Meet Gloria Mamurov

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gloria Mamurov.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I call myself a world citizen because I really don’t know where to call home. Growing up in Sweden with Moroccan parents I enjoyed two different cultures which could also be confusing at times. I spent summers in Morocco with my huge extended family and barefoot on the backstreets. The rest of the year in a cold country where I spent most of my free time in theatre and dance, and this is really where it all started. I was passionate about performing ever since I started walking. My father always knew he was raising a star in the make and was always pushing my creativity.

I quickly learned Moroccan belly dancing, and I don’t know how many times I’ve performed Michael Jackson’s dance moves whenever we had visitors. Throughout my childhood, I joined a community theatre company that put up shows of all kinds, and that is one of the best memories I have as a kid. I was a movie buff very early on in life and always loved learning movie lines, so I kept watching some over and over to practice acting. My father always believed in my talents my most memorable times with him was when he put on old albums of legends such as the Beatles, Rod Stewart, and Mick Jagger and I was on the mic singing along…

I started modeling as early as age 15 and landed my first commercial- a 7-eleven campaign my face was all over Sweden. Soon after that, I shot a commercial as a snowboarder eating French yoghurt and cheese on the slopes… that was probably the toughest few days of shooting in the insane cold fun crew and a great job. Things were rolling, and I then landed a cover of a lifestyle magazine. I somehow got into a pageant competition, and really that was definitely not my cup of tea, but I got a feature interview in of the best newspapers in Sweden “Expressen” as they chose their favorite in the Miss International Sweden – and no I didn’t win.

Touring with my theatre company one summer was the last thing I did before starting my high school journey. I starved for more so I went to a media/production/drama high school, and it was all hands on for us students which were very rare to do at such a young age. I learned everything from what it took to be behind the scenes writing scripts, producing and being a talent. I had the best three years of my life, and I remember we showcased our graduation film, and that was my first time appearing in a movie we produced in school, and I loved every second of it.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
After I graduated, I lost my father-my best friend. I decided to take his advice to travel the world as much as I could and explore. So I did. I went to the south of France and lived there until I spoke French fluently. I received a scholarship, so I went to Spain, Barcelona and learned Spanish.

During this time I studied and worked hard to really understand the culture and the language. I managed to travel through Italy, and I visited most of France and Spain as well as Italy. I went back home and realized quickly that I needed to explore more. I took myself to New York and the moment I set my feet in the busiest street of Times Square I knew this was home. I started Berkeley College and didn’t really know what else to study other than Marketing and business. I couldn’t bare the thought of even auditioning for a drama school it just seemed too far fetch at the moment.

NY was so stressful and lonely I decided to take a 6-month break, and while I still missed my travels, so I made a decision to venture out to Asia Singapore where I studied Fashion/Design and Marketing. Talk about strict discipline over there and hard work I managed to travel a bit around Asia, and I just knew I had to go back to NY and conquer it.

During my studies at Berkeley College, I picked up some modeling again and freelanced. I started my own business in the nightlife entertainment after having supported myself as a showgirl/dancer in the best nightclubs of NYC. I quickly got my name out there.

When I had my first child during my last year of college, it was a running business. I had the opportunity to work with the best of the best and really being around such a talented group of entertainers as well as exploring the world of costume designing which my studies in Singapore helped. I landed an interview with NY Post, and my talents and costumes landed on Page Six in NY Post. Things were tough being a mother and working in the nightlife but I loved performing, creating costumes and managing my crew but something was always missing…

Fast forward, three babies later along with a terrible divorce and almost homeless. I struggled to raise my kids alone, and I had to take on a bottle service job as well as working with my company. I worked night and days.

One day in the subway of NYC… I found my Prince Charming… I know very Serendipity… and pretty quickly he got me off my mess and brought out my authenticity. We got married and decided to pack all of our belongings and drove across the country and moved to Los Angeles for a new life.

He understood me and who I was. I was very much confused of my own identity at the time and didn’t know what I wanted to do with life… I kept pushing off my dreams, and I knew I always wanted to work as an actress but the dreams were so far away, and I thought it was too late for me… I read Rocky’s start of his career and saw a cliche meme on social media ” it’s better to have tried and lived as hard as you can than regret.”

That resonated with me so much I started crying. I knew what I had to do.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
After two years of getting back to my acting passion, I’ve trained a lot in various studios in Los Angeles, and I have finally found my place where I absolutely love and won’t leave even when I get successful. Ivana Chubbuck studios have a technique that is working great for me, and I have grown immensely as an actress. I’m proud of myself for taking the leap of pursuing my passion as a parent and doing this with my children as well. Yes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My kids love this industry as well… having a family that is so creative and fun makes life fun and easy.

In the meantime, I have started experimenting with a new healthy journey and recipes I, later on, decided to film and make a show about. I have about 12 videos of just that in an improvised setting on YouTube where I turn junk food into raw vegan foods with an all improvised setting. That was a fun journey, but I have ended this and decided to create new content that would work better for my acting career. I believe that as an actor you have to take creativity in your own hands and really create while you pursue an acting career instead of waiting around for an opportunity to arrive.

Showcasing myself has helped me a lot. I can’t wait for more creativity to come along and getting into filmmaking. My first gig in LA was theatre, and I found a “home” at this small theatre in Hollywood for about a year and did about six shows. It was incredible to get back on it and perform! I then booked a Marvel comic gig as Electra for artwork they needed for the tv show. I worked with two actors, and it was an intense two days of action stunts and emotions… I knew I had to pursue acting fully.

My husband and I decided to have one more baby before I really got into my old and new found passion! It was a tough year for me, but I’m forever grateful to have my amazing family supporting me. A few modeling and commercials did, and I felt the need to slow down, so my husband and I decided to have one more baby and complete our family before I really got into my acting career! It was a tough year, and throughout my pregnancy, I strategized what I needed to do when I had the baby-career wise.

During my pregnancy, I landed a cover for NewBorn magazine, and I then worked as a social media influencer, and I’m forever grateful to have my amazing family supporting me. A bumpy road but what isn’t really? Two years ago, I started my journey to work as an actor. I signed with Lovestone commercial and theatrical agency about a year ago and have shot various commercials and gone out to many auditions and having done several selftapes. It’s a journey, to say the least… I’m so happy that I can work with my family as well… We never know what our days look like so I call it the Unicorn life- just freely love and live and not have any standards of a 9-5 living…

During these two years, I shot a few short films, a feature independent film and my last project was an Arabic infused horror film which I’m very excited to see. I’m also very much over the moon to be apart of a new franchise TV show -The Vice Squad which I can’t talk more about as it’s in pre-production so I will announce it all in my social media.

I still work as an influencer, but I am very picky with what companies I work with.. they have to hold a message I believe in, whether it’s for healthy living, clean beauty, food, feminism empowerment, and body-conscious awareness. One of the most inspiring companies I’ve worked with and proud to be apart is Parfait Lingerie where all shapes of bodies come together and spread awareness in body positivity this has been one of the most difficult things for me to do as a model and I’ve always been conscious about myself and to have found this company has been one of the best things that has happened to me in life.

I believe that confidence and loving yourself just the way you are no matter what shape or size one is SUCCESS in life and that confidence alone can bring one so much joy and productivity. I am very much excited to see what the future holds and I can say that I also want to be a part of producing and developing stories as well as act. There’s no limit to what you can do as a creative.. one of my main goals in this journey is to inspire and empower women.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I can say with my whole heart that my husband is my rock and my world and meeting him was mine and my children’s blessing he showed us a whole new world inspiring me so that I can inspire others.

I am forever grateful for the black box theatre to have given me an opportunity to grow in the beginning of my career..  My agents at Lovestone for helping me/us get seen as a fun family that we are and my manager Michael at Me2management who gets me to out for film and tv auditions and believes in me and my kids.. my kids who are my forever cheerleaders and love seeing their mama happy!

I’m grateful for my independent filmmaker friends Karyna and Monte Bezell who cast me in their film this past fall and got my first film credit! My very first best friend in LA- Anna who brought out my inner child and clown in me also made me realize that keeping a close-knit circle in this tough industry is crucial and whoever you are around is what you are influenced by…

Lyanka Gryu a beautiful mother and a successful actress from Russia who has influenced me to train hard and dream bigger and never settle. My father who is with me in my heart I can feel him root for me. And lastly, my mother who has given her all to let me travel the world and giving me life. A life message to everyone is to always think I am where I am right now and there’s no other better place to be because it is my experience and learnings that will bring me to where I need to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.imdbpro.com/gloriamamuroc
• Phone: 4245271012

Image Credit:
Jason Douglas, Maxim Mamurov, Kevin Martin, Alex Rosenkreus, Dametreus Ward and Dae Howerton

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.