Meet Barbara Horvat | Actress, content creator, filmmaker

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

Hi Barbara, why did you pursue a creative career?
My imagination has been running wild since I was a child. It has been my escape, my light in the darkness, my reason to get up in the morning. As someone who was bullied in school – coming home to watch movies and TV shows was everything to me. I could pretend I was a character in a movie and all the bad things that were happening were happening to someone else. Later on as a teenager I discovered the power of making people laugh. I consumed tons of skits on 2007 version of Youtube and watched hundreds of episodes of sitcoms. I fell in love with dark & dry humor and realized how powerful it is to break the ice. Suddenly I knew how to make friends, how to hold the attention of the room, how to break tensions, how to make someone’s day. It feels like a gift and it’s the type of gift I must share with the world because I’ve seen how impactful it can be – after all – it saved my life when I was very very young. I vowed to do my best to give back to the art that gave me so much when I was growing up and I hope I get to tell impactful stories for as long as I am alive. I see myself doing nothing else 🙂

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.
I was 7 years old when I was on stage for the first time. This was something I didn’t want to do. I was signed up for extra curricular activities by grownups because I didn’t socialize very often. I reluctantly went to theater classes. But the day of the performance something changed in me. I felt my soul come to life. I will never ever forget that moment. I played a girl that was lost in the woods. I was able to make some of the audience members tear up. I was able to feel the angst and fear of a lost child and I think that’s what made all the difference. It was in that moment I knew that this will become an “obsession” of mine.

And it did.

Despite being shy and introverted child with a low self esteem – I thrived on a stage. I signed up for every single theater class for the next 8 years, in various languages – Slovenian, French, English,… I wanted to do this as much as possible. When I was rehearsing a play with others, I felt like was on cloud 9. I get to tell stories with my voice, emotions and body! How cool is that?

Eventually one summer I got bored (there were no theater classes during summer). I started writing my own skits when I was 14. That was before social media and 1 year before Youtube became a thing. And I started posting them 1 year later. For fun. And out of boredom. Thus begun my 16 year long love affair with Youtube. A platform I still post on today. Some of my videos went viral in my country – I was one of the first Youtubers in Slovenia. Thanks to those videos my life was never the same again.

I gained enough support to help me raise funds for my dream acting school in Los Angeles, CA which I graduated from in 2017. I owe so much of my progress to that platform and the audience on it.

In 2019 I got my first work visa to continue chasing my dreams in the US but shortly after 2020 came and my dreams were put on hold for about 3 years. However, with the little fire in me that refuses to die – I managed to gather enough motivation to pursue my 2nd work visa, which was granted in February 2023. I moved back to continue where I started and ever since it feels like I am living my dream.

I think it is my drive and determination that keep people follow my journey and the fact that no matter the peer/society pressure I follow my heart and do what I believe I was put on this planet to do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my friend visits the city I am definitely taking them bowling in Glendale, check out the view from Griffith observatory during full moon, take them for a picnic to Griffith park, ride a swan boat on Echo Park lake, go on a hike in Topanga canyon and if there’s enough time – camp on a beach in Malibu. We would get strawberries at Farmer’s market in Silver lake and a freshly baked bread from a nearby bakery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to Fearless soul on Spotify for helping me transform my habits/mindset. Shoutout to every person who dares to follow their dreams and holds on to what makes them feel alive.

Website: www.barbarahorvat.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebarbarahorvat/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thebarbarahorvat

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9195085