- by Kika Espejo
COMPASSION AS A STATE OF BEING
"Art has always been a way of expressing feelings that I did not know how to cure. It still is and I think it's a healthy way to discover life.” Says Paz Garcia, a Spanish actress now based in Brooklyn, who decided to leave her beloved Mallorca for the big apple.
While taking small sips of her chai tea, she tells us that art came to her life first as music and then blossomed into acting. "I started to write my own songs in the garden of the house where I grew up. I also used to sing in the choir of the church in my city. Later I studied illustration and graphic design because I did not feel comfortable just singing or acting at that moment in my life. It was some time later, when I started getting jobs in television commercials, that I saw how the media could be powerful and I felt I had something to discover in that field."
Paz decided to take action and dedicate herself to what she says is her true passion. "Acting offers the possibility of learning about your own path by living the lives of other characters. It makes you connect with humanity and is one of the most precious gifts.” It is this connection with others that leads her to focus her work from a humanist perspective. "My curiosity to understand humanity brings me closer to people and that is how I experience compassion as a state of being. I believe in an egalitarian world and in art as a vehicle for us to get to that world."
Paz’s process of acting forgoes far beyond simply memorizing a few lines of text and standing in front of a camera. The first thing she does when receiving a script is read it carefully, analyze the context and meaning as well as the appropriate pronunciation and intonation of each work. Thus, she begins to build her role within the story. "During this process I meet with my scene partners and I start to work on the development of the character through different types of exercises. I am an actress of the Meisner method, which implies that I work with the group in improvisations of relationships, repetitions, contact dance, etc. “
Paz is currently working on a Neil Labute work entitled 'The Furies', directed by Malcolm March and adapted to Spanish. She is also rehearsing as the protagonist of a horror movie, which began filming on Christmas, called "Displaced" directed by Josh Atkinson.
Although the United States is one of the ideal places to develop as an actor, the road to being an actor is not necessarily easy or simple. "In a city like New York, it's a great challenge for any artist to live solely on acting, so you must work in other fields to develop what you're passionate about,” says Garcia about her journey and challenges of becoming an artist, “Dedicating yourself to this (craft of acting) requires emotional balance so that you don’t carry too much weight on your shoulders."
For all those who want to dedicate themselves to this exciting artistic path, Paz recommends going for it, without fear or anguish. "Life is too important to take seriously!”, she assures, sure that perseverance and never losing joy is key to achieving important things.
PAZ GARCÍA
SPAIN
