Meet Prince Gomolvilas | Thai-American Writer, Speaker, and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Prince Gomolvilas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Prince, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
When I was a kid, I played with stuffed animals obsessively. I would make them perform shows for an audience of one—myself!—so they were basically a de facto theatre troupe that would rotate through different plays, All this is to say, the drive to be a storyteller—more specifically an artist in the form of drama and performance—has always been a part of me. This was of course in defiance of my parents (immigrants from Thailand) who wanted to me to be—you guessed it!—a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. But I had no interest (or talent) in any of those expected things, and I’m not sure, even as an adult today, that I actually know what an “engineer” is.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For the longest time I’ve billed myself as “the world’s *only* Thai-American playwright,” and that designation has opened a lot of doors because it’s so unusual. I began my career pretty much writing from immediately personal experience, because everyone’s taught to “write what you know” and when I was younger all I really knew was myself. My first play was about a Thai-American family. My work after that dealt with Asian-American identity, the gay community, and race relations in the United States. As my career has progressed, my concerns have become more global. I think you can only “write what you know” for so long before it veers into narcissism.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite Thai restaurant is Pa Ord Noodle 3, located in America’s only officially recognized Thai Town neighborhood, at 5269 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027. I’m a creature of habit, so I tend to order the same dishes over and over again there: Yen Ta Fo (noodle soup), Yam Pla Duk Fu (crispy catfish salad), Gang Kiew Wan (green curry).

And an added bonus with that restaurant is that it’s right next to Bhan Kanom Thai, which is a store full of fresh and packaged authentic Thai desserts. I have absolutely no self-control when I’m in there, but when I’m out of there I cannot stamp out the gluttonous shame.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to East West Players, the longest-running theater of color in the United States and the largest producer of Asian-American drama, based in Los Angeles. My first professionally produced play (“Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love”) was at EWP, and since then the organization has been my artistic home. I’ve had three productions there, a theatre for youth play, and developmental readings, and this fall they’ll be producing the California premiere of “The Brothers Paranormal,” my Thai comedy/horror/drama play. I’ve also taught many writing classes there and participated in committees and much more.

Website: https://www.princegomolvilas.com/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Tao3p7IOt6U

Image Credits
Prince Gomolvilas Photo Credit – Cheshire Isaacs 1 – John Quincy Lee 2 – Allen Weeks 3 – Ben Rose 4 – Owen Carey 5 – Roger Tang 6 – Ben Hohenstatt