Meet Maria Smal | Actor & Writer

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

Hi Maria, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m a 1st Generation kid who grew up in Nebraska – and I’m sure that this fact alone answers equally as many questions about me as it raises. There is a sort of universality to the whole “child-of-immigrants experience” that we all share: the bad habit of repressing your culture to “fit in” among your peers, the hyper-independence you develop as you step into the unspoken role of Advisor/Translator/Cultural Liaison for your parents, and the nearly suffocating pressure of achieving success and repaying your parents for all the sacrifices they made for you. Because when it’s all said and done, Their American Dream is Your American Dream. But that shouldn’t be too hard! After all, success is extremely black-and-white, and it can be measured by a totally standard metric and a completely universal definition. (And if that last sentence were true, life would be a lot easier. But it’s not true – success is impossible to confidently define & impossible to accurately measure.)

My mom was selected for the Diversity Visa Program to immigrate to America from Belarus. While pregnant with her first child, married to her first husband, at the age of 25 (the same age I am now) she won a green card lottery. I’m an American all because my mom won a lottery…. and thusly, my imposter syndrome began in the womb. I’m half Belarusian but I don’t look quite white, I’m half Punjabi but I don’t look quite brown. My estranged biological father is Pakistani, but my stepdad who I grew up with is Indian (and if you know anything about South Asian geopolitics… you know how confusing & messy that is). Even my name “Maria”, paired with my olive-colored skin, has been something I’ve constantly had to answer for. “Nope, I’m not Hispanic! Not even at all, actually, Maria is a really common name in other places, too!” I’ve repeated, eye-twitchingly, a million times and counting. All’s to say; the most basic parts of my identity, ones that most people take for granted, have felt complicated & clunky my entire life. So, despite my deep love & appreciation for the Slavic & Desi cultures that raised me, I realized I had to find something Else. Those parts of me still exist, but what makes me Me simply had to be more accessible. It had to be easier to explain, to myself & others. So, from a very young age I landed on Smart, Funny, & Creative. Yes, those are the three words that are gonna define me forever! And the metrics are way more straightforward. Smart; I graduated high school as our valedictorian and attended state college on a full-ride academic scholarship. Funny; I make people laugh. Creative; I’m an artist. Easy peasy.

What I didn’t realize when I made my unspoken vow to commit to a life of being Smart, Funny, & Creative, was that being Creative meant that my measure of success was a bit… different. To tell your immigrants parents that you’ve committed yourself to a life of poverty in the pursuit of being an artist who will “EVENTUALLY have lots of money, I swear!”….. is perhaps the biggest affront that a 1st Gen child can make. (And let it also be known that I am the oldest child of ALL of my cousins/siblings on all 3 sides of my family – I was either gonna be my entire bloodline’s first success story or the first tragic disappointment.)

I currently fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. There’s always still time for me to fall flat on my face (which I like to remind myself to keep me active & humble) but I know that I’m well on my way to the life/career I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid. And with every little short film or play or commercial or co-star role that I get to show my parents, I get to say “Look! I’m succeeding! I’m still poor and I can’t afford to fly out for the holidays again this year (sorry!) but I’m succeeding by other metrics! Just like you always dreamt of!” And they’re proud of me. And they even sometimes admit it OUT LOUD. And in those moments, all of the hardship and confusion and identity issues and imposter syndrome melt away, and I become a manifestation of all of the strength & bravery it took for my parents to get here in the first place. I’ve been emotionally & financially independent since I was 17 and I’ve figured it all out on my own – I really am my parents’ daughter. Their complicated, hyper-independent, ethnically ambiguous, Eastern European-ish, South Asian-ish, Smart Funny Creative daughter.

I truly cannot wait for the day that I can call myself a full-time actor, when I can financially support both myself & my parents, and I can finally take a breath for the first time in my entire life. But until then, the chase continues. People like to say that breaking into Hollywood is like a lottery system, as a way to discourage people. But I’m not really worried. Winning lotteries runs in my family.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Studying abroad at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London for a summer semester in college was hands-down the most pivotal part of my educational career as an actor. To study theatre, see theatre, and do theatre at the birthplace of modern storytelling is something I’ll carry with me forever. A keystone of my personal acting philosophy is; To be a good dramatic actor, you have to be a master at finding moments of humor/relatability, and to be a good comedic actor, you have to be an expert at finding the hard truths that ground the story in reality. William Shakespeare’s texts are an infinite playground to explore the extremes of both of these acting types, and I feel so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to play on the very stage where it all began. (Sort of – the original building burnt down, but you get what I mean.)

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start our day on a hike at Brand Park in Glendale. I do this hike 4 mornings a week, and it’s the most peaceful way to kickstart my morning (and my metabolism, for the day of eating ahead). If traffic didn’t exist our day of Mostly Eating would go as follows:

-Breakfast at Courage Bagels, with plenty of yapping time in the line that stretches around the corner every day.
-Head to Huntington Gardens to walk around, yap some more, and be around more greenery.
-If it’s a cloudy day, we get phở for lunch. If it’s a sunny day, we get sushi for lunch.
-Hit up some thrift stores & really lock in – no talking, except to ask each other’s opinions on clothes. A successful thrift requires complete concentration.
-Dinner at Korean BBQ or Pijja Palace or Quarter Sheets. Absolutely cannot go wrong.
-Finish off the evening at home with a pot of tea & a group of friends yapping on the couch.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My friends are my world. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without them. In this life, I have no idea what I’m doing, but friendship is truly my North Star, and it’s guided me for years. You know who you are – thank you, I love you guys.

Website: https://mariasmal.com

Instagram: @maria_smal

Image Credits
All professional photos have been taken by Cassius Pettit! My in-house photographer & life partner <3