Meet Gabrielle Jackson

I think Regina King said it best when she accepted her Oscar this year. “I am an example of what it looks like when support and love are poured into someone.” I started acting when I was very little. I was talking at nine months old (and haven’t really stopped since honestly) and reading at age two, so it was kind of a no brainer for my mom to have me audition for commercials and tv. We lived in Colorado at the time but, and this is how dedicated my mom has always been to make every one of her children’s dreams come true when I decided I wanted to do this for real my mom moved us out to California to be closer to where the work is.

I have had the privilege of doing some pretty incredible things. I received training in voice and acting from the wonderful Scott Farthing and Bill McGuire respectively at Saddleback College, my alma mater, I was on the super witty Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt.23, I’ve gotten to share the stage with Broadway and pop legends, and most recently I’ve gotten to play Celie in the musical adaptation of The Color Purple. And through it all, I’ve been so blessed to be able to lean on the love and support of my family, friends, teachers, and mentors. No one has ever stopped pouring into my heart or my dreams, and I credit the strength of my loved ones with helping me in my progression toward accomplishing my goals.

It has most certainly not been a smooth road. I have recently come to the conclusion that I spent a lot of my life trying to hide my light under a bushel and shying away from the prospect of my potential. I did a lot to play down my abilities so that I could fit in with my peers or to walk away from incredible opportunities because of fear of success. I think every performer struggles with that in some way. I think they call it imposter syndrome. Fear, for a very long time, was driving my boat.

Couple that with the superficial and rejection based nature of the industry, the way it can kind of hurt your feelings. I’ve heard the whole, you get 1000 no’s before you get the yes that will change your life, and it’s ABSOLUTELY true. Doors will not only close but slam in your face or on your fingers. Busses will leave the station the moment you get to the door. It happens. For actors and singers especially, your instrument is your body and your emotions, so a lot of what’s going on in audition rooms and on stage can really start to feel personal. If you’re playing a tuba and you hit a sour note, its because you did something wrong with the tuba, but when your instrument is you, and you’re facing a lot of rejection, it can feel like you’re wrong.

I think the only way to combat that sort of thing is to really take control of your own growth and trajectory. Especially in today’s age of technology. There are so many ways to establish and control your image and your training. For me, and this is a shameless plug, I wrote a solo show called Random Black Girl where I just talk for an hour and a half about my life as a performer and that was super cathartic. I can’t wait to put it up! And for the first time I’m discovering things about my talent and feeling really empowered and I think that’s the key.

 If you see yourself as something that other people aren’t seeing, or you’re getting a bunch of no’s, I think the best thing to do is continue to create, continue to learn and continue to grow. Write things for yourself, get in class and bring scenes you want to play with. Do what you can to control what you can and the things that are out of your control, like a casting director looking for someone of a different height or shoe size, will start to feel a little less personal to you.

One of my favorite lines from Hamilton is “I’m not standing still I am lying in wait,” and I think as actors and performers sometimes it has to be like that. If you’re waiting for the audition that’s going to lead to your big break and you’re just kind of standing still or getting caught up in the world around you, it’s easy to get to a point where you’re just sort of depressed and wanting to quit. But if you’re lying in wait, you’re in class, you’re writing content and characters for yourself or exploring other facets of your creativity, it can feel better, and your soul will be well fed, and that reads in a room.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am an actress first, singer second, human always. I feel like what sets me apart is my honesty and authenticity. I love people, I love the work I get to do, and I think, I hope at least, that comes across whenever I get to do that work and also in my life outside of it. I’m also moving toward the world of civil rights activism and look forward to really planting my feet and being of service to the communities I belong to.

My proudest achievement thus far has been my time working on The Color Purple. I was stretched so far as an artist, and it made me hungrier than ever to learn as much as I can about my industry as a whole and how I can use my art as a healing ministry to the people who come to be a part of it. The coolest thing is, months after we’ve taken our final bow, people coming up to me in line at the store or while I’m working another gig and telling me how moved they were by my performance and the art the cast and creatives put together as a whole.

It’s so cool to be a part of something that heals people and reveals something to them about their own lives. I think that’s why we’re all here honestly. To be in a reciprocal loop of learning and healing and growth and acceptance and love and to be in service to people as a part of that loop, just by doing what I feel in my heart I was put here to do? That’s a crazy feeling.

During that experience, I also had the pleasure of working with the one and only Jeffery Polk, who I am so glad is in my life now, he poured into my heart and guided me through what was one of the most challenging roles of my life. I cherished our time together and couldn’t have been more grateful to him for his trust and faith in me. April Nixon who played our Shug was an incredible force and someone who really elevated me as an actor and made me really step up to meet her.

It was so amazing to be in such great company, with Patrick Gandy, our music director and incredible women from the original Broadway company and tour the whole cast and creative team was just amazing, and we got to be a family for that time we were together. It was just really great! And it felt super excellent to be proud of the work we were all doing.

My next big undertaking is the Solo Show which opens on  April 23rd at The Rockwell. It’s been great to learn more about writing a narrative and what my style and my essence is when I don’t have to say something someone else wrote.

The definition of success is constantly changing as I grow as an individual and meet people who I admire and love. As far as being a successful performer goes, I think being able to support yourself from a job where you’re performing and using your training is an incredible marker of success, But I also see success as someone who is working their survival job but making work that they’re proud of and not depending on their creativity to pay the bills.

To me, success is tied intrinsically to happiness. If you are happy and your life is full, and you’re making the most of what you have and giving some of it back to where it came from, I think that’s success. Does that mean I’m not constantly striving to get to the next goal? No, it doesn’t. But it does mean that I enjoy the fruits of the labor once I reach the goal I was aiming for in the first place.

I think we have this constant need to be grinding and producing and working on the next thing in our culture. And ,though I don’t think hard work is anything to thumb your nose at, I do think there is a healthy balance between working constantly and enjoying the things you’ve worked for. Living in the moment you worked for is just as important as working for the moment.

Ultimately I would love to EGOT and do Movies and TV and Broadway and all that stuff, but if that’s the whole of my definition of success, then this is going to be an extremely bumpy ride where my worth and value get tied into doing those things. I’m learning to define success as I go, quietly setting goals and exceeding my expectations as I move along, moving forward all the way. Why not enjoy the ride on the way to the destination?