s Degree in Computer Applications System. After that, I continued my education and enrolled at Roosevelt University to study Journalism. Since I didn’t focus much on acting during my two years in Junior College, I was itching to enroll myself into an acting school but I wasn’t financial stable for it. So I decided to add theatre as a minor at this university. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. I won’t go into detail but I will say this, I was the only Latina in this class and for lack of better terms, I felt belittled and not much of me was taken seriously. I did all to participate but felt brushed away. Needless to say, I never went back to that course, only did a year and a half in that school, made a big change and I canceled attending the university to attend and learn more of what I knew I wanted to do. Make people happy by performing.

Act One Studios was the first acting school in downtown Chicago I enrolled myself in. Nervously but excitedly, I was accepted and was guided by acting professors there. Despite not one Latino teacher, I was ok with it because I just wanted to learn and be trained. Many of my acting teachers were female and they taught me a lot. Some lessons were very good and while others were uncomfortable. One incident, in my Speech and Drama Class, I remember being told to lose my accent when reading lines.

Being born and raised in Chicago we spoke both English and Spanish or Spanglish which is mixing both languages at the same time in conversation. Sticking to one language wasn’t hard, what was hard was eliminating an accent I didn’t know I had. Perhaps because I was the only Latina in class, my so-called accent stood out. This was hard for me because I didn’t know what other way to sound. To be told to lose my accent didn’t feel right to me, regardless if I never knew I had one. Even though I never really lost my accent, I did learn a lot. I learned that I was pronouncing words differently then what I thought was correct wasn’t. One thing for sure that I didn’t struggle with was connecting with people in the industry. I had to work for free and do volunteer work to get credits, exposure and more experience in front of the camera as well as and learning what goes on behind the scenes.

Here is where I met my long-time friend and first-ever headshot photographer, Robert Irving Potter III. After two years of acting school, getting trained, learning the ins and outs, performing on stage, learning about improv etc., I went out of my way to find all unpaid acting gigs just to create a reel. Thanks to my brother who edited all the free copies of work I had done in Chicago as an unpaid actor. Getting this reel took a long time because collecting all my work from many years takes time from many creative directors/producers in the independent world.

After many years of working as an independent actor in Chicago, I felt it was time to make that big move to California. And this one was one of the hardest decisions of my life. Preparing my leave and moving away from my family was and still has been very hard on me even after 13 years of living in LA. It’s been an up and down of experience. Luckily we are a very bonded family we support each other and visit frequently here and there. So that helped.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. Moving away was the biggest struggle hence to the very bumpy and eye-opening experiences that came from moving to LA. And sticking to a plan. Changing careers and starting from scratch to pursue the entertainment world truly comes with struggles. I do owe it to my high school teachers for pushing me into staying focus because I made money with the knowledge I had with working with computers. All the skills I learned came in handy and it helped me survive living in California. Luckily, my older brother was already living here with two other roommates. And thankfully, my parents raised me to be an independent woman and not to depend on anyone but myself & family… Leaving my parents, siblings, my nieces and nephews while they were still very little hurt me tremendously but it brought my family peace knowing I was going to live with my oldest brother who was already living in California.

Landing an agent for the first time was exciting but then there came a point where I was booked for a role where I was told I had to be topless when it wasn’t in my contract, I declined this and my agent, at that time, yelled at me over the phone as she called me on set threatening me, a 60 something-year-old lady who yelling at me over the phone saying that if I didn’t do my job she would fire me and put me on the black list. At that time I didn’t know what that meant. But was told I’d never work in this town again. I became scared and I left the set and cried my way out. I won’t go much into this but I was able to work again luckily and find a new agent later on. This was before the Me Too Movement, and when that came about, I was so relieved to know I made the right choice in leaving that agency and respecting myself. I have heard stories and told myself I will not fall into any of these types of situations. No disrespect to all who have gone thru this. It’s a scary world if you allow it.

Throughout the years, I’ve continued my research and have network and volunteered to get more knowledge of this business trying to learn how the breaking thru the industry works. Attending free social gatherings, connecting and seeing who’s real and who’s not. If you know what I mean because the scammers are real here in LA. It’s really who you know and how hard you hustle to get your name out here.  Luckily I’ve maintained a good amount of people I’ve connected with in Chicago and having my brother here helped a lot. You can’t come to LA alone, have at least someone close to you or you’ll want to give up. And even that, I’ve had those thoughts of giving up but I’ve been in this too long and can’t. I’ve invested way to much of my time and me and my experiences to let it all go away.

I’m in it until I’m 80 years old.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I’m not working on set or performing on stage for a film or a theatre festival of some sort, I happily specialize in teaching swim lessons. It’s a side job I do on my own during the summer. I am my own boss.

I’ve been teaching swimming for over ten years now in Los Angeles. as part of making in difference in everyone’s lives. I teach babies and all adults to swim. The age I start teaching babies is as young as 4 to 6 months to adults as old as 80 years old or more if that. My oldest swim client was 83 and it was the most incredible lesson for them and myself. It was a first for both but I was able to put on my professional techniques and this 83-year-old was elated with joy because one is never to old to learn something new. A very proud moment for both of us.

This to me, teaching swimming truly sets me apart from many artists, actors, etc. because teaching babies, toddlers and even adults requires a lot of patience and not many people have much patience. It’s truly a God-given talent being born with a tremendous amount of patience.

Any big plans?
My future plans are based off my present plans and that is always work harder for my next journey. Create more, advance in my acting by taking more acting classes and sign up for writing and directing courses. I would love to direct a play or a short film someday. I believe in manifestation, therefore this will happen and it will be in my future plans. And last but not least is to work in a bigger budget independent film either here in the USA or in Mexico again. Maybe live temporarily in Mexico and study the arts there or work in Vancouver. Either for work or just to get more training as an actor. Always advancing and always improving my talent.

Pricing:

• SWIM LESSONS: $85 – 30 minute Private at Home Clients Swim Lesson
• SWIM LESSONS: $165 – 1 Hour Private at Home Hour Swim Lessons
• SWIM LESSONS: 10 Day Package Deal at Private Home – DM Me

Contact Info:

• Website: https://open.spotify.com/show/6okRiAld2pdX9gV4LUQOGa?si=804442b4a7af47bf
• Instagram: @rosafrausto31

• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1379991/