Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Abrams.
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Javi Luna and I was born in Madrid, Spain, but have been living in Los Angeles, CA for 6 years now.
When I was a kid, I wanted to become a professional soccer player – like most people in Spain – and school wasn’t really my thing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, since all my big dreams weren’t very realistic where I came from. Luckily for me, when I was in high school, I got scouted twice within a month, one was at an event where I got offered to join a model agency which would end up bringing me fashion campaigns, and the second one was one day after I left class, when I was walking in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch store. That was my first job, and I will forever be grateful because it changed my life. Meeting everyone there, with similar hopes and dreams as I had, opened up my mind forever and it made me think that maybe my dreams weren’t impossible to achieve, since there were many people that dreamt as crazy as me.
With Abercrombie, I started working in Madrid and then in London, where I got my first acting opportunity. A casting director sent me a message on Facebook and offered me a role in a project that later on would win in Sitges, Valladolid and many others, and was nominated at the Goya awards and Cannes Film Festival.
I signed with an agent and got my first TV opportunity with ‘Dreamland’ a musical series that would once again change everything. In the show, we had cameos like Ricky Martin and Shakira, and some of the advice I received from these big stars, I will treasure deeply. The humility of some of them really made me see the entertainment industry with a whole different perspective. It’s not what I used to view it or what many people think. In the show, a boyband is created so we went on tour and did big concerts. We signed with Sony Music and our first single ‘Everybody Dance’ became number 2 in the top charts in Spain. I remember some of my friends from school freaking out because in a matter of months I went from sitting with them in class to singing in the biggest talking shows in my country and signing posters and photo cards that they sold at stores.
While I was on tour with my boyband, I got an audition for one of the biggest YA shows of my generation, called Violetta on Disney Channel. When I went to the audition I remember seeing some of my idols in the same room as me, people I grew up watching on TV, there, going for the same role as me. I was just happy to be there, to have the opportunity to be seen.
I ended getting the role, Felipe Diaz, my first international project. It opened up so many opportunities for me. Working with Disney was an absolute dream and something that I am super grateful for.
Since then I’ve had so many great experiences doing movies and TV, like Misfit, and having the opportunity to work with great actors like Academy Award nominated actor Eric Roberts.
Two years ago I won ‘Best Lead Actor’ award at the New York International Film Festival and at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been very, very difficult. It still is.
Making the decision of leaving my family, friends, my entire life behind to pursue a dream thousands of miles away… Is a lot. I still get deeply sad sometimes for not being able to see them everyday and see them grow up with me. But in life you can’t have everything, and there are painful sacrifices.
As far as career, being an actor, you have to face a lot of rejection. Projects that you feel in your heart that are right for you but you have to let go. It’s a constant battle with yourself and your mind, where you have to remind yourself every day why you are doing this, and that no matter what the outcome is, you are a valuable person.
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?
I am a dreamer. I have big hopes and dreams and I work incredibly hard everyday to try to achieve those. Sometimes they happen, sometimes they don’t, but I don ‘t give up.
I guess most of the people that follow me know me from my TV Shows, movies, my music or even my social media.
I am very proud that I didn’t follow something for my life that I didn’t want. I didn’t trade my dreams for a stable life. I am also proud of not giving up no matter the circumstances, I keep pushing. Of course a lot of that fuel comes from the people that support me everyday sending me messages, they mean so much more to me that they could ever imagine. Art is meant to be shared and the fact that they are touched by my work means the world.
I think what sets me a part is my heart and my resilience. I grew up with the phrase ‘The most important thing in life is to be a good person’.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a mess haha. Couldn’t stand still. I would play with my friends in the street for hours everyday, and I was curious about everything. That’s how learnt to play the guitar and the piano, by being curious and asking people to teach me this chord or the other chord. My batteries would never drain.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @javiluna
- Youtube: @javiluna
