Conversations with Blu Del Barrio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blu Del Barrio.

Hi Blu, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started in theater in the same place I was born and raised, Topanga Canyon. I grew up performing Shakespeare at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, which still exists today. I loved it there and quickly realized my passion for performance and theater. As I got older, I continued doing theater in school while also developing an interest in on-screen work. During my high school years, I would go off on my own, finding student films to audition for and act in, and I completely fell in love with it. I believe those years confirmed that this is what I wanted to pursue as my career. When it came time for college applications, I started auditioning for acting conservatories. Looking back, it was a bit of a risk not applying to any regular colleges, but I don’t think anything could have persuaded me to take a different route. I ended up at a dream school in London, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’m really proud of myself for taking that leap. During my final year of school, I was constantly auditioning for shows, and just before I graduated, I received the call that I’d booked my first professional job. That was Adira on Star Trek Discovery. Everything just kept tumbling forward from there. It’s been a lifelong dream and passion, and I’m very grateful I get to keep doing what I loved so dearly as a kid.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely been challenging at many points in my life and career. I have struggled with my mental health since I was a kid. I was diagnosed with OCD at 7 years old, clinical depression at 13, and anxiety shortly after. It wasn’t until a few years ago that, thanks to my friends’ suggestion, I got evaluated to see if I was autistic. Turns out, I am, and that made a lot of my life start to make sense. Since that diagnosis, it’s been a challenge to reevaluate how I live and work on changing the things that made everything harder. I thought that receiving the diagnosis might fix everything, but I realized I had just been pushing myself past my limit for years. Now, I’m working on deconstructing everything and rebuilding from my baseline. There was also the challenge of discovering my queerness and transness when I was finishing up at conservatory. That was honestly a terrifying and isolating time in my life, especially since I didn’t have a strong queer community then. On top of that, that was when Star Trek happened, so I went from trying to figure out my identity in private to suddenly having to broadcast everything to my friends, family, and eventually the world. It made for a pretty intense and difficult couple of years. I eventually found my footing and now feel much more comfortable, but at the time, it was extremely scary.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an actor and performer. Professionally, I mainly work on screen and do voiceover work for video games and animation, but I grew up doing theater for most of my life. I love what I do. Acting has always been a safe and comfortable place for me. It’s where I feel strongest. There is a sense of escapism with acting that I haven’t found in anything else. For many years, dealing with my mental health and feeling trapped in my gender, I needed that escape. Now, I feel more comfortable with myself, and it feels less like escapism and more like truly showing who I am through portraying a wide variety of characters. For me, the most interesting part of acting isn’t completely losing yourself in a character, but finding a way to show yourself through them. I take so much pride in my work and now also in who I am. The union of the two, and the fact that acting really helped me find myself, are so beautiful to me.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am someone who has a lot of anxiety about risk-taking, but who also believes it’s extremely necessary. I tend to think in black and white, with one side often being more extreme and thus usually riskier. Ironically, I am a pretty anxious person by nature. But the risks I’ve taken are always the things that have pushed me forward in life. It is very rare that playing it safe has led me to where I want to go, so I try, when I feel brave enough, to make the scarier choice.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bludelb/?hl=en

Image Credits
Owen Scarlett, Ari Michaelson