We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Gómez Grande and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I chose an artistic career because it’s what makes me the happiest and I really enjoy doing it! I’ve always grown up having a curiosity and interest within the arts, and once I pursued it and tried it out, I felt like it was something I was meant to do and I would love to keep doing it for as long as I can!

 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d love to share my current projects and my story on how I started my journey! The way I got to where I am today is that when I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed watching movies and TV shows all the time. One day while watching Disney Channel, I realized that I can be on TV like those kids I watch on my favorite shows! My middle school did not have any theater classes or programs, so I actually waited until my freshman year of high school’! Thankfully, the high school did have theater classes just as I hoped, and I was eager to apply. I started auditioning to shows and even got my first ever role! I completely took advantage of those four years and joined almost every play and musical I could get my hands on! This really helped me gain credit and experience for my resume! Many of the friends I knew were actually in theater with me too! We all developed a huge family over those years and had so much fun together. I also joined choir on my senior year. Theater created the best high school years of my life and I’m very grateful for everyone I got to know very well! I ended up graduating with a VAPA award in 2019. Although acting and performance was my passion, my family saw it more as a funny hobby and encouraged me to follow a more realistic career. I secretly wanted to do more acting, but I did end up choosing a major in liberal arts. However, that didn’t last very long because I immediately changed my major last minute to theater once I found out that I couldn’t have time to take any theater class within that major, which is actually a really dumb and funny justification why I decided to dip out haha. Although this choice was very impulsive, I knew It felt right and I encourage many people to choose a major they actually love to do instead of being pressured into choosing a major because other people tell you to. Now I am currently a BFA theater major in CSULB. College has really taught me so much more about the acting method than I’ve ever known during my high school years of theater! I also unexpectedly started modeling last year! Modeling has helped me develop more confidence within myself. Another thing I’ve also dabbled in is voice acting! I’ve always been a Cartoon/animation lover, so it was something I’ve thought of doing! So far it’s super fun and I’m enjoying it! I love how different it is from regular acting because you have to put all that energy in your voice and learning to say a piece of dialogue in different ways! But I have to admit that this road hasn’t been easy. It takes a lot of constant rejection in this type of field and hard work to keep on going! You have to learn to pick yourself back up and tell yourself that you are amazing! Sometimes I have those days where I beat myself down and tell myself that I’m untalented and useless, we have to realize that we’re not perfect and we all make mistakes, but it’s good to make those mistakes so you can learn and get better!

 

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For a dream vaycay, I would literally take my bestie to Disneyland and the beach! Those are my two favorite places to go to ever! Any beach can do, but Santa Monica is where it’s at! I visited that place once and fell in love with the pier, the sand crabs, the sea shells, and the shops! And Disneyland is a very obvious choice because I’m a weird Disney adult nerd! If I were to plan a week I would go to the beach first, get some burgers from Johnny Rockets (they have really good burgers) and then find a spot at the beach. We have a cute picnic (cake, cheeseboard, chips, etc) and jump in the water until we get tired! Then in the next day we go to Disneyland/California Adventures! My tip is to always get fast passes for Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, and the Cars Ride. Those rides typically have very very long lines and you’ll save so much time if you get fast passes! Go to as many rides until your feet hurt! Then have a lunch/dinner break at the restaurants! The ones I typically love to go to in the park are Pizza Port and Red Rose Tavern. Then at the end of the day, we go around all the shops and buy snacks/souvenirs!

 

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 would love to give a shout-out to all the theater instructors that I had the pleasure of being taught under from high school to college! Rogelio Resendiz, Elizabeth Aldave, Liz Cuneo, Sarah Underwood Saviano, Anna Steers, etc! They were all very inspiring mentors that believed in me and made me who I am today as an actor!

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jellaquaida/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/jennifer-gomez-931a571a0

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jellaquada

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=wizard

Image Credits
Main photo: Maria Navarrete 1st/3rd: Alvaro Ortiz 2nd: Michelle Bunke 4th: Sandy Porter

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