Rising Star Alessandro Miro On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Eden Gold

Don’t be afraid to show the world who you truly are because what makes you unique is your greatest asset.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Alessandro Miro.

Alessandro “Al” Miro is a New York trained actor. He is the youngest of four children and became trilingual early on. As a kid he was always day dreaming about a future as an actor and after high school he began auditioning and landed roles on Canadian TV shows. He then moved to New York City to study acting on Broadway at the prestigious Circle in the Square Theatre School. Since then he has performed in many award winning movies and TV shows as well as in critically acclaimed plays in both New York City and Canada. In 2008 he co-founded the NYC based Animus Theatre Company, whose members include Broadway and Hollywood actors, established writers and award winning directors. He also created the YouTube series “How to Make It in Hollywood (When you are Foreign AF)”, a comedy about an ethnically ambiguous immigrant actor trying to navigate the industry. He resides in Vancouver, BC and Los Angeles, California.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was born in Northern Italy spent my childhood there, in the city of Milan during the school year and in the Dolomites hiking during the summer months. I moved to Montreal with my parents and three siblings when I was 10 years old and just a few years later to Vancouver, British Columbia. Being of mixed ethnic background and an immigrant and often feeling unique I relied on my creative nature to find my place in the world, which then led me to New York City to study acting.

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

Being an actor is something I’ve always wanted to do from a young age. I was so young when I decided that I can’t remember when it happened, but it must have been from watching movies as a kid. I do vaguely remember seeing Mary Poppins and that sparking an interest in performing.

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

Probably when I was asked on the spot to strip down naked along with five other actors during a callback for a play in New York City. I was caught by surprise and didn’t know what to say so I just did it. I left the callback humiliated thinking “What am I doing with my life?”

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?

This is not when I started filming but actually quite recently. An AD misunderstood when I told him the name people usually call me and he communicated that to everyone and every single person on set called me the wrong name the whole day on set. My mistake was not to correct them right away, cuz by the time I thought I should, it had spread like wildfire and I just had to go along with it and pretend that was my name the whole time.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I have a movie out called Puppy Love streaming on Amazon Freevee and Amazon Prime. It’s a romantic comedy and I play a wild eccentric romantic interest to Lucy Hale’s character and a nemesis to Grant Gustin’s character. I also shot an episode of a tv show for Fox that will air in the next couple of months.

As a rising star, you’ve likely faced challenges along the way. How do you stay motivated and overcome obstacles in your career?

Every time I get a “No” it fuels my fire to get better and prove to those people that they should have said “Yes”. It makes me work harder on my craft and on myself. Also, creating my own work has helped a lot. When I was feeling defeated I created a YouTube web series called “How to Make it in Hollywood (When you are Foreign AF)” where I turned my frustration into comedy. It was quite therapeutic.

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?

It’s incredibly important. A lot of time prejudice and bigotry comes from ignorance. The more audiences see diversity on screen the more they will understand the beauty of diversity and learn to accept it into their own lives. I grew up at a time when the only gay characters on screen were stereotypes that were made for the audience to laugh at. Watching that made me ashamed of my own sexuality and made it very difficult to accept myself fully. Kids need role models to look up to and I didn’t have any growing up because a lot of gay actors in Hollywood stayed in the closet for fear of being blacklisted or losing out on roles. It’s getting better for LGBTQ actors and a lot of people in the industry are now open minded. However it is still a risk being publicly out as sadly there’s still people out there in our industry that have this bigoted idea that gay actors are not able to play straight or be straight romantic leads because they claim that they can’t have chemistry with the opposite sex. Ironically when straight actors play gay characters they are praised for their “courage’ and handed Oscars. The double standard is ludicrous. We are actors and gay actors can have incredible chemistry with the opposite sex just as much as straight actors can. Cuz you know… we are actors… that’s literally our job to play people we are not. So hopefully those bigoted ideas will soon leave our industry for good and we will see gay actors accepted in every role the way straight actors are.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1 . Don’t be afraid to show the world who you truly are because what makes you unique is your greatest asset.

2 . Being told “No’ is ok, keep going.

3 . Enjoy your life and find happiness even when the career is not going exactly as you want it to.

4 . Not booking a job doesn’t mean you’re not good. There are so many factors that contribute to why someone gets cast over someone else.

5 . It’s not an easy journey but that’s what makes it exciting.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Take breaks from the industry. Find hobbies you love and do them. Stay active and go out in nature; hat helps me refuel and find joy.

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 would help fight for LGBTQ rights. Too many people are still oppressed because of the bigotry around the world.

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 can’t say just one person. I think it’s a collaboration of my family, my close friends, my partner, my colleagues and all my mentors that have taught me the craft. They’ve supported me along the way when times were tough and I’m super grateful for them.

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

“It’s not the destination. It’s the Journey.” It’s a constant reminder to enjoy where you are at in life.

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. :-)

I’d say Tom Hanks. He’s probably the first actor I admired as a kid, and I’d love to meet him because it would make my 10 year old self so happy.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram @thealmiro

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

About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.

Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold