Meet Jutta Charbonnier | Actress & Model

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

Hi Jutta, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
To be fair, if I didn’t decide to take a big risk I wouldn’t be here! I think it is very important to take risks for your career and your life. Otherwise you don’t go far in anything. And honestly it gets boring! It could either go good or bad but if it goes bad then you just learn from it! For me, to grow in your career or life you have to experience various things and experience often comes with risks! When I was 18 I decided to leave France to come to LA in order to pursue my acting career. Sometimes I’m a bit scared because I see all my friends who want to become lawyers, doctors or accountants knowing that they will have a stable and successful futur/career. However for me, it’s quite uncertain and I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders. Between paying back my loans, building a strong career in a very competitive industry, being far away from my family, etc… So when we have conversation about our futur, mine is always very blurry. But I’m actually very proud of it! I don’t have any regrets in coming here even if it’s a big risk to take financially and career wise, because I’m opening myself to a lot of opportunities and if I decided to choose a regular path for my career I know that I would have end up at 60 being like, what if I tried? What if it worked? What if I had the courage to take the risk? And I don’t want to have that feeling of regret and missing an opportunity. Life itself is a risk, you just have to embrace the good ones and learn from the bad ones!

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’ve not always wanted to become an actress! I went from wanting to become a Formula 1 driver to astronaut to police officer to lawyer to chef to vet to professional equestrian to accountant and finally to acting! I’ve always been very curious and interested in anything I didn’t know. But acting was the only field I could feel I will never get bored of. When I was wondering what I wanted to become for my futur, what career I would like to have, I wasn’t sure if I could be a lawyer for 30 years or an accountant for 40. But with acting I just knew I would never stop until I die! I just never get bored of it. And I can see myself at 99 still acting with as much passion as now! I truly think that it is one of the best job in the world. Cinema also helped me a lot. When I was going through different period of my life, watching a movie or a show I liked helped me so much. I could identify myself to the characters and feel confident again. I could also feel that I was not the only one struggling. It gave me hope, it was like my therapy and I want to help and inspire people with my movies like they helped me in the past. However becoming an actress is not easy at all! My parents are teachers and not in the industry at all so I had to make my connections alone and build my career and plan by myself! I knew I wanted to come to the US so I audition for an acting school in LA when I was in France and got in! I decided to take the risk to leave everything behind me to pursue my dream and even if sometimes it scares me to see that I have a very unsure futur for now I would not change a thing about it! I know how strong my determination is and that I will do everything I can to achieve my goal!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love LA so much, I would probably take my best friend everywhere haha! But I think I would probably take her first to a nice coffee shop in Hollywood called Javista. It’s a really nice and chill place where we always go to get some work done with my roommate. It’s very close to Hollywood boulevard so after chatting for a bit in the coffee shop it’d be nice to show her around the walk of fame!

I have so many good restaurants to recommend but I have one in mind that I tried recently called CrossRoads Kitchen. It’s vegan and so good! I have been a vegetarian for 10 years now and love to show to my friends that you can eat very well as a vegan/vegetarian. But I also love La Boheme or Lavo restaurant they’re both really good.

For drinks later in the night I’ll probably take my friend to Good Times at Davey Wayne’s. Good 70’s and 80’s music as I love since I’m a huge Rock N Roll fan! There’s also a Country/Rock n Roll rooftop called Desert 5 spot that’s really fun.

I love hiking, so for a day in the nature I would definitely take her to Runyon Canyon or Griffith Observatory to enjoy the view of the whole city far away from cars and trafic! Also I’ve been once to Sunset Ranch which is amazing because you can ride horses and watch the sunset right next to the Hollywood sign!

For her to see some emblematic places in LA, of course we’ll have to go to Santa Monica Pier and Venice for a beach or surf day and maybe end up at the Bungalow which is a very cool bar near the ocean.

For the last night I would definitely have a chill movie night at home after ordering a take away from Bossa Nova, a Brazilian restaurant that is just amazing!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my parents, especially my mom for always believing in me and supporting me in my career. She has been here since the beginning and I feel so lucky and grateful to have my parents. They never had any doubts about my choices and always loved the fact that I chose an artistic career. My mom always sends my biographies of actors she likes and tells me “Look! He started the same age as you! She moved to LA like you! I’m sure you will make it! I’m behind you whatever you decide to do”. Both of them reassured me every single time I was scared about my future and told me that they will support me no matter what.

I’m very thankful for my friends as well. My roommate is also an actress and we constantly help each other in our careers and for everything in life! I don’t know what I would do without her! My friends back in France give me so much hope too, they always say that they know I can do it and that they believe in me which is so great to know because even though sometimes people are a bit skeptical when I told them I was leaving everything to go to LA and follow my dreams. They kept saying that they were really proud of me and they made me feel like I was not alone in my journey!

My teachers are also a big support. They taught me so much and I wouldn’t have the confidence I have today without them! They have been so helpful by giving me the tools to become a actress, giving me opportunities to play a large variety of characters and taking the time to make sure that I improve my skills every day!

Finally, I want to thank my two beautiful horses. They are my inspiration and even if it might seem silly to say; I want to make them proud! They mean so much to me and whenever I felt bad in my life, they always were the best support.

The people around me, my friends, and my family gave me the strength to keep going and to believe in me!

Instagram: @juttacharbonnier

Other: Email: jutta.charbonnier9887@gmail.com

Image Credits
Joshua Shoffstall IG: @fjarhusphoto