Meet Jenna Nimri | Actress, Poet, Writer, & Visual Artist

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

Hi Jenna, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
When life is an enigma your only options to try and make sense of it are either through art or science. I pursued a scientific research career at first so I love science, it will always be a part of me; however, art came more naturally to me since I grew up with a well known sculptor as a father. I needed an answer to the meaning of life, existence, and suffering. Acting, writing, and eventually directing is a way I could study life like a test subject in a controlled laboratory. A way to test how different outcomes come from different choices. There is so much I want to experience in life, but there is not enough time to do and be everything I want to be in one lifetime, so through becoming different characters I get to live a million lives in one. The human condition is also fascinating to me, I love trying to understand someone’s mind and find out how they became who they are. I love playing enigmatic broken characters with a fiery unstoppable conviction. I will always be an artist in any and every way that I can weather its through acting, poetry, singing, belly dancing or painting.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Art is meant to make the audience think. That is the type of art I create, no matter the medium I do it in. I like to create art that wakes the average everyday person from their mundane routine to question life, to think, and talk about uncomfortable topics like death or other taboo subjects… I want to lift the veil and uncover truths that we are too afraid to recognize and pay attention to. As a Middle Eastern actress from Jordan, it is hard to find my place of where I belong in Hollywood, which is a part of my struggle, but I am thankful to be who I am. Where I come from, my beliefs, ideas, language, unique experiences, and culture are also what set me apart from others. I can bring something different, new, and exciting that hasn’t been seen before. Getting to where I am now has not been easy, a lot of it came down to giving my self-permission to do what I want to do and not please the people around me who had different expectations for who I should be. One must quiet all that outside noise and listen to the deepest parts of their soul to find the truth of who they are. I know that any challenge I face is not unique to me alone, there is always someone before me who had the same struggles and still succeeded. My best advice is to never give up and never let go of your dreams no matter how many people tell you to. I am very proud of myself for not conforming to normality, for how far I have come, and for not letting go of my vision. One of my favorite quotes is by Isabella Rossellini, she says, “true elegance for me is the manifestation of an independent mind” and I think that’s true. In this modern world women have been taught that in order to survive they must be like men, and I want to balance that line of thinking by bringing a fragile femininity to my characters that can also be dangerously passionate.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I personally like to go to places that feel like Europe. A lot of places are about function just a square building with white walls, but in order to feel magic you have to be somewhere with character and history, so I might take them to The Huntington Library in Pasadena, then grab dinner at the Chateau Marmont because it’s iconic, and end the night by grabbing a drink at a nearby bar.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a lot of people that have contributed to my story and have been a light for me at different times. My mother though has always been a spring of love and encouragement. She believed in me in even in the moments where I couldn’t believe in myself. My two older brothers David and Yazan for influencing me, shaping who I am, and being a source of wisdom.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/jennanimri?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5796490/

Image Credits
Melody Parra Dori Negron Alexis Garcia Irons