Meet Tess Gudmundsson | Actor, and Producer.

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

Hi Tess, why did you pursue a creative career?
As soon as I dipped my toes into acting, I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative career. I was always drawn to acting and to the stage, but by the age of eleven, the true reason underlying my passion for acting was made clear to me. As a young child, I felt free to express my individuality in everyday life, and I loved the stage as I was able to express not only my individuality, but those of the characters I embodied. Looking back, I see that what truly fascinates me to this day is the heterogeneity of the human species, and how unique each human is. I therefore came to appreciate the stage as the medium where individuality is embraced.

This passion for acting has persisted throughout my life, and I truly feel like pursuing another career was simply not an option for me. On the stage, one goes back to a place of innocence, an innocence you only experience as a child, where you don’t know what is coming, or where exactly you are going, you simply play with the given circumstances. Acting allows me to engage in creative play with my own identity, offering me the insight that the self is inherently mutable, and multi-faceted, with value to be found in each of those facets.

One part of acting that I adore is that through the craft, the inanimate characters of stories made up of words are given life in the material world. My love of characters might even be seen to supersede my love of acting itself. Being able to connect, and empathise with a character, and live their life is an exceptionally enchanting process. Taking on the responsibility to extend the truth and the burdens of these people, I consider the greatest honour. Though being an actor is being able to provide and extend a convincing performance to one’s audience, I believe it also entails deeply loving and empathising with your character and living the character incarnate. A love of acting, to me, is synonymous to a love for living: in the same way as non-actors value life for its world experiences, acting also allows one to experience the world, in a way that they would never be able to do without the craft.

Please tell us more about your career. 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?
I think what sets me apart is my multicultural background. My father is from Iceland, and my mother is French, and growing up I moved around constantly due to my father’s career. I have lived in Paris, Washington DC, Reykjavik, Hong Kong, Nairobi, Dhaka, Manilla, Jerusalem, London, and Los Angeles. Moving around so much as a child, I had to adapt to different people and cultures very quickly in order to find stability in everchanging environments. This multi-culturalism has given me the ability to step into the shoes of another person, and the ability to extend myself to and understand the perspective of people from all walks of life. This is undoubtably useful for acting, not only in terms of performance, but also professionally, as I learn quickly and I am easy to work with.

I’m most excited about bringing a director’s universe to life, and breathing air into the characters in a script. What’s so wonderful about film, TV, and theatre, is that you get to see who people are unmasked. Either through the characters, or by seeing what world-view the director has, by helping the director bring into existence their vision of a story.

The greatest challenge for me to get to this point was rethinking my preconceived notions of what my life was supposed to look like. I was worried about dedicating my life to a creative pursuit because as creatives we’re constantly told that our career path is risky. However, I realised that not pursuing acting was the riskiest thing for me to do, as I knew that I would always regret not going for what I was passionate about, and not acting would make my life lacklustre. The lesson I learnt was to listen to my intuition, and to never give up when something feels right.

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.
If my friend were to visit Los Angeles for the weekend, I would first bring them to visit Laurel Canyon. We would have a coffee and a croissant at Laurel Canyon Cafe, go for a hike, and then go for a delicious lunch at Pace (in my opinion, this is the best pizza in LA). Laurel Canyon Cafe and Pace both capture the nostalgia of Laurel Canyon’s creative past. I find solace in the songs of Joni Mitchell, Jim Morisson, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, and more, and I love frequenting both spots and breathing in the lingering energy of its past. After that, we’d go for dinner at the Chateau Marmont, another mythological LA spot. To end the night, we would see the night sky at an overlook on Mulholland drive.

The next day, we’d spend the morning reading and swimming in the pool, we might visit some flea markets too, and then frequent the Red Lion Tavern, because after all I am just a girl from London who loves a pub. After that, we would go catch a movie at the Los Feliz theatre, have dinner at All-Time for some delicious farm to table food, and go out dancing!

For the last day, I would bring my friend to Malibu for some much needed beach time, and to my favourite hiking spot in Topanga. It so high that sometimes you can see the clouds gliding through the mountains, which I love. We would make sure to catch the sun set over the sea in the evening with a little picnic.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to Matteo Jenkinson, my business partner and one of my best friends. He’s been my number one ally by my side throughout this whole journey. He is also an exceptionally talented writer and director, and I can’t wait to see his future blossom.

Instagram: tess.gudmundsson

Image Credits
Headshots: Rober Fairer-Smith.
Photographs: Doma Dovgialo. Styled by Angie Power London.