Today we’d like to introduce you to Lola Darzens.
Hi Lola, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always had a vivid imagination, I would tell myself bedtime stories after my parents read me bedtime stories and I loved reading. So much so that I started writing. I remember going up to my elementary school teachers to ask us for more pages when we had a writing exercise. I also started acting classes when I was a young teen and I adored them.
However, I didn’t realize that I had the strength the make it a career, they were just hobbies. Fast forward 10 years and I was about to graduate from my business school where I had to give up writing and acting because of lack of time. With the incoming perspective of going into a career that did not make me feel as fulfilled as artistic opportunities, I decided that my life would be as I decided it would be, not a default path. I applied to an acting school in Hollywood and I got in! I have never felt happier and more whole. I was acting again and something very near and dear to my heart, I was writing again. I am now an actor and writer in Los Angeles and I cannot wait to see what’s in store for me next because now, I’m confident that I am where I’m supposed to be.
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?
Lack of confidence has been my major roadblock. As a beginner artist, I had to find recognition in different places than I had been used to in business school. While in acting school, grades don’t really matter and numbers (sales or others) don’t exist yet to prove the performance is good. I had to trust my teachers’ words and the most complicated for me, I had to trust my own perception of my performance to know what was good and what needed to be improved. My privilege was to grow as an actor with a support system that has been there for me through physical and mental health issues. My family, my friends, my teachers, they are always here to support me and I trust their artistic perception, that’s how I built my confidence: knowing that I had to trust the feedback that was given to me by my peers. It’s a beautiful thing to have the support that I have and I am grateful for it every day.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I write novels, plays and screenplays. I am also an actor, I have been in short films, in Shakespeare plays, in musicals, as I’m still new to this industry, I want to explore all the opportunities and find my path while knowing I have a good idea of what’s out there and what’s possible for me. I think my biggest strength lies in my imagination and I am a believer into doing your own projects. I am currently in preproduction for a short film that I wrote, will direct and star in. I have a play project for the end of the year that I am working on. I am also part of an amazing ensemble called the Earthlings Ensemble. We are also in preproduction for a short film that I will direct and star in. I like to remain busy because this is how my brain gets ideas: working with people who are passionate about their craft and seeing ideas go from a brain to an actual project.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I think one of the things that people don’t realize about me is that, despite how many ideas I explain and plan on turning into real projects, I actually have way more on the back burner. I have ideas swarming my brain at every waking hour of the day. Novels that I want to turn into screenplays, performances I want to give, plays I want to write. Most of them come from seeing other projects and then dreaming about them. My dreams are my biggest source of inspiration, classic dreams or daydreaming. I have a folder with all my projects and there’s so many that sometimes, I have to take the time to read them to remember when I had that idea and the how and why I wanted to do it. I also have a “Morpheus Diary” where I write all of my dreams, it’s my inspiration haven.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loladarzens/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/Qu7mcwQAO5k
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/earthlingsensemble/
Image Credits
Huebner Headshots
