Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Botello.
Hi Austin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m an Indigenous Mexican-American living in Los Angeles. I’m originally from a small town of a little more than 300, 10 minutes outside of the city of Athens, Ohio, where I was born. Athens is a town of around 21,000. The only thing Athens is currently known for is the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and 10 minutes from Athens is Nelsonville, where Sarah Jessica Parker is from. A lesser-known fun fact is that the goalkeeper coach, Kevin Hartman of the LA Galaxy, is also from Athens! This is huge because not many people leave Athens, especially if they have spent their whole life there. Athens has a poverty rate of around 43% so being able to make it out on my own and one day being able to give back is huge for me.
Ever since I was a little kid, I always loved going to the movies, whether it was with my dad going to watch every single Harry Potter movie with my sister Deonta or going to our local home video store (Premiere Video) and renting a load of movies for a weekend. That was the beginning of some of my dearest memories. I was also an avid anime watcher, I grew up watching Toonami on Saturday’s I loved Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, I loved Naruto, Bleach and of course, Avatar the Last Airbender, Initial D. My all-time fav was probably Akira or Howl’s Moving Castle. Ever since those days, I always wanted to be an actor! I loved the feeling of walking out of the theater with a smile on my face. No matter how rough things were at home in our little world, I’d walk out of the theater with the biggest smile. I knew one day I wanted to put that feeling back into the world. I was a very imaginative kid. I loved playing pretend, from throwing on a cowboy hat and pretending to be Chuck Norris from Walker Texas Ranger or trying to be like Indiana Jones running through the woods pretending I was escaping a temple with artifacts! I was obsessed with Star Wars as a kid as well. My uncle would come over and duel me with lightsabers; moments like that I’m so grateful for fueled my creative heart and transformed my life. A fun fact about me is I share a birthday with actor Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) which fueled my love for Star Wars even more! I admired the kids in school who were in plays and dared to get up on stage and perform. I struggled to have that same confidence and watched from afar. I was a socially awkward kid, I never had many friends, and I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere, so I struggled to express myself. It wasn’t until much much later that I grew and gained the courage to start my journey and go after what I always wanted.
My family never had much as I was growing up, my family struggled to make ends meet. I am the youngest of four siblings. My dad would work three jobs two hours away from home and usually not come back until the weekend or sometimes the next week, so I was never really close to him, and when he was home, you could feel the stress, the pressure of the world it was hard to understand at a young age. My mom also worked two jobs, one as a nurse clerk helping patients and getting them prepped for nurses and working two hours away in the city of Columbus by night at a nursing home. Although we struggled financially, my parents always made sure we had food on the table they always sacrificed their needs to make sure my sisters and I could keep moving forward. Growing up, my sisters and my aunt, who lived next door, were my heroes. I loved spending time with my sisters. I know they got annoyed by me easily because I was the dorky little brother conjoined to their hip, but they were my protectors, and I admired the hell out of them. They were the smartest and most cool people I knew. They had so many friends and played sports; I wanted to be just like them. Because of our housing situation, I never could have friends over, I was embarrassed often and never felt like I could truly relate to my peers. I never knew how my sisters managed what felt like a double life to me at such a young age. We lived in a four-room (no bathroom) unfinished house in the woods of Stewart, Ohio. We had two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. We grew up getting our water from a spigot outside of the house, we would fill up tons of jugs and bring them in, whether it was raining, snowing, or dark if water was needed, we had to get it. It was unfortunate during the winter because the water in the spigot would freeze, and my dad would have to unthaw it. It was rough, the only bathroom we had was in a motorhome outside of the house which wasn’t in the best shape itself. So, we would usually have to heat a big stockpot to be able to bathe. As I started to grow older my sisters all started to leave the house to live their own lives, my sister Hope the third youngest was 8 years older than me. I felt abandoned; it wasn’t their fault, but the only best friends I ever knew, who knew me and my struggles, all of the bad, were gone, and I was left alone and finally introduced to the rougher parts of the household. My dad would start to crack under the pressure of work, and he would become very verbally and physically abusive. In my later years, I have empathy towards him and the situation and a greater understanding of why he was the way he was.
I know a lot of what I went through as a kid led to my anxiety and depression(we’ll touch on that a bit later). Growing up in a predominately Caucasian area (84%) of the people being white, I never really felt like I belonged, I was often called names and made fun of for the color of my skin even the people that I considered my friends often made me the end of a racist joke. I started to feel ashamed of who I was, and one of the most special parts of me was slowly dying. I was always a fish out of water. I transferred schools my sophomore year, and it only got worse from there. I was one of eight minority students in a Caucasian-dominated high school on the border of West Virginia, so my struggles with my self-worth and loving myself only got worse from there. As a result, my studies also suffered, I didn’t feel like trying anymore. I felt defeated in more ways than one. I often have imposter syndrome as a Latino because I no longer speak Spanish. After all the years of shame from bullying at a young age, I’m finally relearning Spanish and taking back a very special part of myself. Although I’m working on it, it’s still very challenging feeling like something is missing in that aspect of my life.
During my freshman year of high school, I was also diagnosed with depression, which I struggled with heavily throughout high school and college in college I became a token poster boy for the police officer academy, which ran through the college; stop me if you’ve ever heard this one before, I never wanted to go to college, I never wanted to pursue the field I started in, but my family pushed me into just that. I never felt safe to share my goals with my family. Growing up, we were always told no, your dreams are too big, and you aren’t good enough. When I finally built up the courage to leave college for the first time, I got heavily depressed for a few years, which led to my first suicide attempt; dealing with feelings that you don’t belong or you aren’t good enough for anything it becomes difficult, the grey feeling takes over and begins feeling like you’re in a black hole, and then you stop feeling. A lot of the struggle with not feeling is when you do truly want to feel something. But you can’t, and that leads to permanent answers to feelings and situations that can be temporary. After my attempt, I went into a long manic cycle and didn’t speak to my family members. I would pop in every once in a while, but I wasn’t the same. In the winter of 2019, my cousin Tre went missing; his body washed up in the lake, he was murdered, and our family laid him to rest in February 2020 at the age of 27. I hadn’t gone to see my dad’s family often since my abuela Juanita’s passing in 2013 when I was a freshman. Although I felt estranged from my family, when Tre died something inside of me changed, it’s like a switch inside of me was flipped. I noticed I was unhappy with the way I was living my life; I became very self-aware of my depression and the “cycle” that began when I would get extremely depressed; it took me some time, but I started to make small changes to my lifestyle to help my depression. I had to walk away from many so-called friends and leave a lot behind to do what was best for me. That spring, I leaped and decided to change my life forever. I started doing a lot of research on acting courses in my area and how to get my start. I was finally ready to be myself and not listen to anyone who would tell me that I couldn’t do something, in May of 2020 I narrowed my options down to an agency/studio in Columbus, Ohio. In June 2020, I began my journey into the world of acting. The studio was half acting, half modeling. It never really felt like we gained knowledge on acting. The courses were very bare minimum with lackluster directional notes. During the course, I started to notice things about the studio and the ways they represented themselves. I didn’t like it, nor did I want to sign with them at the end of the course. It always felt like a money grab in some way shape or form, no matter what we did they always wanted more money whether it was for showcases or extra photos. We never talked about branding, archetypes, or the business behind acting. Headshots were included in the price of the course for an extra $1,500, the headshots didn’t represent me at all; I began to feel discouraged and took a month off. By this time, it was February 2021. During that break, COVID was on the rise, and a friend that I made asked me to be in his music video. All in all, it was a good experience. I was able to learn a lot behind the camera and sharpen up on my improv. After the video, I sadly ended up with COVID-19. We were told everyone was tested, but sadly, that was not the case; during quarantine, I communicated with two actors from said studio who also didn’t sign. We stayed in constant contact, which helped me stay sharp and driven. Finally, the summer came, July 2021 my friend that I stayed in contact with was in New York. He had just booked a role and the lead/ co-writer left the project, he thought of me and got me hooked up with an audition. This was my first audition, and I booked! I participated in my first table read over Zoom! I was so excited, the next week I drove straight to New York. When I arrived, they had my friend break the news to me that I had lost the lead. The original lead had come back onto the project, but they had a supporting role for me. I felt very discouraged. My family members were all excited for me and I felt like I had let everyone down, I felt embarrassed, and it was out of my control. That was a lesson that took me a touch too long to learn to control what you can, and don’t stress the things that you cannot, and most importantly, be kind to yourself. I am forever grateful for my experience in New York and made connections that I truly hope will last a lifetime. I met many kind and talented people while in New York, and I learned a lot about myself and the kind of actor I wanted to be. After the project, my friend told me, “You gotta go through these rough ones no matter how bad they are on set.” That was the beginning of the next stage in my acting career; a new switch had been flipped. I decided my career would not be that way, and the same goes for everyone; yes, acting is a hard grind and can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be unbearable; don’t let it take your light. During the project, Cobra Kai was at its peak, and I enjoyed Xolo Mariduena’s craft. Blue Beetle was announced and is in pre-production. When I returned from New York in August, I began working with my father again in construction, a skill I had been familiar with since I was young. We built barns on the east coast. One day, on lunch break, I saw a post from an acting studio congratulating (Anthony Gilardi Acting Studio) Xolo on being cast as Blue Beetle; knowing Xolo’s craft and admiring his work from afar, I began my research on this studio, satisfied with my findings and the fact that this coach had experience helping Latino actors I began my next chapter of my acting career. I made the call to the studio on September 26th, 2021 they gave me a free audit to their advanced acting class on September 29th; there, I saw amazing actors, one priorly on Days Of Our Lives; I was mind blown; my mom LOVED “Days” as her and my aunt called it, they watched it when they were in school! I was named Austin after a character on Days! The lady did a coaches challenge which is an exercise given by the coaches to challenge the actor, it was called the self-eulogy challenge. It is made to help the actor gain empathy towards oneself. I was blown away by the emotion and vulnerability she showed; she was incredible. I knew this was the studio for me, the following day I signed the studio contract and had orientation on October 6th. By October 18th, I was participating. The studio helped me in so many ways, giving me a safe space to be vulnerable, which I had never had before. They gave all of us an encouraging environment to work on our craft. My coach Anthony became like a father figure to me, I have learned so much about myself and the actor/ person I am going to be. I have been with the studio for almost two and a half years now. I am eternally grateful to the studio and coaches. In January 2023, my coach had another one of his actors join in as a partner/ coach. That coach (SId) became like the big brother I never had; he encouraged me and pushed me to new heights. He has been a constant guide and role model; this studio has been like a family to me. I’ve met some amazing people that have become great friends! I also met my amazing girlfriend in this class. She also encourages and pushes me in a way I’ve never been pushed before. She is one of the kindest and most hard-working people I have ever met; we were paired up for scene study, and ever since then, we’ve been best friends; she doesn’t give herself enough credit. She is an amazing actress, and when she reads this, I hope she knows the best is yet to come. You are doing great; you inspire me more and more every day. I am so thankful for you, Jess. Her family has felt like my own. I’d like to thank them for their kindness and love they’ve shown me and all of the dogs that they’ve introduced me to. And thank you to coach Anthony Gilardi and his studio which has given me so much to be grateful for, and I am truly blessed to have every single one of them as part of my journey. There is more to life than just acting. I am loving life inside and outside of acting. I have a hold on my depression and am very excited for every day that comes, even the hard ones. Aside from being an actor, I want to put good out into the world and inspire people, whether they are going through tough times or are just looking to be inspired. “Do good, be good” This is only the beginning and I’m very excited for everyone to watch my story unfold, I hope you’ll all enjoy watching.
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?
The road hasn’t been smooth by any means; it’s odd to say I’ve become comfortable being uncomfortable. Growing up in poverty was a struggle, but in many ways, I am grateful for the struggle and my parents. I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for the struggle; my work ethic was born in the struggle. I learned so much from my dad breaking his back to keep us afloat(true story); he showed me that you may not always get appreciated for your hard work, but being a hard worker and willing to be challenged is an integral part of life, and from my mother who was and is such a strong woman and role model her kindness in the toughest times taught me so much. Although I’ve had these challenges growing up without money and being ethnically ambiguous, some of my best features have come from it, and I am thankful. My parents also grew up in poverty, each growing up with 13 siblings. They made me who I am no matter what we went through. Being Hispanic and losing my Spanish, which is part of my unique technique it’s what makes me who I am. I am proud to represent my community in any way possible both Indigenous and Mexican. Another challenge I and many other LatinX actors face is being accepted by our community; it’s one of the biggest obstacles. No matter what ridicule, judgment, racism, or rejection you face from others outside of your background. It always hurts worse coming from your own, striving to feel accepted and inspire people of your ethnic background and show them they can do it too while being torn down by them; it’s one of the most difficult parts of this. So, doing it for yourself because you want to help, not letting anyone tear you down, being in your corner, facing all of the criticism and rejection; those days that you have those battles are crucial to your growth and finding a way to keep moving forward. No matter if it’s acting, college, or a job you want, you have to make sure you are your support system. And when the going gets tough, keep getting back up. An age-old proverb, “Nana korobi, ya oki,” which nearly translates to“ fall down seven times, stand up eight.” No matter what happens, you have to find a way to get up. No matter how the odds are stacked against you, financially, mentally, physically. You have to find a way to keep moving forward. Self-love is another challenge for so many, being kind to oneself. Keep telling yourself you can do it. That’s what made me love acting in the first place, telling a story that can inspire so many, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” So much of our lives are inspired by and made possible by art.
One of my challenges currently is rehabbing from a serious motorcycle accident, getting back in the gym, and making sure that I can be an improved version of myself and not letting the negative connotations take over. I’m in a lot of pain, and it’s been an uphill battle to recovery, but I gained a lot of insight after the accident, and I became even more grateful for life. I’m very fortunate that my accident was not worse. I also work for an Italian motorsports company, Dainese LA, during downtime from acting. It is difficult being around motorcycles and racing gear. It’s like extreme exposure therapy. I’ll be dropping content on the social media page soon so that is very exciting. It helps my creative side. I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me on my journey to recovery thus far.
Although it hasn’t been easy, I appreciate this struggle and the work ethic my family has instilled in me, I wouldn’t want my journey to be any other way, all the hard times, all the temporary pain. I am proud of my humble beginnings and any challenges that come moving forward. And I hope that my story and struggles can inspire others moving forward. I am proud to be Indigenous and Mexican, no matter how many tear us down and tell us we don’t belong. It’s our time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
This is the best part: I’m an Indigenous Mexican-American actor, and I’m very proud of my heritage. That’s a huge piece of what sets me apart, there aren’t many indigenous actors out there so I’m in this very very special bubble with a very rich and unique history. I also specialize in firearms, and I’m an avid motorcycle rider. I’ve ridden since 2015; it’s one of the most freeing experiences and helps fuel my acting craft. I’m also a martial artist. I’ve been in ITF Taekwondo since 2020 (Moo Duk Kwan). I’m a brown belt (4th gup). A fun fact about Taekwondo is often referred to as the way of the hands and feet. Which is funny because Tae translates to foot Kwon translates to fist and do is way, my sabumnim (master/teacher) would always call it the foot fist way. I’m grateful for him and our other black belt leaders. They always called me a sponge. I loved learning and soaking up the knowledge of the art. Many other actors do forms of Taekwondo, one being Tang Soo Do, which is related to Moo Duk Kwan. More than 70% of martial artists in the 50s and 60s used Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan. Actors that do Tang Soo Do, Chuck Norris and William Zabka of The Karate Kid, and Cobra Kai. I am honored to be in that family. A cool fun fact I’d also like to share! Rob Garrison (Tommy) in Karate Kid and Cobra Kai attended the university in my hometown of Athens. He lived very close to the area and was sadly laid to rest in his home of West Virginia in 2019. I am so proud of all the people that came from small beginnings and made it even the ones that haven’t yet. I’m a hard worker, very humble, and down to earth. I love to compete and have a drive to keep learning and improving at my craft and as a person. As an actor, my job is to break down scripts, take the facts from the script that are given for the character, break them down, and create a human being that stays true to the story but also have my own secrets about the character that aren’t given in the script, the things that no one but myself will know about the character showing their humanity their vulnerability, primal motives what they’re trying to achieve scene by scene, walking through archetypes their character arc. One of the trickiest things about acting is breaking down a character while not judging them and trying to make them into something they’re not, growing empathy for the character and their story. Giving them reasons for being the way they are. Especially on super raw scripts that convey real human emotion and give people something beautiful to relate to or send an inspiring message; it’s an honor. It’s crazy to think some of our favorite characters we have ever seen have been broken down to the bare bones and built up from basically scratch by a super imaginative human that never stopped dreaming. It’s amazing that we have the privilege to tell stories and play pretend. We do homework, and you can’t BS it; people will know! You have to put your heart and soul into building characters and find little ways to relate to them and give them small parts of you and your own humanity without trying to become them. It’s something you have to work at turning on and off, being able to be in character, take a note as yourself from a director, and execute. Getting direction whilst “staying in it’ is one of the coolest and most rewarding feelings in the world. I think someone who did great with this in recent memory was Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. This is truly one of the most fun jobs but it’s also one of the hardest, it takes a lot of hard work. Sometimes you hit plateaus in your craft and feel like you’re not progressing, but those moments of realization are huge because you know you can improve!! Actors are constantly improving; it’s one of the MOST competitive markets, and I happen to be in the coolest bracket of unique actors. It’s super rewarding, especially when you do a character justice. My coach, Anthony, always says he would rather coach someone who’s hard-working than naturally talented. I’ve always appreciated that. Hard workers have infinite potential; we just have to keep working hard and create something beautiful.
One of the coolest times is when you can’t relate to a character, and you still have to bring them to life and not judge them. Whether it be viewing their story as your best friend or as if they’re a near and dear loved one, finding those bits of humanity and creating a special character that people can love and see all of their emotions, intentions, breakdowns, sadness, love, their flaws. One character that I had to dig deep into was Carlos in a short film called Black Money. Carlos worked in a mechanic shop that would pay protection to a local mob man. There wasn’t a lot given except that Carlos was a college student working at the shop. There weren’t many lines, and even then, I had to face some adversity when most of my lines were cut except a couple due to time restraints. Even with all of that, my character work was “bulletproof,” as my coach would say. I could see how far I’ve come in my craft, but I know I can’t stop here. Always celebrate the little wins, but keep working hard and moving forward. Another challenge with acting is you can’t really “act.” Directors see through that, coaches see through that, and people watching see through that. There are no shortcuts, no easy ways out; this is an uphill marathon; you HAVE to DO THE WORK.
One thing I am the most proud of that I often sleep on is in May of 2023, I moved across the country from my small-town beginnings in Athens County, Ohio, to Los Angeles. That’s crazy, I don’t give myself enough credit for it, it took a lot of courage and strength to move by myself to a city this large and pursue what many consider a one-in-a-million goal. I used to see it as a means to an end, but my girlfriend always reminds me of how huge it was. So, I do good to remember. I’m proud of myself for betting on the team of ME! Betting on yourself is so hard. When I first got here, I felt like I didn’t belong, but because of my support system inside and outside of the studio, I’ve grown, and I no longer see myself as a fish out of water. I’m a small-town guy with humble beginnings.
I’d like to leave off by saying I hope I’m giving all of my nephews and nieces a positive role model and showing them that no matter where you are in life, no matter how small your beginning, no matter the money, you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to and work hard for, don’t let anyone shame you for having big dreams, block out the naysayers and keep moving FORWARD. I believe in all of you, and I love you so much.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
Advice for those starting out: be yourself, don’t let this career change who you are, bet on yourself, and be kind to yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others; comparison can be so damning, especially early on. Work hard, do your “homework,” be a sponge, and be coachable. This is a long road with many ups and downs so don’t give yourself a timeline, don’t rush your growth, enjoy the ride. Find a good coach, do your research no matter how long it takes, and don’t rush it. Network, reach out to people like yourself, don’t be afraid to start small. Be kind and courteous on set, especially to the crew; they do so much for us!!! Learn all of the on-set terminology!
Some of the lesser-known advice that gets swept under the rug is. “Find your people”. Find your community; find people who can be there to help dust you off if you fall. Whether it be coaches, friends, family, or acquaintances with shared hobbies! Find the people that help make life easier.
Learn how to stand up for yourself and your dream; you are your best ally. Be selfish with your time; don’t spread yourself thin. You are what you do the most (take care of your dream and put more time into it than other things healthily). Make time for the little things, make sure to have fun, and go out and get fresh air. Life can’t always be work work work. Work on finding your balance!
Things I wish I knew starting out, how hard it can be to find a good acting studio with a community in itself. There will be naysayers; even if you don’t know them or care about their opinions, people will always have something to say about you choosing this career. People will doubt you; you have to learn to love and believe in yourself.
My biggest advice will always be to be kind and patient and have fun! Take care of your inner child, love yourself, and learn to be happy and always, always be good and do good.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinpbotello/
Image Credits
Jessica Ramirez
Nelson Hill
JC MTM
