Meet Iskandria Sturdivant | Actor

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

Hi Iskandria, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I knew it was what I was meant to do. No question about it. I always loved escaping “imagining” going into other worlds being other characters, and then when I was little my dad took me to see a musical, Wicked. It was my first time being in a theater, but this one part that really made me go I want to be an artist I want to act, was when Glinda the good witch came down from her bubble. I was in winder of her bubble, her pink sparkly dress, her crown and wand. I was like “I could do this for a living?”. Im very grateful for my dad and that special memory that I will always hold in my heart, that initially sparked my passion for wanting to be an actor. Then in later years I had a hard time comprehending a lot of subjects, especially within school I didn’t feel smart and had a hard time keeping up, my brain worked differently. I was also very shy as well had a hard time making friends connecting, but with Arts such as acting, singing, creative writing, painting I excelled at and was confident in all creative subjects and got along with other creative peirs. I wasn’t not smart I just wasn’t in my field and Art was my field. Arts has a special place in everyones heart I believe, wether you are an artist or a viewer of the arts, it makes people feel all different kinds of emotions, laugh or cry, it makes us dream, imagine, interpret, create or go into other worlds, anything can come to life with art. I had the spark to purse when I was little but I became an actor for art viewers for those reasons.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
How I got to where I am today professionally is of course the support of my loved ones and my wonderful teachers and mentors but going deeper into that question is just is my love and dedication to my dreams, acting. Just that got me through so much to where I am today. Just believing in yourself as artists we tend to put ourselves down there is a difference between constructive criticism for ourself and just putting our selfs down instead of learning and growing. As performers we will make mistakes we will mess up sometimes to the point where you get that sick feeling in our stomachs, but those mistakes those obstacles are doors opening for growth to help to excel our performances, its never going to stop but that’s the beauty about this job is there is always something to learn, grow, create on! also with the topic of believing in ourselves, your gifts are there for a reason and your passion, believe and trust, listen to your gut and learn to listen to your intuition it can lead you to many doors. I for example would set a wish or a goal and look or listen to my instincts. For example I wished I would one day step foot in universal and film in the backlots, then a summer camp appeared at my high school New York Film academy, I joined and I did exactly that with their program, and from their I knew if I joined this school it would lead me to other amazing doors for my dreams. That’s how I got here today by hard work not listening to people who tell me I can’t, and listen and follow through my instincts and hard work. I still have a long ways to go but I am excited to where it will lead me especially to more goals! right now I am at the Groundlings school studying improv in the intermediate level, Worked with an amazing teacher Tim Jonhson who taught me so much about character and improv work. Also just wrote, acted and shot a comedy sketch short film, directed by Dezmo Degano, and produced by Darlene Drama. which is in the editing process. Again I love making viewers feel, imagine, dream, and interpret within my work, and right now I love making people smile and laugh through comedy, ill see where else it leads me!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If one of my best friends was visiting me for a week, to hang out I would take them on a beach day to Malibu for a fun ocean activity! There is also a lot of great hiking spots in Malibu such as the Grotto trail which has a little waterfall at the end. I would also take them to a Groundlings show! either Cooking with Gas or Sunday Company, you get a fun night of sketch comedy and improv and also meeting other fun people there as well! For food I would take them to Tamashii Ramen House, in North Hollywood, my favorite ramen place, defiantly get the piggy sweet buns they are the best. Also if you like Italian Uovo is a great dinner place, everything is imported from Italy, their food is fantastic, a great place to have pasta, wine and get dressed up with your friends.

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 want to mention and thank a lot of people, mentors, teachers, loved ones that have guided me through or supported me in my career. I first want to thank my parents and grandparents for always supporting me and my dreams. I also want to shoutout and thank my teacher and mentor Shoshana Kuttner who is executive director of young actors project, She introduced younger me into improv and really helped me grow and develop my craft as a actor, her teachings I will always carry with me. And of course all of my teachers at New York Film Academy, especially Suzanne Kent who helped me expand my improv craft, Riley Steiner who taught and guided me on Commedia dell’arte, and my acting teachers Cathy Giaonnone, Christopher Cass, Carol Stanzione, and Maria Gobetti, who have all had an big impact with my craft through their teachings and advice which I will always be grateful for and also carry with me as well.

Website: https://www.iskandrias.com

Instagram: izzydizzzz

Image Credits
Ryan Collins
Darlene Darmas