Today we’d like to introduce you to Ion Ciotu.
Hi Ion, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My passion for acting started back when I was about 12 years old. My father died when I was only nine months and my mom raised me and my sister alone. She gave me great advice, to watch movies and always pay attention to the MAN of the hour, those that get the job done, that save the day, that always do the right thing. And I designed the best father figure in my head. And by doing that, I fell in love with acting and later on as years went by back home, every sport I played or the instrument I learned to play and pretty much every activity I did was sole for my future career in acting. I also knew that acting will allow me to explore a variety of careers, lives, and see the world which to me is a great way to explore and learn and try to live a vivid life and always search for the beauty that this world has to offer. So, living in Moldova where acting is mainly theater, I packed my bags and traveled to the US. I lived in a few different states and worked a variety of jobs from beach attendant to busboy, server, retail salesman, Uber driver, and a few more but I always had my goal close by. And finally, when I moved to LA I began pursuing acting. I went to Baron and Brown studio in Santa Monica where I studied Meisner’s acting technique. Met a lot of awesome people that led me to play the lead in the California Dream series also the upcoming feature film Karaganda. That’s about as short and explicit as I can be with my story, looking forward to keeping writing it!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’d say for every actor out there, the main struggle is how much you have to do outside acting to be able to act. By that, I mean the jobs you have to work and the skills you need to develop. Also one of my struggles is my accent, it’s something that can limit you in the roles you can play so I’ve been working hard for a bit over a year now with a private accent coach to be able to pull a neutral American accent when needed(still work in progress) but I’m much better at it. As for challenges, well I’d say finding the confidence and knowing what I’m capable of because there’s a big competition amongst actors and you have to know how to stand out. The hardest part was the first year when I moved to LA, I wasn’t sure where to start so I googled “how to become an actor, steps” so not knowing what’s the right move was a pretty big challenge that sooner turns into you asking yourself are you worth it and can you really make it?! But hey, there’s no winner without sacrifice and devotion! You feel challenged every day but that’s what makes you sure that this is the right path you chose. And I’d say that my main challenge was not being able to travel out of the country and go home to Moldova to see my family for almost six years. That’s when you learn that you have to make this sacrifice to be worth it. I had no plan B when I came here and honestly that’s the best mindset.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently write a script for a movie I’d love to make and that’s something I never thought I’d be able to do. But I love discovering my abilities by actually trying them out! Besides that, auditioning and acting is the main part of my professional life. Hmm, what sets me apart from others, well I can tell you with all honesty, I can have a conversation with anyone about anything because I love learning new stuff and doing proper research that is not just facts and conclusions of people who wrote their point on Wikipedia but really diving into the roots of the matter and digest it through me then to come up with a personal conclusion. I hope that won’t sound too arrogant 🙂 My point is that as an actor, your best friend is research and what can you learn from it. It builds confidence when you have to create a character.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Yep… I learned how important it is to learn how to properly manage my finances. Also, we have a lot of hours in a day (24h) to be more specific, so if properly managed and appreciated, you can achieve great things because the lockdown showed us that nothing can be permanent and the world can turn upside down in a few months… So instead of wasting them in front of the TV watching Netflix, which I did a lot during that time until I realized I can use this time that it wasn’t just me taking time off, but the whole world was on pause, to think about learning, developing and working hard so when the pandemic lifts I can be 100% ready!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: ciotu.ion
- Facebook: Ion Ciotu
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10544649/
Image Credits
Kal Yee Studio Joris MuzeMagazine Aesir Studio Manon Tamalet
