Today we’d like to introduce you to Roby Attal.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in Houston, Texas. My neighborhood was pretty average suburban—tucked away somewhere in West Houston. I would meet up with my neighbors out in the street and we’d just spend the day running around imagining different scenarios.
I guess I haven’t really changed much in terms of that foundational love for imagination. I like to pretend, its sort of as simple as that when it comes to why I like to act. Storytelling is something I love to take part in.
I’m the only one in my family that decided to go into the arts. At first, I was set on being a visual artist—something I still do a lot of—but when I attempted to audition into the visual art program at an arts high school in Houston, I wasn’t accepted. So I went to my neighborhood school, where I took my first art class ever, in which I decided that my visual art was something I didn’t really like other people’s direct influence in.
I realized my drawings were sort of sacred to me, and my art teacher was disapproving when I would try to let my style seep into her curriculum. So the following year, I decided to audition for the arts school again, this time for the theater. I learned two monologues, auditioned, and I was accepted. The next three years, I received great training that convinced me that acting can be a lifelong pursuit, and more importantly, that its something I really liked doing. Making a living off of playing pretend is pretty cool so I decided to chase it.
Please tell us about your art.
When it comes to my acting, I like things to feel natural or grounded. That’s something I strive for, at least. I like the mundane moments in life. I like the stories that happen right next to you on the street, right above you in the apartment above your head, that you don’t really catch most of the time. Meandering conversation and non-important moments. I feel like so much art strives to be monumental, to be this ground shattering revelation.
And I think that has a place—but I have always found that life’s less grand moments are the ones I actually relate to. Don’t get me wrong, I love a spectacle, I like huge blockbusters. But even within those fantastical worlds, I love to have grounded characters with stories that are important to them, not ones that involve the fate of humanity or whatever. So I guess with that, I try to incorporate a grounded nature into my characters, whether it be when I’m acting or writing or drawing. I like realism, even in the context of fantasy.
People fumble with words, people don’t know where to put their hands, people don’t really know what they’re saying even while they’re saying it. Film wasn’t always open to that natural style—it used to be a very gilded thing I think. Everyone was proper, everyone was beautiful. A lot of film and television still is sort of that way, but I think the industry has made great strides in capturing our less grand moments as humans, and I really like that.
So that’s something I strive to capture in what I do as an artist. I’m huge into sci-fi-fi and fantasy. I love other-worldly things, I like large scale drama and space exploration, creatures flicks and horror. But even within those genres, I think it’s really interesting when there is still that relatable, realistic quality.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
Not really, I think I might be one of the lonely ones haha.
But I think what I’ve often found helps is not being afraid to put your work out there. We live in a hyper-connected age. Someone will see your work and you might connect over it. Offer to collaborate with someone. If someone sends you a script, actually read it. If its a song, listen to it. Share creativity. Talk about the art and not the business, I think that’s the pitfall for being an artist by trade.
It starts to become less about the art and then you kind of recoil into yourself if you have nothing “work-related” to talk about. So just be more open with your creative endeavors would be my advice I guess. This city is crawling with artists, odds are the person you’re talking to will relate.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
As far as acting goes, I’ve done a few different projects in the past two years, most notably my role in the CBS horror flick HELL FEST. I play Gavin, a kid who thought it would be fun to bring his friends (and his crush) to a horror theme park, only for things to go wrong when an actual murderer lets loose. So that’s a fun one if you like a good ol’ fashioned slasher flick, it’s a good time with some drinks and some food.
I’ll also be in an upcoming Netflix show called MESSIAH, which should be slated for release sometime in the fall. I was also the lead in an indie film, RED 11, which is directed by Robert Rodriguez. It was a feature we shot for $7,000, which was a wild experience with a director like that. At the moment it is still making its way around to different festivals—last seen at Cannes—and will hopefully find its way to the public soon. Other than that, I’m just auditioning trying to make more things for people to watch.
You can follow my personal Instagram at @robyattal if you want to see my face occasionally, or for any updates on my acting life.
As for my visual art, I’m still churning out drawings and small animations all the time on my Instagram @robedraws.
I think that work is in line with my rant in the last question. My art is something that carries that quality of life’s “less important” moments as well. My style is simplistic– black ink on white paper. I’ll often make a quick sketch, scan it, and upload it in a short period of time. I think so many artists hold themselves back by not at least putting their work out there, and for a long time, I didn’t either.
But that page is devoted to being a sort of stream-of-consciousness view into my art-brain. Some pieces are higher effort than others, but most of the time it’ll just be something you scroll past and get a quick kick out of, which I think is the way most people use Instagram anyways. So I guess it’s perfect for that platform. I have plans to make products out of my work, whether it be t-shirts or bags or stickers, and any updates on that will be posted there.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robyattal/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9234258/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Image Credit:
Jamie Luca
Gustavo Astudillo
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