Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Ramirez.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m Mexican American living partially in Los Angeles and partially in Hesperia. If you don’t know what a Hesperia is, don’t worry because not many people do. Hesperia is a small city about 2 hours from Los Angeles and 2 hours from Las Vegas, which is just a perfect mid-way point from both. I was born in LA but spent half of my time in Hesperia; this would make me both a city girl and a small-town girl. I jokingly like to say I am a city girl by day and a “country girl” by night, but only because I live in the desert. For as long as I can remember, I always dreamt of being an actress. I was very imaginative as a kid and a huge daydreamer, so I loved the idea of playing pretend and allowing myself to be anyone, anywhere, at any time. It’s always been a liberating feeling. One of my earliest memories I have while performing was back when I was in first grade. It was one of those holiday performances we all had to do as kids. I was in the very front, and for some reason, I had the biggest urge to step up, front and center, and take the biggest bow after my class performance. The laughs and smiles I got from everyone were contagious. It was like a shot of serotonin was spread throughout the whole theater, and I walked off stage feeling great that day. To this day, I have never forgotten that feeling.
I grew up watching a lot of TV, and my family and I went to the movie theaters quite often. 9 times out of 10 I would walk out feeling so inspired, feeling like I could change the world, even as a six year old, and as cliche as it sounds, I wanted to do just that. I’ve only wished to make people feel seen, heard, or inspired. To just allow people to feel something. I think I always knew I wanted to be an actress, even though I said I wanted to be a million other things, but for some reason, acting has always stuck with me. I mainly wanted to inspire little girls and boys like me who were scared to speak up and who were told at a young age that their dreams were too big. I want to be the one to tell them that they are capable despite any odds against them. If you want it, you can have it.
Even though I loved watching TV and looked up to those in the theater, I was never really out there as a kid. I was shy growing up and only wished to be outgoing, to have the courage to try out theater. To make people feel something when walking out of a performance, like I did back in first grade. I remember watching a play in school that one of my classmates was a part of, and I just remembered, “Wow, how cool is she!”. I was in awe of the way all the actors were so immersed in this world of pretend but made us feel like it was real. The confidence they had while having so many eyes watching their every move, the way they made it look so easy, making everyone smile, all while having the absolute most fun. I wanted to one day have the courage to finally do that, to pursue what my heart yearned for.
Growing up, my family didn’t have much, and we were not well off financially. Before we moved to Hesperia, we lived in a 1 bedroom 1 bath for a family of five and a dog. My two older sisters became my caretakers since my parents were always working, so I didn’t have the chance to explore acting classes just yet. All I had was my TV and my imagination, which looking back, was all I needed. At the end of my 1st grade year, my family decided to move 2 hours away from Los Angeles to Hesperia, a much smaller city with nothing but suburbs and Joshua trees. I went to school in Hesperia from 2nd grade till 5th grade. My time here wasn’t too bad, not too good either. This chapter of my life, now looking back at it, was me losing who I was at my core, my identity. Everyone in school looked the same, dressed the same, talked the same, and I felt so out of place. Not many at my school looked like me, with my same skin color with my same hair type, who also spoke a different language like me. I was sort of looked down upon. Once I finished my schooling there, I started my middle school journey back in LA while still living in Hesperia. This meant my family, and I would wake up at 4 am just to make it on time for school and work. I did this with my family for about ten years. Ten years of my life mainly taking place in a car and on the road.
Once my family was a bit more financially steady, I was finally able to start attending acting classes. I was about 12 at the time when I went to my first acting class and I was excited but nervous, like palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy type of nervous. I felt like I wasn’t ready for what was to come. It felt like I was pushed into the deep ends of the ocean while only having practiced in the shallow parts of the pool. Up to this point, I felt like I had no one to relate to just yet. Everyone who I thought was a great actor didn’t have a background like I did, no one looked like me, or maybe they were never shy like I was, but I did tell myself that I would be my own person to look up to. I would be different. With that in mind, I continued my acting classes no matter how hard things got, even when classmates told me I couldn’t do it or felt like, “Hey, maybe everyone was right, my dreams were too big.” I just never stopped trying. I was 15 when I got signed by an agency and my manager, it was challenging but not impossible. I showcased about 11 times, kept training, shot a short film, and helped write it too just to get more experience, more practice, so my confidence could grow, and I never gave up. My agent and manager are still part of my team to this day, and it has been such a wonderful journey.
Once I was in high school I started venturing out for other opportunities to help me grow my confidence and gain more experience, mainly because I just loved performing. It was where I got to show off who I was on the inside. I wasn’t this shy girl; I was just me. I joined two dance clubs in which we had to learn dances from Bollywood and Spanish dances and performed them for the entire school I found an after-school film club that was sponsored by UCLA, and there we got to write our own scenes and put on a little show, I got to shoot some more shorts with friends, and I also got the opportunity to do a couple of modeling gigs for fun. One of my modeling gigs even made it to the Senior Style Guide Hot 100 magazine for senior portraits! I did this all while having auditions in between or having to go to an acting class after school. My life felt like it was a constant go-go-go, my days would start at 4 am and end at 10 pm, once I finally got home. It was wild, but I was having the most fun while doing it.
Throughout high school and some of college, I went on A LOT of auditions, and something that I learned pretty quickly was the art of rejection. You see, rejection is just redirection. If you don’t get the part, it’s simply because it just wasn’t meant for you, and that’s okay. There are many many reasons why one doesn’t get the part, it could be as silly as not having the right hair color, looking too much like someone else on the project you are auditing for, etc. My mom always reminded me if something was meant for me, it would be for ME. There have been many times when I felt like giving up. In this industry, you usually don’t hear back from casting, directors, producers, or anyone to tell you if you didn’t book and why you didn’t, you’re just there left wondering. I was lucky enough to have my mom and sisters by my side to tell me to keep going whenever I felt like I couldn’t encourage myself. There was one time when I booked a commercial but didn’t get the call sheet till the day of and missed my call time. Sad story but true. All in all, this is just part of the job, maybe not the missing your call sheet part, but I learned a lot along the way. Since building my team, I knew I couldn’t stop working toward the goal. I kept attending acting classes and even majored in Theatre Arts to get out of my comfort zone and learn a different side of the craft.
I booked my first ever commercial when I was in High School, it was for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and went on to do even more commercials. I booked three national McDonald’s commercials, an AT&T commercial, etc. I was getting my groove and learning the process of commercial auditions. Although I had no theatrical agent, only a commercial agent, my manager still sent me to theatrical auditions, which were MUCH different and more challenging for sure. I felt like the training for my acting classes plus the training in my theater classes did help me a lot, and my confidence was growing, and it was showing up in my work. I eventually booked my first theatrical job as a co-star for the FX show, Snowfall. I will never and could never forget how I felt when I found out I booked or how I felt on set. I couldn’t imagine that it was actually happening and felt like the inner child in me was screaming.
When the pandemic hit, besides continuing my training, I dove into writing poetry and found myself always with my camera at hand and filming any bit of the good and not-so-good during this time. I made a couple of videos just for my entertainment and that’s when I realized that I wanted to dip my toes in other creative ways as well and explore my options with those. Exploring these options, especially every time I was behind the camera, gave me another perspective while filming, so it was a great learning process. Not long after the pandemic I was given the opportunity to start teaching young kids theater. This was another goal of mine. I wanted to share my experience from everything that I learned, to how to walk into a room, and how to keep going when it feels tough. I wanted to create a safe space for other young actors who were just starting to grow, learn, and take chances, with no judgment because I knew that’s what I needed when I was younger. And from teaching my students I learned a lot about myself and the craft as well. It was a win-win for all of us and one of the things I am most proud of. I still teach the craft to kids to this day.
I still train every week to improve my skills, to master what I’m already good at, and to work on my weaknesses. I currently train with Anthony Gilardi at the Anthony Gilardi Acting Studio, and this is the place where I felt took me to the next level of my training. While training with them I got signed to a theatrical agency, which for so long had been one of my goals. I was constantly growing, and I was starting to feel more confident about my work. Finding my groove with storytelling and getting familiar with reading scripts. It wasn’t so long till my new reps sent me out to auditions from shows that I would see many billboards of. It’s always so surreal every time I get an audition. My six-year-old self has always only ever dreamt of this, and getting the opportunity to do that now makes my little heart so warm. I got an audition from this cool reboot of a show called Quantum Leap, and I booked it! I was so happy, I couldn’t tell you. Every job is another opportunity to keep growing and to keep going. I started talking to the lead of the show that day and it is so cool and inspiring to hear other people’s stories. You see how everyone’s journey is so different and it puts into perspective how pointless it is to compare your story to someone else’s, so I just wanted to interject here to say thank you, for allowing me this opportunity to share my story, it truly is such an honor.
I got another audition for the lead of a short soon after my episode of Quantum Leap aired at the beginning of 2023. I got a callback and then did a chemistry read, which is a step I had not experienced before but heard many experiences about, and I was told later that I booked this short called Exit Fee! Exit Fee is a short that follows my character’s journey of saving her little sister from getting lured into sex trafficking. I cannot begin to express how grateful I was to be a part of this project and how great it was to work alongside Oscar Qualifying Mexican-American writer-director Emil Gallardo. This was a real “slap me in the face moment” for me. Everything that I worked for, trained for, and all the struggles paid off in this very moment. I’ll be honest: this was the first time I got to do something like this, where I got to be the lead and see how it differs from a co-star role and how much it requires from you. I learned a lot of lessons that day, all good ones, and more about the filming process and how everything works, how each person is very important to the team. I later found out that our short would be premiering at the 19th Annual Oscar Qualifying Holly Shorts Film Festival. That is a day I shall never forget. It was great being able to see many other shorts with other talented actors tell such great stories and I’m still wrapping my head over the fact that I was also on that big screen, something I hoped one day would happen. It was such a weird feeling in the best way possible and something so surreal. After the strike ended, I got back to work and got word that I booked a show that streams on FOX, and it should be premiering this year. I’m grateful for all these opportunities, and to all the ones who have helped me get this far.
It has been a great journey, but it’s not over yet. Yes, there have been some great blessings and some tough challenges along the way, but nothing was ever impossible. I do know that when I feel the slightest bit of doubt, I just go back to why I wanted to start this wild journey, and all I see is this 6-year-old girl on that stage thinking she was unstoppable and wanting nothing more than to play pretend.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been all smooth there were some struggles and a lot of sacrifices my family and I had to make. As I mentioned my family didn’t have much, we moved 2 hours from LA because it was cheaper for us to do. Once we moved, I went to an elementary school that wasn’t diverse. I mentioned earlier that this part of my life, as I remember it, was me losing who I was at my core, my identity. For a long while, I was embarrassed by my heritage, and I chose not to speak anymore Spanish because everyone else already treated me like I was less than them. From speaking fluent Spanish at home with my parents, who both crossed over in search of a better life, to not even knowing basic Spanish. At the time, I didn’t care if I lost my Spanish completely because I was starting to feel like I belonged at my school, but once I got to 5th grade, I started seeing how much I had abandoned my culture. It made me sad, like I didn’t know who part of me was. I felt awful because, on one hand, I felt like I abandoned my family, and on the other, I felt so out of place at school. I tried so hard to fit in and looking back, I wish I could tell my younger self that being different is way cooler than trying to fit in.
Once I saw how far away I had gotten with my culture and my Spanish, I knew I had to change that. From middle school through High school, I took Spanish courses to help me relearn the language. When I tell you I lost my Spanish, I mean I completely lost it. The process of relearning something that came second nature to me was difficult and very frustrating. My family and friends were supportive of my relearning. They were kind and patient about it, but other family members and friends were not so supportive. I had the thickest American accent when speaking Spanish, and because of that, I felt like I wasn’t Hispanic enough or I was too Americanized, and people made me so aware of this. I was judged for relearning and felt like I was still unworthy of being part of the Latino community, especially when I started to go on auditions that required Spanish-speaking actors. I had the biggest imposter syndrome. Although I still have the slightest accent, my Spanish is way better than what it was, and I continue to practice my Spanish every chance I get. I can say now that I do speak fluent Spanish and I love who I am and where I come from more and more each day. I appreciate my culture and everything about it. I love that I get to represent my community and hopefully, one day inspire those with the same struggle to keep going when things get tough.
Commuting from home to school and school to home, waking up every day at 4 am, sitting in traffic in the mornings and the evenings, not getting to spend so much time with my dogs, or getting time to eat home-cooked meals was pretty hard. I remember not having enough energy to finish up homework once I got home and when I did I got little to no sleep. On top of my school work, I had to make sure I studied for any acting class I had or any audition that I got. Every day was a constant go, go, go although I did enjoy the rush of it all, I wasn’t getting much sleep and was always so stressed. Because I didn’t get enough rest, I had major anxiety and sometimes got panic attacks during school. On top of this, I was also going through a tough time with food. I wasn’t eating enough and had trouble keeping my food down without feeling like I wanted to throw up. I never knew why this was and did get better over my course in high school.
We all had to make sacrifices, my mom and one of my older sisters did a lot for me. My older sister played like a second manager for me, and she took me everywhere, from auditions to acting classes, sometimes back to school after an audition, or even just to a friend’s house. She helped me with schoolwork, was there for all my performances, and helped me with self-tapes even when we both had to wake up early the next day. Let me tell you, acting classes are not short, and self-taping was never quick. She and my mom would wait hours for me to finish my classes. She, my eldest sister, and my mom have been my rock since the very beginning of my acting journey, and I can’t thank them enough. I love them all so much.
Speaking of my family, there were a lot of ups and downs in that department. My parents weren’t close, and they fought about money quite often. We may have looked like a happy family to others on the outside, but it was a very different vibe, at times, behind closed doors. I remember my family not having enough money to pay for the gas, at times it was the electricity, other times it was the water and I still remember going to school without having a shower for a couple of days or heating some water to shower when they cut off our gas. Sometimes my parents would fight at home, and it wasn’t pretty. My sisters would be the ones to always protect me when things got too much or even violent. As I got older, and when my eldest sister left for the army, I saw everything upfront with my own eyes. Everything that I was being protected from seeing was exposed to me, and it sucked a lot. I think it sucked even more not having my sister there for most of my acting journey. She left when I was in middle school, like 7th or 8th grade and I felt like she missed a lot of vital moments in my life. I felt like she didn’t see me grow up the way my other sister had, so we weren’t as close. And every time she came to visit, it was like we had to start over each time, and that was hard for me. I love both my sisters very much and experiencing things like booking my first job, my first day of High School, and especially my first day of acting class, it just always felt like something was missing and that was hard. She may be miles and miles away, but I know she will always be my biggest fan.
Despite every hardship or challenge I have faced, I have been able to work past them, and have only made me stronger and the person that I am today. I am thankful to all those who have helped me in my most challenging moments, like friends and family. I wouldn’t be here today without the help from you all, so thank you.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I would love to give you an insight into what I do! I’m a Mexican American actress, and I say that very proudly. I basically take any character that I am playing and give them life, I make them into a 3-dimensional human being. It’s my job to make these characters as human as possible, meaning I try to find their humanity. All of our favorite characters that we see in movies, TV shows, and even in animes have flaws, secrets, guilty pleasures, etc. But we love them because they’re real, and we can relate to them. There are times, though, when finding the humanity in characters can be challenging. I faced this challenge when working on Exit Fee, but we have to come in with a very neutral mind and not judge our characters. I may not agree with everything a character does, but I have to look past that and dive into this character and see their POV on things. Why they act the way they do, why they think the way they do, how they carry themselves, what they are hiding, what their family history is like, etc. This process or “breakdown” is what I do during pre-production, and this is when I start to build characters from the ground up. This is the kind of “homework” I do to prepare myself. Acting is not easy by any means, and the only reason why it does look easy is because of how much work was put in during pre-production and how much “homework” one does. Acting, yes it’s fun and I think it’s the best job on the planet, but it’s also a lot of studying and research but I ruly enjoy doing the work, this is where I feel like I can get the most creative in building a complex character.
Acting really can be both mentally and physically tiring, especially while on set. Depending on how an actor works, there are many different methods of how one prepares and stays in character on set. As I mentioned, I love doing all the digging into my character, finding out their secrets, what their biggest insecurity is, how they dress, what their relationships are like, etc. It’s really important that on the day of shooting, I trust myself well enough to just let go and have fun, knowing that I have done the work and the character lives in me when it’s time to be in front of the camera. I always enjoyed watching how others work when it’s not my turn yet to be on camera or even just in my acting classes. It’s like we transform when we hear the word action into this other being, and it’s such a cool thing to witness.
The thing I’m most proud of is the short I worked on, Exit Fee. I learned so much I can’t even begin to tell you. It was my first time experiencing a lot, like night shoots back to back, which was tough, playing “Skye” the lead of the film, playing a character who was a sex worker, and which was way out of my comfort zone, working with a stunt coordinator, which was so much fun, and making sure I was sticking to my boundaries, etc. I did a lot of research on my own, with the help of Emil, the director, and with our consultant, Cari. It was dark, brutal, and challenging, but I am proud of what I did. I learned what worked for me, what didn’t, and what I needed to do to help when trying to break down my character. When it comes to my work, I am very modest, maybe a bit too modest, but I just like to stay grounded during projects I’m working on and even after. Exit Fee taught me to be bold about the work I have done; it definitely pushed me to see a different POV on things. But because I am grounded I feel like this has its perks, I feel like I give each character that I play some sort of essence of me, an essence of realness. I know I won’t relate to all the characters I’ll play, but I do have a great understanding that at the end of the day, the characters I play, even the ones who are so different from me, I can relate to on some level or at least know where they’re coming from and I think that’s pretty cool.
With any project I am on, I am always just very focused, making sure I do some movement and/or breathing techniques to help me on set with nerves or simply to get centered because, on set, it’s like you are multitasking quite a bit. But I know with any project I work on, I only grow and get better with each, and with each project, each character may require different things from you, different ranges of emotion, and sometimes a different way of doing the breakdown of a character. All these things are great, especially since one of my goals is to be in a horror/ thriller film, which requires different ranges of emotion so all of these experiences not only am I thankful for but are great to push me out of my comfort zone and see where else I can go.
All in all, with each project I work on, whether in the green room, in the makeup chair, sometimes in between takes, or in my acting class, I always take a moment to see how far I’ve come. I don’t know if this sounds cheesy, but I am truly grateful for it all, and I’m just thrilled to be here.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
This is a great question because I feel like I have learned so much from all my years of life and experience, and they all have been great lessons, so it’s hard to pick one. I think a very important one is to just keep going. No matter how many no’s, failed attempts, or doubts, you just have to keep pushing through it all. I remember reading a quote that said, “Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about.” Every time I felt like things got hard, like I was done, or just about ready to give up, that quote would always pop into my head almost every time. I also had a great support system of friends, my mom, and sisters to tell me I was insane to even think about wanting to quit.
I’m going to be real, especially with acting, you are going to hear a lot more no’s than yes’s, people who don’t believe in you, even people in the industry who tell you you aren’t good enough. You are going to have doubts, and you might even be scared. But despite anything that comes up, you have to have the willingness to fail, try again, fail, and try some more again until you get to where you want to be. You deserve to be seen and you deserve to be heard. We all have our own stories, and it would be a disservice to everyone if we couldn’t get to hear yours. Life is too short to not chase something you truly want to explore. Whether it be a hobby or your dream, you owe it to yourself to at least try.
I know I still have to push myself when things get tough or when I feel like I’ve finally had enough. This journey isn’t easy, and it won’t get easier, but the grass is greener on the other side. To be honest, I had times when I felt like I wasn’t good enough on set, felt out of place, or would compare myself to others. I was in a creative rut and was losing the hope and light I had in me. I couldn’t figure out how to get out of it, and not only was it hard to get out of, but it was mentally draining as well, and quitting was probably the easiest option. But who would I be if I gave up on something I always dreamt about as a kid? So many people have helped me get to this point, encouraged me, and gone out of their way to remind me to keep going. Not only do I owe it to myself but to all the ones who have supported me. Despite all the pain, sweat, and tears I continue to keep going. I’m still growing and learning, learning about my work, my strengths, and weaknesses, getting better each time, and facing challenges with each character, and I just know I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if I didn’t keep on going.
Contact Info:
- Website: imdb.me/jessicaramirez
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessymramirez/
- Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@itsjessy4ya?lang=en
Poetry Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/nostalgicnignts/
Image Credits
David Castillo – Chitos Vision Kieran Murphy – Director of Photography. Tenesha Masaitis Photo Jessica Ramirez My- Hanh Lac
