Today we’d like to introduce you to film and TV actor Felipe de Lara.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Felipe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My life has been a crazy odyssey, and you’ll see why I say that: I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, which is a very important industrial city in which the mentality is, for the most part, very business-driven. Growing up in a very “normal” family within that type of society, son to a fiscal lawyer and a stay-at-home mother, I was always the black sheep in the sense that I never cared much about any of that. I never did really well in school because I was very hyperactive and used to get in trouble constantly (my nickname since I was 14 years old was “Hyper”!). However, I always enjoyed art; especially the performing arts.
At age 14, I taught myself to play guitar and started to compose. I also performed as lead vocalist in several bands with friends since I was 12, and while in high school, the principal named me Music Director at the school’s Arts Festival that year in which I put together a band and prepared a set of songs to perform for our peers. In fact, for the longest time I thought I was going to become a professional musician… it was my childhood dream! But then, at age 17, I had an epiphany and realized that film was the ultimate art form, in which I could combine all my artistic inclinations, including music, writing, photography, and of course, performing, into one single field. So after three years of attending University studying international business, taking theatre classes for extracurricular credits, I decided to become a full-time actor and filmmaker.
When I turned 21, I dropped out of business school and moved to Canada, where I attended the prestigious Vancouver Film School’s Full Time Acting for Film and TV Program, and upon graduation I also took the Film Production Full Time Program at the same school, graduating with honors from both programs. I finally did well in school! I couldn’t have been happier. After I graduated from Film Production, I got my first job in the Film Industry, working as a Production Assistant in the feature film “X-Men 3 – The Last Stand” that was being shot in Vancouver in 2005.
In 2006, I went back to Monterrey where I met seasoned Mexican actress Patricia Reyes Spindola at a play I participated in upon my arrival. I asked her how to get into the Mexican film industry, and she advised me to move to Mexico City. So again, I packed my recently unpacked suitcases, and once I moved there two weeks later, I met with her again. She was kind enough to introduce me to some of the most important casting directors in town back then, and so I started to audition for feature films. My career had officially begun.
My very first professional audition was for an American sci-fi feature film that was shot mostly on location in Mexico City, and I got the part. Since then, I booked a few gigs in other film and TV projects and a couple of commercials, and I also started working behind the cameras, as well as in post-production, editing commercial campaigns and a few short films and music videos. In 2009 I won Best Film Editing at the “Festival Pantalla de Cristal” Awards. I also directed and produced a few music videos during that time. But after five years living in Mexico City, I managed to get a “Working Holiday Visa” from Canada, so I moved to Toronto in 2011.
Once I was back in Canada, I applied to get into the union IATSE Local 873 as a permit and started working in the art department, as well as a grip, gaffer, and props, which taught me a lot about what really goes on behind the scenes. But after some time, I moved back to Mexico to keep pursuing my acting career.
In 2014, I went back to Mexico City, and three days after I arrived there, I got a call to audition for the History Channel’s TV Series “Texas Rising” directed by the legendary Roland Joffé and I got the part of a Mexican double-spy named Francisco in 1830’s Texas, shot on location in Durango, Mexico, in which I got to work with a bunch of amazing actors, like the awesome late Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Olivier Martinez, and Chad Michael Murray, to name a few. Some of them advised me to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. And so after working in a few other TV shows in Mexico, such as the Telemundo hit show El Señor de los Cielos (The Lord of the Skies), and the biographic tv series Paquita la del Barrio, both of which received International Emmy Awards nominations, I finally moved to Los Angeles in 2017.
The City of Angels has been good to me, but also challenging in some ways since it’s a much bigger industry. Nevertheless, I’ve met so many incredible and inspiring people. I shot some music videos and other projects such as my friend Gabriela Paciel’s play “The Big Day” that was presented as part of the Short + Sweet Hollywood Festival at The Marilyn Monroe Theatre in West Hollywood. She’s a very talented Cuban-American writer, who later invited me to play the antagonist in her film “To Play With Fire”, which has been part of the official selection in several international film festivals and has been praised for the sensitive subject matter as it talks about the killing of journalists in Mexico when they dare to speak truth to power.
I also got to play one of the leading roles in the Blumhouse Productions’ Horror Anthology Series for Hulu “Into The Dark”, in the feature film “Culture Shock”, directed by the unstoppable Gigi Saul Guerrero and produced by the great Alissa Phillips, which has been one of my most rewarding experiences in the film industry thus far, working alongside the amazing actors Martha Higareda, Shawn Ashmore, Richard Cabral, the legendary Barbara Crampton and Creed Bratton. The film premiered at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood last year and it has been an amazing success, praised by many, getting a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and being included as one of “The 40 Best Horror Movies on Hulu Right Now” according to Variety.
The odyssey continues… Working with all these incredibly talented and diverse actors and filmmakers has taught me so much and I am humbled and grateful to be able to collaborate with and learn from each and every one of them. And the best part is, of course, that the best is yet to come!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, of course I’ve had my ups and downs; no question about it. Sometimes people take things for granted… Los Angeles is a place where people come from all over to pursue their dreams. As a foreigner, I had to prove myself first and EARN the right to be here! And that’s just the beginning. Every time I’ve moved to a new city by myself (and I’ve done that several times in my life), I’ve had to figure out how to make it work. I guess the hardest part is to start over and over again, leaving everything and everyone behind each time, and that means family, friends, girlfriends, and more importantly, my comfort zone.
Sometimes, along my personal odyssey, I also had to get odd jobs here and there before I found any kind of success; sometimes working in retail, other times as other people’s assistant, etc. Just random jobs that in the end always taught me something very important, which is: great dreams require great sacrifices. You just have to work really hard to break through and keep on fighting the good fight. But believe me, I regret nothing… because, like Bukowski wrote, following one’s dream ALL THE WAY is the only good fight there is; and the satisfaction you get from achieving your goals is better than anything else you can imagine. You just have to keep on going, no matter how tough it may get sometimes.
Also, don’t be afraid to fail. I always thought that no matter what happens when I try something new, I always win, whether I get what I want or not, because if I fail, the knowledge I get in the end from that failure is still progress… knowing what doesn’t work is sometimes even more important that just knowing what works. Always remember, the night is darkest just before the dawn… Finding great friends and allies is key to keep you inspired and motivated. And, lastly, remember to have a good time, no matter what you do. After everything I’ve been through, like I always say: I’m still here, and I’m still laughing!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I have a few projects on the way as an actor, both in Los Angeles and in Mexico. I’m also writing a tv script with a great producer friend of mine, and I’m putting together a set of pictures to have a photography exhibition next year. I’m never bored!
If you’d like to follow me in my journey, I’m most active on Instagram: @felipedelara
If you’d like to see my photography work, you can also check out my other Instagram account: @felipedelaraphotography
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think I could’ve done things differently, because everything I’ve ever done has taught me something that I needed to know in order for me to take the next step. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk… Things happen the way they do for a reason. You can only know what you know at any given moment. Thinking that I could’ve done things differently is useless to me. Just learn the lessons and move on, and don’t be too hard on yourself for not knowing then what you know now.
Contact Info:
- Address: Management: Liam Scholey | Vision Entertainment
925 N La Brea Ave 4th Floor | Los Angeles, CA 90038
(424) 230-3270 - Website: http://www.imdb.me/felipedelara
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/felipedelara
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actorfelipedelara
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/felipe_delara
Image Credit:
Rafa De la Lastra
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