Meet Felipe Figueroa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Felipe Figueroa.

Felipe, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Raised by Pentecostal Christian (those who shake in the Holy Ghost and maintain a fundamentalist approach to the Bible) parents in a suburban town in Connecticut, I really longed for a different life. Something completely unlike how my parents and my extended family lived. I made my way to NYU to study acting (got my degree in Drama – I still love that and often joke that I have a BFA in DRAMA.) Pounded the pavement/audition circuit for musical theater in New York for a couple of years. Made my way to Philadelphia via a show and stayed there for ten years. Then adventured to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. And here we are!

Has it been a smooth road?
The road has not been smooth. I wish it had been. Or do I? Maybe I would be a different me today. Maybe I wouldn’t be writing these words in this moment. After graduating from NYU and moving back to my parents Connecticut home, I had no agent. I felt like I had no one in my corner. I felt alone. My parents couldn’t help me. They didn’t know the first thing about pursuing a career in the arts. After months of feeling sorry for myself – ugh – I got up off the couch and started taking the hour-long train commute to NYC to audition and audition and audition.

I was booking shows but not on Broadway. More like summer stock and regional theaters. I could barely pay my phone bill. I remember getting a call on my flip phone from my student loan officer asking for payment. I just cried and then yelled – “I have no money – what do you want from me?” An Adam Lambert lyric ahead of its time. I really had a problem – I was associating my worth as a human with the amount of money I made. That challenge is still a part of my life lesson. It’s diminished, but it’s still there.

I actually left the arts for ten years. I wanted to make money, buy things, live in a nice house, go on trips. And I did that. I was an office manager for a very successful dental office in Philadelphia owned by my ex-partner. I had the money – yay. But I didn’t have the arts. I was still not quite myself. I jumped on a plane and moved to LA to pursue a career in film and television. No reps. A few friends from school, though. I got here and felt like I didn’t belong in this business. I started to feel like I wasn’t Latin enough (I grew up in Connecticut for God’s sake). I wasn’t straight enough. I wasn’t gay enough. I wasn’t white enough – I mean my name really gives it away. That was seven years ago and I still struggle with some of those doubts and demons. Still struggle to remember that it’s those wonderfully distinct things that make me, me. This struggle has really shaped my voice as an artist.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an actor and an acting teacher at BGB Studio in North Hollywood – it’s really my artistic home. I also write, direct, produce and even cast. I am above all an artist. I recently came to the realization of actually being an artist above all else because I consider what I do to be a craft. Something that I work at constantly with the intention of growing, exploring, deepening my point of view. I’m in class weekly as an actor, I teach 2 acting classes a week. I do readings of friends’ work. I book gigs that pay. I do a play. I say yes a lot. (Just trying to follow Shonda Rhimes’ book Year of Yes.) I am constantly doing something for my craft whether or not I am getting paid. I take this work seriously but not too seriously. More importantly, in my work, I just want to be a human connecting to another human(s). Real. Funny. Dark. Sad. Angry. All of it. A real exploration of what it means to be human.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I LOVE the incredible artists that are part of my life and my community. People that inspire me, that I admire, and that I love. This city definitely draws all kinds and for that I’m so grateful. It’s a tie – also the weather!

I don’t love the traffic. Here’s the thing though, everyone wants to be here – people from around the country and around the world. That’s not gonna change, so complaining about traffic is really pointless. In fact, I’ll gladly sit in traffic listening to a Super Soul Conversation with Oprah as payment for living here.

Contact Info:

• Email: felipef71@yahoo.com
• Instagram: felipefigueroathethird
• Facebook: felipe figueroa
• Twitter: @felipefigueroathethird

Image Credit:
Ana Parsons, Jason Silva, Theo and Juliet

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