Actress Sara Quiriconi On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
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It doesn’t have to be as hard as everyone else makes it out to be — whatever art you’re pursuing, own your story and choose the narrative you run in your own mind.
As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Sara Quiriconi.
Sara Quiriconi is an actress, model, host, writer, producer and entrepreneur. As a cancer survivor, and resilient soul overcoming various health challenges early on, she’s an advocate of being a creator, not a victim, to create your own reality. Sara’s mission in life is to story-tell, impact and inspire with a legacy of empowerment that last far beyond her years.
Founder of Live Free Media, LLC. (conscious-driven creative and storytelling media with an expertise in travel, web3 and wellthy living), author of Living Cancer Free, and host of the motivational Never Settle Podcast, Sara truly is a dynamic character across many creative fields and a warrior of light.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I’ve been on the go since birth, with some of my first comments in my baby book, “Sara’s got a mind of her own, with places to go.” Still rings true to this day, moving home quite a few times in my life from North, to South, to East to now West. Still on the move quite often for travel for various work opportunities, but an airport lounge and aisle row (unless it’s an overnight, I prefer the window to sleep) are two areas of comfort for me.
From an inner child perspective, I get deeper into that in the next question on my career; however, how I grew up? Driven, making noise, determined, on the go and creative have been in my since my first breath of air in this world.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Cinderella. Scrooge McDuck. Maleficent. The Little Mermaid. School teacher. Figure skater. Richie Rich. I played them all,, since I can remember at a young age. Dress-up, make-believe, accents, story creation, set design, building and creating sets out of were in my nature since I was a young child.
I did take up some acting classes in college, but ended up deciding to be an Art Director out of college, majoring with high honors in communications and journalism. Life turn a turn for learning and teaching yoga, and later focusing on production and expertise in well-being and travel.
However, all of this led me back to one thing: story.
I realized all of the characters and skillsets I was taking on and learning were like different tools for each character I was building. Naturally performing on camera for the “role” that was presented, and knew it was time to fully step into that “skin” as an actor pursuing a career in Hollywood.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
It was one of those fireballs throw at you that you can either take you down, or you take it as fuel to your own inner fire. I was in a not-so-healthy relationship and my partner at the time said to me, “You have no message. You have nothing to say.”
I knew that that was more a projection than it was a truth,; but it still hurts to hear somebody say that to your face, especially when they’re supposed to be someone who is a support and has from the beginning said you have an important message to share with the world and have something to say. The switch was when I vocally expressed I was going to pursue acting and filmmaking, these words were thrown my way in a heated discussion. It hurt, and I remember I was taken aback by it.
However, I transformed that fire, and I realize that another person who is in pain is one who causes pain. Or, at least, tries to cause it, and I can use that fire as fuel for my own inner pursuits and goals. Internally, I know that I do have a message to share, and it comes across and various art forms. Every character, every story, and even every post that I share I strive to have an intention behind it. I’m human, and of course, that’s not always the truth, but there is an intention behind, and more often than not it’s to inspire others to live their best life. Use the fire that’s thrown at you as fuel, and you will only rise above others who are left in the ashes.
It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I personally don’t think you CAN act (well, at least) if you’re not making mistakes. It’s part of the discovery of character and trying out the personality, and be OK to make mistakes. So, in that regard, I make mistakes daily!
However, to go deeper into some of the bigger oops: I’ve gone into a virtual casting without fully knowing the lines. I had gotten the monologue the night before and I was still pretty green to the industry and game. Nowhere did it require I was off book (meaning, have your lines memorized); however, it was an inferred given that it was mandatory to. When the audition came, the director was pretty irritated that I needed to look down at the monologue to reference some of the lines and started cutting me off mid-dialogue to correct if a word was incorrect.
Was he right for doing so? Was I wrong for know memorizing? It’s not about either. It’s about the lesson, and perhaps this wasn’t something I wanted to work anyway. And, perhaps I did need to work on memorizing quicker and faster. I learned.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
In addition to castings and auditions coming up weekly, I’ve been working on quite a few of my own projects as a producer, writer and actor. I recently launched my first short film titled, “SOLA PERSONA — A Woman’s Journey Back To Freedom” and working on two other short films — “Blueberry Sour” and “The Happiest Face In The World” — that I’m writing, producing and starring in wrapping tentatively later this fall. All of which are currently, and will be, submitted to film festivals internationally.
https://filmfreeway.com/SolaPersona
The Never Settle Podcast I host has been picking up steam, with more interviews coming with fellow artists, filmmakers, Web3 integration and life lessons and mental health issues.
Speaking of Web3 and tourism, I’m currently working on a series overlapping tourism, well-being and Web3 weaved into storytelling as a co-host. So much more on this to come soon!
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
It’s never failure, only if you view it that way. You fall, learn or succeed. Nothing in between. If you’re learning, it’s a success. So, how you define failure along the career path of an actor or filmmaker is based on your own personal definition. No one else’s.
Further, it’s a privilege to be in the storytelling world of make-believe and creative arts! If it were easy to achieve, it would be legacy, it would be a passing trend. If its within you to be an artist, a creator and a performer, I personally feel I’d be constantly empty doing anything other than; and what’s the point of living a life settling for less than that passion? Thought so too. Never settle.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
When I see humans, I see energy, and how we are so much more similar than different. I think back to when I had cancer, and relate that cancer doesn’t know a race, an income, or a ZIP Code. I find this a tricky question to answer, being a white American growing up fairly well. It’s not to say I haven’t had my struggles where I felt injustice or treated different. That I can speak to. So on that note:
I’m a believer in energy, that humans, emotions, creations, acting, and (in a longer sense) filmmaking are intrinsic with energy exchanges. Having diversity and equal opportunity given to the best ENERGY for any set and role is key in every aspect of the industry, and universally.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1. It doesn’t have to be as hard as everyone else makes it out to be — whatever art you’re pursuing, own your story and choose the narrative you run in your own mind.
2. Don’t wait for the agent, the callback, or the knock — just create. Make noise. Attract the eyes and ears of agents. Don’t chase. No one in any relationship likes chasers. It feels icky.
3. Invest what earn. Even when the big paycheck comes, I’ll still be investing in long-term assets that ensure I can act, produce and story tell for the rest of my life without having to be concerned where the next paycheck will come from.
4. Skills you have in other areas of your life can overlap and add tremendous value to what you’re doing in your respective category (editing, writing and filming myself make me a much better actor and producer).
5. The most successful actors are also producers and entrepreneurs, in addition to being an actor. Think as a brand, innovate.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Have a secondary source of income, and when you earn, invest the earnings. Above all, invest in you, your health and well-being. An actor who practices meditation, yoga, or has a stress-relieving toolkit is a much better asset on a production when chaos or stress hits the set, or there’s a change in script or schedule, or your show gets cancelled after the pilot. Being able to manage your own emotions is crucial as a human, and especially as an actor (it’s in our job description).
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I look forward to the day of receiving an award in front of a large audience (throw out an early Oscar Nom to the universe, should it be fit, just sayin’!) for the main purpose of this:
To have the ability to hold the award and share “To every little girl out there who needs to hear this: you can do and achieve anything you put your mind, effort, and determined heart towards. Let the naysayers of your pursuits be the fuel for your inner fire, not to prove them wrong, but to prove to yourself you can and were right all along. You are worthy, you are enough, you are loved.”
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
To the supporters, the lovers, the heartbreaks, the haters, the teachers, the followers, the fellow dreamers, the storytellers who came before me, the innovators, and those who dared to dream a different world to create and share. I thank you. Those who added a web of stitching to my life cloth of DNA and the human I am, each interaction has bumped, bruised and impacted the human I am today. Thank you for that.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Never Settle. Success to me is waking up every day and being able to choose my life pursuits, passions and agenda. The long-term goal is legacy. Neither will happen settling for average. The best stories out there never come from an average life lived — make it epic, you’re the HERO of your own story. The writer, the actor, the director, the producer, the creator, the visionary — edit out what weighs you down, produce daily step by step closer to your HERO’S overall objective.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Deceased: Audrey Hepburn. A fellow female fighter with a warm loving, creative soul.
Alive: Banksy. A fellow rebel,, who is hidden more than in the public eye. So, if I could catch him — ha!
How can our readers follow you online?
(Mainly)
URL: livefreewarrior.com
Instagram: @livefreewarrior https://www.instagram.com/livefreewarrior/
YouTube: Live Free Warrior https://www.youtube.com/c/LiveFreeWarrior
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefreewarrior
Never Settle Podcast: https://neversettle.club/
Warrior University: http://warrioruniversity.org/
IMDb: https://www.imdb.me/SaraQuiriconi
Talent Portfolio: https://saraquiriconi.com/talent-portfolio/
Facebook: Sara Quiriconi https://www.facebook.com/livefreewarriortv
Vimeo: Live Free Warrior https://vimeo.com/livefreewarrior
LinkedIn: Sara Quiriconi https://www.linkedin.com/in/squiriconi
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
