Rising Stars: Meet London Garcia of Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to London Garcia.

Hi London, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was obsessed with stand-up comedy and sketch comedy since I was a little kid. I watched so much of it. I spent my childhood watching endless reruns of “The Carol Burnett Show”. I couldn’t believe that was a job someone got paid for. So when I decided to pursue entertainment, which wasn’t until after high school, I was immediately drawn to that kind of performing.

I started out doing stand-up comedy anywhere I could get a little stage time which included places like The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory and then I started to get more opportunities through people I met in the Latin industry. One of the first friends I made was Emilio Rivera (Sons of Anarchy, Mayans MC) through a sketch comedy group I was a part of in the early 90’s, “P.O. Box L.A. Comedy Co.” That was such a special group with so much talent. “In Living Color” dominated TV at that time and we performed sketch comedy bits with a similar structure to them and SNL. While we pitched our group to TV and were well received everywhere we did shows, we ultimately were not picked up.

I continued to do stand-up comedy all over Southern California and was particularly active within the Latin scene and got to work with some of the hottest Latino comics: Rudy Moreno, Dyana Ortelli, Emilio Rivera, Carlos Oscar, Gilbert Esquivel, and many others. During this time, I started performing in “Latino Nights”, a live variety show produced by Rivera featuring many of these Latino comics as well as singers, dancers, and other performers. I did a few small roles in film and TV and had a few close calls for big roles, but nothing really gained traction.

As does most people in the entertainment industry, I always had a side hustle but it was a little different than most actors. Since leaving high school, I worked a lot of corporate and office jobs and later as a consultant and project manager in aerospace, telecommunications, investment firms, and real estate.

At one point, I took a 9 year hiatus from the industry to grow opportunities in telecommunications out of state and real estate. But it seemed like no matter where I went, something in the industry kept calling me. I would be having dinner with a colleague in telecommunications in some tiny town in Arizona and they would mention an opportunity in film out of the blue, like a real legitimate opportunity. This kind of thing happened so much and I constantly thought, “This dream is never gonna leave me alone.” But down deep, I was glad.

Eventually, I parted ways with my business partner and came back to California. I didn’t return to acting right away. For some years, I was on somewhat of a discovery journey and ventured into radio and created “The London Garcia Show”, a radio talk show. The show grew pretty quickly and organically attracting big names from all over that would include actors, directors, writers, composers, rock bands, and anyone I found interesting. This led to producing another radio show exclusively for The Warped Tour, “Radio Saves Lives”, where I would interview rock stars and other musical acts from the tour highlighting the causes and charities important to them, something the tour’s founder, Kevin Lyman, is well known for.

I met a number of publicists through radio who started inviting me to cover red carpet events and I ended up interviewing hundreds of celebrities.

It was a lot to juggle so I decided to set everything else aside and focus primarily on acting, the real dream to begin with, and I started training a lot more through various studios, classes, and coaches in the L.A. area. It really was a thing of stepping out in faith but I stayed focused, even when nothing was happening and, slowly but surely, things started to gain traction and I started to book roles in a number of shows including 9-1-1: Lone Star, Barry, SWAT, and as Emma Isaacs in The Pitt.

The most unexpected thing happened in late 2024 when after a brief appearance on NCIS: Origins as Ruth, Gibbs’ landlord, the show’s creators decided to write an entire episode (“Blue Bayou”) around my character. This historic episode caught the attention of the media and received overwhelming praise and inspired journalist Lynette Rice to interview me for Deadline. The episode was the first crimeless episode in the entire NCIS franchise and became one of the highest rated of the season and was named one of TV Insider’s 24 best TV Episodes of 2024.

I’m still taking it all one day at a time because you just never know where this industry will take you. But I do love how it can be a little mysterious and surprising and I’m always very optimistic about the future.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road but nothing worthwhile is. The beautiful part of any journey is what you learn through challenges. I embrace that part. You can’t be truly grateful for something if it’s all handed to you. And I love how these challenges and obstacles made me stronger and a little more slick. I’ve always been known as a “figure it out” type of person.

Honestly, most of the time, it didn’t feel rough times. I never expected it to be easy. Nothing in my life has ever been easy to get. It’s always taken a lot of focus, time, and effort to achieve anything but I was raised to take pride in my work so some of those rough times were actually entertaining. And I’ve been a writer since I was so young that I turned most things into a story, usually comedy. If there was a good story in there I could tell, it was always worth it. It’s been pretty rare that I felt heartbroken or crushed over not getting a role or opportunity. And if I ever felt a little crushed over not achieving something, I usually got past it pretty quick.

There was a period during the 90’s where I would be compared to other actresses going out for the same roles I was up for and they would always be more known or closer to the casting directors or some other advantage. It was a little frustrating at the time but I look back now and I’m so glad my journey went this way. A couple of them don’t work in the industry at all now. Why? I don’t know. But as weird as my journey has been sometimes, I’ve had some of the richest, most amazing experiences. If I got a couple of those roles, maybe I would’ve missed out on other things? I’ll never know and that’s part of the magic of this business. You can be sad about those things or glad they didn’t happen. It’s always a mystery but you get to write that story.

The thing is, I’ve always believed this is what I’m supposed to be doing so I just believed it would work out somehow somewhere. I never needed to know when or what exactly. I just believed it would work out. It’s a destiny thing. Acting has never been a thing where I was going to give it a shot. Most of the people I’ve met over the past several years give themselves a deadline of making it and I think that’s the kiss of death. There’s no freedom in that because you’re always racing against the clock. I just accepted that I would likely have to work some other job or career while pursuing this dream and I was OK with that. I just worked really hard at finding the parallel career I could enjoy enough while pursuing acting because I knew it could take a long time. I also knew that this is an industry with a lot of ups and downs. I was prepared for that.

I always knew in my gut this was my destiny, however it turned out. Even when I took a long hiatus, I knew this is where I belonged but I was in a place in my life where I needed to establish myself a bit better financially and figure out how to keep being an actor. I can honesty say that pursuing the entertainment industry is one of the most challenging things and is constantly full of mystery. There’s no magic wand or shortcut or easy answer. For me, it was just taking it one step at a time, following my gut, and being grateful for any good thing that came my way, big or small. Gratitude is huge if you’re going to last as an actor. Actually, it’s huge if you’re going to last with anything.

I heard this quote years ago, “Thank everyone for everything.” It might seem so simple but it’s so true and so powerful.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m primarily an actor, writer, and comedian. But I’ve also produced and hosted radio, used to do red carpet interviews, and did some singing years ago. Depending on where someone met me, that’s what they would know me for. That can be pretty funny. I was getting ready to perform at a variety show many years ago and I ran into two comedian friends there. I was standing between them and one said, “Have you heard her sing? She’s something else.” And the other said, “You’re a singer? I thought you were a comedian?” That kind of thing has happened more times than I can count.

These days, being an actor is the primary focus. I’ve trained in dramatic and comedy acting but I have a special place in my heart for multi-cam comedy. Shows like “Will & Grace” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” have always been my favorite. The funny thing is most of what I do now is dramatic acting and the more I do, the more I love it. That’s most of what I book lately.

I’ve been very blessed to work with some of the best in the business: Jennifer Garner, Kerry Washington, David Oyelowo, Noah Wyle, Bill Hader, so many great people. I’m so proud of all the shows I’ve worked on, but without a doubt, the thing I’m most proud of is my appearance on NCIS: Origins. While working on that show, I was also working on The Pitt. The schedule got a little crazy but it was a good problem to have. After my first appearance, I could not have predicted what would happen.

The show’s creators decided to write an entire episode (“Blue Bayou”) around my character. It was the first episode in the NCIS franchise’s 21 year history that was not about a case, their first “crimeless” episode. It received a lot of praise from the media and then Lynette Rice interviewed me for Deadline. So many articles came out about it and that episode was named one of TV Insider’s 24 best TV Episodes of 2024. I even received a “Performer of the Week-Honorable Mention” from TV Line.

Just recently, I found out that I am a nominee for the 40th Annual Imagen Awards in the Best Supporting Actress – Drama category for NCIS: Origins. I was also on the ballot for Emmy nomination selections in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series. Ultimately, I was not selected as an Emmy nominee but I sure had fun with that journey. What a thrill all of this has been!

I kind of know what sets me apart but it’s hard to put into words sometimes. I’m not really a follower. I will hold onto my standards, beliefs, and integrity even if it leave me alone on an island. If it makes me unpopular, I’m good with that. The world can take away things, money, people, but nobody and nothing can take away your word and who you are. And everyone who knows me well knows my word and my integrity are not for sale.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that your journey will almost never go as planned. I think it’s meant to be that way. Looking back, I’m almost convinced of that. Because there are these wonderful surprises and gifts in what appears as a setback or obstacle. I always look for that and I always find it. Sometimes it takes awhile, but I believe there’s always some gift or lesson.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://londongarcia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officiallondongarcia
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/londongarcia
• Other: https://linktr.ee/londongarcia

Image Credits
The others in the photos are Austin Stowell and Kyle Schmid (from NCIS: Origins).