Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Monasterio
Hi Michael, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I think the signs were there throughout my life that I’d be a storyteller. The way my imagination worked. I held on to it for a very long time. I still fight to keep it even today. The world likes to make other things more appealing along the way. But I felt emotions so strongly and empathized so much as a child that it only makes sense that I became an actor. I would leave the movie theater overcome and completely convinced I was certain characters. I was able to sustain that feeling days after a film and would be so distracted by this imaginary life I’d spin in my mind that I’d sort of lose track of my own reality. School would become a challenge but the muscles for acting were always there.
I also had this way of creating an emotional photograph of certain events in life. When things would happen, usually experiences that struck me profoundly, some beautiful and some terrible, I’d try to recreate those feelings in writing. Harness them into stories. Then naturally I’d start to visualize those stories in sequences. I’d feel the music to those sequences in my ears. I’d move myself to tears sometimes. I guess writing has always been an undercurrent of mine.
Suffice it to say, I think everyone in my life believed my intellect would find its way through hard sciences like medicine as it was in my father’s case. But my intellect lent itself to my imagination and eventually to acquiring skills to empower it. I discovered acting in high school and was willing to overcome crippling (and I mean crippling) stage fright to be a part of the theatre. I knew it was where I needed to be. I landed the role of Creon in Antigone, and that was it. I knew there’d be nothing else worth doing than taking whatever magic I felt in acting as far as the universe would allow me to. I wish there was a word for that moment.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There’s no road smoother than a slippery slope.
Jokes aside, no. But smooth roads don’t exist for actors, or for any artist who embraces a creative life for that matter. We’re the nerve-endings of humanity. We feel every bump and we live to tell about it.
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’m an actor’s actor. I’ve been very fortunate in having worked on so many projects I’m proud of and even more fortunate they’ve been released or aired. The project I’m most proud of was a short film that came out last year called, “Neither Donkey Nor Horse.” The film was directed by Robin Wang and premiered at Telluride which was the most beautiful experience. It had a very successful festival run including winning a Student Academy Award. Most rewarding of all, it’s been so lovingly received by audiences and I made so many life-long friends during both the process of making the film as well as celebrating it.
I’ve only recently started to share my work as a writer with the world. I was just announced as a semi-finalist in NBC and Nosotros.org’s “Ya Tu Sabes” monologue slam for a piece called, “Where the Milk Comes From”. An old man in rural Bolivia sips coffee at the kitchen table as he grapples with the truth about his relationship with his son. It’s a story that explores the themes of Latin culture around the dynamics of family, love, sacrifice, and the sting of betrayal. I hope that this story gets to move forward in the competition and provide an opportunity for older Latin actors to explore these complicated but very human themes.
I think what sets me apart from others is my background being Bolivian American. Of course, being Latino offers its own perspective on life, but even more so, I grew up spending many of my formative years in between the U.S. and Bolivia; specifically in the jungles of the Bolivian frontier. Growing up in the jungle shapes your life in ways that prove very difficult to describe. The profound spiritual effect that nature offers in its fullest expression is one that I am lucky enough to have realized is essential to humanity and intend to share with the world through my work. Maybe I’ll play character who also had a tree-frog hop into his craw while in the outhouse.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
You know, I’m usually pretty bad at this question so I’ll just rip a few that come to mind immediately. Not in particular order:
Books:
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The Black Count by Tom Reiss, Tantra by Osho, The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, Tao Te Ching by Laozi, A Challenge For The Actor by Uta Hagen
Podcasts:
tetragrammaton: Rick Rubin (fav)
Scriptnotes: John August and Craig Mazin
Green Light Podcast: Chris Long
New Heights: Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce
Apps:
Masterclass
Monday.com
Signal
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michaelmonasterio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/max.sterio/
Image Credits
Jonny Monasterio
Amber Rose Jones
Steph Girard
Devon Johns
