Today we’d like to introduce you to Hojo Shin.
Hojo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am an actress from South Korea. I lived my life living in different countries; from Italy, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, to Israel, I was predominantly educated in British schools, where Drama class is a mandatory subject until middle school. Basically, ever since I joined my first school musical in year 3, I never looked back. I basically fell in love with performance and I think moving around so much, I enjoyed the idea of having a sense of connection and community that acting gave me because it was the one thing I had with me no matter where I went. It became a part of how I identified myself.
At the age of 18, I came to the United States to pursue my acting major at the School of Music Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan whose alumni include Darren Criss, Solea Pfeiffer, Jacqueline Taboni, and Lucy Liu among others. It was a magical and surreal four years spent with 15 amazing classmates surrounded by professors who challenged me. Probably, one of the best decisions I’ll ever make in my life, going to Michigan. Since graduation, I was scouted by my current agents and manager from showcase and moved immediately to Los Angeles.
Ever since, I’ve continued to partake in television, film and voice over projects, some of which have had its premier and nominations at Sundance, Traverse City and SXSW film festivals. A show I did for Snapchat/ NBC was apparently #1 hit show on the platform! I have worked with a lot of admirable actors and directors out there and have learned so much about the movie making process, but also on the life/ lifestyle of an artist, which is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately… Most recently, a project I did premiered at Outfest festival, where I got to go, and the coolest thing about these festivals I think is that we get to discover so many incredible talent from around the world creating these visual poems that we would otherwise probably never hear of!
I do think it’s a very interesting time to be an Asian female actress in this era where feminism and racism is being tested on a whole new level. I think it’s most important for people to recognize that it’s not just the representation of the actors, but a wider representation of the creatives behind the lens controlling the narrative and the production, that is actually more important than anything for any real betterment. I can also elaborate, but will stop here for now.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I had a smooth and exciting start moving out to Los Angeles – I had representatives who guided me, believed in me, and provided me with all these amazing opportunities, some of which I went really far with. That’s the hard part. You go really far and so close to that dangling carrot that you actually reach it with your tongue, and you think you really might be able to have it all this time… only to have it yanked away from you. But that only being a portion of the struggle, It’s definitely been a roller coaster ride. Especially because I’m foreign.. It was the new administration (the current one) when I was waiting for my Visa and they really loved to delay the whole thing for me. There was a lot of waiting and anxiety waiting for that to happen. Plus, not having any family members here, there have been a lot of technical obstacles that they couldn’t help me with because what do they know about how to register your car, do your taxes or choose the right health insurance in America?! But through my trying to figure them out, I think I’ve made myself a little family of close friends out here.
As an actor, the biggest challenge is the life part because so much of an actor’s performance is reflective of their experiences and personal lives. What do you do to fill the in between time? What will you do to better yourself as an individual, not just an actor? How do you fulfill yourself in other ways? And I think the answers are ever-changing depending on where you are in your career and personal life. For me, going to Vipassana, an 11-day silent meditation retreat, changed my inner world a lot. It helped me realize how important it was to observe, nurture, and enrich my inner life… It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve done but also the most rewarding.
Another big change in my attitude towards these obstacles was shifting my focus onto things I can control and change vs. living in pending mode, which frankly is part of the job description for the actor. I used to be incredibly affected and irked by a lot of external factors I couldn’t control. Now, though still a work in progress, I’ve grown out of that. I spend a lot of my time brushing up on languages; I speak fluent Korea, English, and French (though since it’s not my mother tongue, I actively push myself to keep it up) and have recently started Mandarin, which has been really fun. I jump at any opportunity to be able to collaborate with other artists through videography, photography, and recently design. So I guess you can say, I fill my in between time learning and fulfilling my curiosities.
I think obstacles exist for everyone in any sector around the world. It’s just a matter of seeing that sliver of opportunity during trying times and turning those lemons into lemon popsicles!!
What else should our readers know?
My adaptability and flexibility that comes from being a Third Culture Kid. I’ve been brought up to find that common ground on that venn diagram, no matter who, what, where.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
According to Korean Saju (Five pillars of destiny), people born in my year are currently in their three years bad streak of luck phase, haha. I think luck is subjective; to some, I may be really lucky and to others, I may not be the luckiest. But personally, I feel like the biggest luck in my life is the wealth of good people in my life. They have had and brought tremendous positivity to my personal life and career. You know who you are <3
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7648398/
- Instagram: @hojoshin
Image Credit:
Photographers: James Roderique (two photos with black top), Rocky Tang (Main photo), Estelle Tcha (libra photo), Dina Veloric (wearing turban), Andrew Yuyi Troung (short bob wig still, two photos with orange/ white stripe dress), Anti Social Social Club (red beanie photo)
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
