Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Olga Merediz Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Ming Zhao

I like the inclusiveness and diversity that is already happening!! I would love to see more of that and more women’s stories being told. More women directors. LESS VIOLENCE. The world needs more balance, more compassion More YIN to the YANG.

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Olga Merediz.

Olga Merediz is an Award-winning actor and humanitarian whose career spans over four decades. Best known for her critically acclaimed work as Abuela Claudia in the Warner Bros, Jon M. Chu screen adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, a role she originated and was Tony® nominated for on Broadway in 2008, she is a force to be reckoned with on both stage and screen. Olga’s portrayal of Abuela Claudia has earned her universal critical praise being called “a showstopper,” “moving,” “a definitive standout,” “big-hearted” and “breathtaking.”

Olga is a 2007 Drama Desk Award winner for “Outstanding Ensemble Performance” for her role in the Off-Broadway run of In the Heights and a 2007 Hola Award winner for “Outstanding Performance by a Featured Female Actor.” In 2008, Olga earned a Tony Award nomination for “Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.”

In addition to Heights, other notable work includes the films Godmothered, The Place Beyond the Pines, Top Five, Fugly! The Angriest Man in Brooklyn and more. On Television, Olga can currently be seen recurring on such shows as Diary of a Future President, Law & Order: SVU and Bull. Up next, Olga will be starring in the highly anticipated Netflix series, Blockbuster. Other Television credits include the SKY1 action-comedy Bounty Hunters, the Emmy award-winning Netflix series Orange is the New Black, the Emmy Award nominated series Brooklyn Nine-Nine and many, many more.

Beginning on Broadway in the 80s with starring or supporting roles in such hits as Les Misérables, Mamma Mia, Man of La Mancha and Reckless, Olga has worked with such legendary directors as Sidney Lumet, John Sayles, James Lapine, Nicholas Hytner, Wes Craven, Alan Parker, Darren Aronofsky, Jay Sandrich and countless others.

Next up, Olga will co-star opposite Dave Franco and Alison Brie in the Amazon feature Somebody I used to Know. She lent her singing voice and can be heard on the soundtrack for the Walt Disney Studios animated feature Encanto which was released in November 2021. Born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and raised in Puerto Rico, Olga is also currently developing a pilot and a documentary based on her childhood experiences. She resides in NYC and is a passionate advocate for animals, devoting her free time to volunteering with and fostering orphaned dogs and cats.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

There were a few things that impacted my childhood most — I was/am a Cuban exile and my mother was a teacher. We were lucky enough to escape Cuba after the revolution through the island of Jamaica, then Florida and then we settled in PR where I went to an American School and was taught in only English. The school also had excellent extracurricular activities including the arts.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I went to a very artsy high school where I had two very important teachers and mentors, Lotta Reifkohl and Joanne DelVeccio. They believed in my talent and championed me and I auditioned and was cast as the lead in all the musicals. They encouraged me to explore this path. I continued in college: Tulane University in New Orleans. The show that convinced me to continue acting as a profession was Man of La Mancha at Tulane Summer Lyric.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

There are so many…one of the most memorable was my very first audition in NYC — it was an open call where the casting assistant picked me from three lines of actors. That first show that was El Bravo, directed by Pat Birch at the Entermedia Theatre in the East Village. It was Off Broadway heading for Broadway and that show opened many doors for me.

It has been said that our 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 was doing a Robert Redford film — The Milagro Beanfield Wars where I was first starting out. It was one of my first films and I was ready for my scene. Redford said, “Ok, Olga, start talking.” He wanted me to improvise but I had no idea what I was going to say, I had all my lines memorized but I was not prepared to improvise. I said, “Lupita came over with her children.” You see, it happened that in the script there was a Lupita…but Lupita was the name of the pig in the movie…so they cut my entire scene. The lesson is that you have to know the entire script inside and out and be prepared for anything.

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?

I have to say I did not have much help most of my career, aside from the support of agents and reps. It wasn’t until recently that I got help from the likes of John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, George Lopez and most of all from my friend Lin- Manuel Miranda. I have to also say if Sidney Lumet and John Cassavetes were alive today, I would be working with them. I had a great rapport with those extraordinary artists and was lucky to have worked with them both.

You have been blessed with great 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?

First, you have to know that you will fail, but you have to get up again. Also, you will be rejected more than 90 percent of the time. You have to make friends with rejection. You have to have determination, hope, ambition, organization, confidence (at least in the few minutes of the audition itself) and a good therapist.

Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?

I like the inclusiveness and diversity that is already happening!! I would love to see more of that and more women’s stories being told. More women directors. LESS VIOLENCE. The world needs more balance, more compassion More YIN to the YANG.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

A new hilarious comedy on Netflix called Blockbuster and a new movie on Amazon called, Someone I Used to Know directed by Dave Franco. I shot, directed and starred in a documentary that is in the film festival circuit and has won 2 awards already. My documentary is called: MY TWO MOMS-A STORY OF SEPARATION. You can follow us on FB. I would love to create more stories, especially female driven stories.

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

It is important for all people to see themselves represented in TV and film in POSITIVE roles. It helps to eradicate the biases and stereotypes that we carry and creates confidence and productivity to build our future citizens and a better society. For example, Latinos have a huge buying power. It’s expected to exceed $2.5 trillion in the next two years. We are the biggest film consumers but are underrepresented on screen.

Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

Yoga. Acupuncture. Psychotherapy. Good nutrition, including supplements. Journaling.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

When you fall, take a little time to mourn and see what you LEARNED about this experience, but dust yourself off and get back up.

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?

Elect powerful, educated, compassionate leaders that believe in education, feeding children and families, supporting women’s issues and our environment and planet. Vote. Participate in your community. Participate and volunteer in causes that matter to you.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I don’t even have time to have lunch with my friends, but if I had to pick someone it would be Oprah.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Yes! IG @officialolgamerediz and twitter @theolgamerediz FB: Olga Merediz (artist page) and my documentary: MY TWO MOMS — A Story of Separation.

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!