Meet Ximena Uribe | Actor and Director

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

Hi Ximena, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk is everything in this line of work. You have to be willing to risk a lot to be able to learn and advance as an artist. Risk also comes with a lot of failure and growing pains which can be very scary but its also what’s so valuable about it. I grew up in Guatemala my whole life and I took the risk to come to New York on my own when I was nine teen, if it hadn’t been for taking that risk I wouldn’t be here today doing what I’m doing. Risks are small wins disguised in fear.

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.
Learning my ways through my own creativity hasn’t been all that smooth though it rarely is. It has come with a lot lessons disguised in growing pains. Every hardship I have had in this field usually comes from me trying to take a risk and try something new at a bigger scale and every time there’s always something that makes it painful. In the moment it doesn’t feel as rewarding but without fail, after some time, it becomes a huge lesson that I apply to the next thing.

I never know how to describe what I do but I have always heard others describe it as unapologetic, crude at times and funny, which is always an interesting combination of adjectives. People and dynamics between them interest me greatly. I’m heavily inspired by conversations I wish I could have or I’ve heard before, dynamics in my own life that are difficult and stories friends and family tell me. This influences both my writing and acting.

As an actor I take the moments I act to exercise empathy and my imagination. I love to play characters that have a flawed logic, it pushes the boundaries of my empathy and let’s me run free in a twisted mindset.

Drawings, cartoons, paintings, photography and comic books are other visual mediums that influence me. Daniel Clowes (Graphic Novelist) and Nadia Lee Cohen (Photographer) are two big inspirations for me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s so many places but this is what my ideal ‘going around the city’ day would look like. I would definitely start by taking them to the Old John’s Diner in the Upper West Side followed by a movie at my favorite AMC in the city at Lincoln Square. Then I would take them to Lincoln Center and just people watch for minute and after that straight into the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts that has an insane collection for whichever performing art interests you most. I would have to top it all off by going to Café Nuñez to listen to some music and dance.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh so many people, none of what I have and am doing would ever be possible without the people that believe in my vision and inspire what I make. People that have become near and dear to my heart like Chandia (Actor) and Jeremy Thompson (Actor) have inspired the way I write and direct, Mia Ventura Lucas (Actor, singer-songwriter) who has put a fire under my ass to show up and be pro-active about my career as an international artist in NYC and Sofia Campanella (Director/Writer and Producer) who showed me efficiency, how to push through hard working environments and professionalism. Not to forget about Bella Pearson (Actor), Jazzlyn Newton (Actor), Kat Uribe (Actor), Max Olivieri (Actor), Romaysa Malik (Actor) and many more who have watched my rough cuts, read my bad drafts and inspired very directly the things I do.

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUMTPHseUYsqgC_FXPbvHMw