Rising Stars: Meet Ranier Acosta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ranier Acosta.

Hi Ranier, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Ranier Alfonso Acosta Pichardo and I was born in the Dominican Republic. Ever since I can remember my mom used to bring me to the theater with her to watch movies, most specifically superhero movies like Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) and X-Men. Ever since then, I kept going to the theater with my mom, brother or friends. When I was 16 in high school, I saw the theater elective and I just thought “What if I try doing what I like watching”. So I took the elective and I found it extremely fun and after a year I chose to make it my profession. I applied to AMDA in NY and then came to LA to get my BFA. Now here I am doing multiple projects and grateful to be constantly working.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
For my whole life, I’ve been a very lucky person and a lot of people have realized it and told me the same. My journey up to this point has been smooth. I have had some things that don’t work out but in the longer term, I realize that it was probably for the best, because I end up getting something better. I am living proof of the saying “Everything happens for a reason” and not only in my career but also in my personal life it tends to always be true. I am a very optimistic person and things always end up working my way and I’ve always been grateful for that since a lot of people cannot say the same. All I can do is hope that it stays that way for the remainder of my life. Only struggle I’ve complained about has been getting overbooked with multiple gigs, which is a good problem!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an actor that recently graduated. I’ve done plenty of short films in a matter of months, like “Lads”, “Lost Time”, “Anchor”, and most recently “Ampersand”. Currently, I am in a Shakespeare production of Twelfth Night in which I’m playing the role of Antonio and we are going to be touring around Orange County and Los Angeles for the whole summer. There isn’t one thing I’m proud of because I’m proud of everything that I’ve done so far. I’ve worked so hard and all the things that I’ve booked has been through me. I haven’t gotten any help, therefore I’m most proud of my career, hard work and determination. I don’t like comparing myself to others because I’m not better than anyone, but I’ve been told that what sets me apart from others is just my look and “talent”.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Grind. That’s how I’ve gotten to this point. I started acting late, I wasn’t gifted with talent for this. That’s why I said “my talent”. I started acting very late, and however good I am or people think I am, has been through the constant hours of training and hard work that I’ve put in ever since I started. I was brought up by my parents to be humble, respectful and nice to others and to work hard. Every single morning I submit for projects and go through emails doesn’t matter how busy I am or if I already booked something. I may be acting in a project right now, but I’m already looking for the next one. I am never satisfied. I am content but not satisfied. When I lived in NY, every single morning of the week, I would wake up at 6am and subway to all the theater auditions I could do in that day. Lot of times I went and didn’t get the part, and other times I wasn’t even able to audition because all the Equity actors were still auditioning and it was too late to take nonequity. I knew everything I needed to know when starting out, I was prepared and educated about this career. And I come from another country and there is no way that I’m going to throw that away. This sacrifice needs to pay off because that’s why I’m here.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/ranieracosta 

Image Credits
Photographers: Matt Marcheski, AMDA, and Nadan Lawande. People in pictures: Ken Dixon, Jack Hagan, Rakhir Bharat, Kaitlyn Harris, and Michael Jamison.