Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Duran.
Hi Jose, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and moved to Miami with my parents when I was 8 years old. I didn’t have any family in the states and I remember feeling intensely homesick for a whole year, thinking I would never recover from this pain. I would call my grandma 3 times a day crying, asking her why she had forsaken me. During this time my only source of solace was…the movies. My dad and I would spend all of Sunday at our local movie theater watching 3-4 movies in a row. I couldn’t get enough. I had found my drug of choice at 8 years old. My dad showed me all the classics at a very young age, from “The Godfather” to “Dumb and Dumber” and everything in between. My acting idols were Al Pacino and Jim Carrey growing up and I wanted to be like them, hone their skills, their power, their reckless abandonment. I was always a very hyperactive kid and I loved to make my family laugh, so when I saw Jim Carrey doing the same, acting a fool on the big screen, that’s when I realized that I could do this for a living.
Fast forward 15 years later, I’ve graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and I am working at a private bank in downtown Miami, in a cubicle, far away from my thespian dreams. Not because I wanted to but because I had to. My mother was sick at the time and I had to move in with her and my little sister. I needed a job that was consistent and that paid well. Pursuing acting professionally was put on hold for a bit, but I read plays every day and would spend all of Sunday watching films, daydreaming, visualizing, and taking mental notes. After two years my mom had fully recovered and I had saved up enough money to move to New York and put myself through acting school. I got into the William Esper Studio, my top choice, and my life completely changed after that. I had an idea of what acting was before, but nothing as fully developed as what I experienced in those two years. The training brought a powerful positive change in my life. I was able to truly find myself and know myself through the process and that inner kid was alive and kicking again. That child-like faith and wonder was back. I was on my way.
Two months after graduating acting school I booked a major role in my first feature film. It was a Bolivian independent film called “Tu Me Manques”, that would go on to become the country’s submission for Best International Film at the Academy Awards. and premiered at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The people I met on this set, the skills I learned, the message of love we were all promoting, everything about this experience was so pure. It also felt predestined because after shooting in New York City for a month we made our way to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, my hometown, to finish shooting the film. Full circle. I came back to my city a working actor, proud, elated and no longer homesick.
This movie opened many doors for me and I am blessed to be able to work professionally as an actor both in Los Angeles and New York City. Apart from acting in theater, commercials, TV and film, I’ve also been able to direct and write my own films, one of which premiered at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. No matter what the avenue, storytelling is my passion and I am so grateful to be able to share my story with you today.
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?
As I mentioned before the shift in career path because of my mother’s health wasn’t easy but it made me work towards it even more and value the opportunity when I was finally able to pursue acting professionally. Then of course there are the typical struggles of the “starving artist”. Working three different jobs to make rent in New York City and have to attend acting school at the same time. Once you graduate acting school now the main focus is getting work as an actor; paid, consistent work, which is hard to come by. When I moved to Los Angeles, I realized that there were more opportunities here but even more competition than New York so there was a huge adjustment period. I think I’ve grown pretty thick skin throughout the years and I’ve cultivated the patience of a saint. I’ve had to realize that this is a numbers game and that I’ve chosen a highly competitive career and not to take rejection personally. I am grateful for those golden opportunities and I am grateful that little by little I am building a great career because there really is no such thing as an overnight success.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actor that specializes in truth. I know that sounds a bit pretentious but honesty in every art form is what inspires me and connects me to that universal humanity. I am proud of any work that I’ve done that helps someone connect with their humanity. There was a small off-off-broadway play that I did in New York City about six years. It wasn’t the best play ever written but it had heart. I played a character who was going through a breakup, experiencing a visceral level of heartbreak. After the show I had an older gentleman approach me, hug me and thank me for the performance. He said he had lost his wife a year ago and that watching me on stage helped him come to terms with some of his own feelings of loss. That to me was one of my proudest moments because something that I did up on that stage provoked an honest human connection and provided a catharsis for this person. To be honest, I didn’t even think my performance was that great but it resonated with this man and that’s all that mattered.
I am also very proud of the work I do with the 52nd Street Project, which is a non-profit organization in Hell’s Kitchen, NY. Whenever I am in New York City, I volunteer at this program which provides children from all different age groups the resources and tools to learn about playmaking and eventually write their own plays. The confidence and joy that these children experience when they see their work on the big stage being performed by professional actors is a gift to watch. It is truly a life-changing affirmation for them that goes beyond theater and affects their everyday lives in such a positive way.
I write and direct films when I am not auditioning or working as an actor because I’ve realized that I don’t need to be dependent on this industry to get my creative juices flowing. I recently picture-locked on my short film called “Coney Island Baby”, which I shot at Coney Island in one day with a group of my close friends who also happen to be amazing artists. I wrote the film with one thought in mind; bring people together and shoot something beautifully honest. I think we achieved that and I am very happy with the result. I can provide a link if you would like to see it. Just reach out to me and I’ll send it.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting, a highly unstable career filled with rejection and uncertainty, is a major risk. You have to love it with a burning passion and you have to love it for the right reasons or else you’ll go crazy and quit before you even get started. There’s nothing else that brings me this level of joy. I do it because I have to, not because I want to and I am willing to take all the risks. I’ve mentioned a few risks already in previous responses but I think for me the biggest one is losing your artistic integrity throughout your career by not making the right choices. More than a risk I think that’s a big fear of mine and I try to keep it at bay by checking in constantly. By that I mean shutting off the noise of the world through communion with nature, prayer, mediation, whatever your channel may be, finding that silence and making decisions from that state of mind.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joseduranactor.com
- Instagram: @gusto1630
Image Credits:
Black and White photo – photographer Jelani Rice Two men outside a car at night–scene from NBC’s The Blacklist Picture of me with glasses from–“Tu Me Manques” directed by Rodrigo Bellott on HBO Max
