We recently met with Ursula Maria to talk life, acting and more in Los Angeles.
Hey Ursula, thanks for having a chat with us! You are from Austria, do you ever go back home?
Hey! Yes I do, I have just been back for Christmas, I try to go once a year to see my family.
That’s lovely! Now, for our readers, how would you describe the day to day life of an actor in Los Angeles?
It can be a lot of auditions. Or it can be slow at times, there’s no consistency. There’s a lot of actors in this town and people who want to break into the business, so for example for one role in a commercial there may be about 8000 actors who get submitted. My agency just told me that. It’s a big number. Only one person can book it. Knowing that puts things into perspective. Sometimes it can get frustrating when you go in and see a few other people waiting and then you wonder why you didn’t book it but what you don’t know is that they have been casting for the last 3 days and have been calling in hundreds of people on each day.
They say just getting called in is an accomplishment. I get that, however, I want to book.
Of course! Did you recently book a commercial or has it been a while?
I booked a big one right before Christmas. I already had my flight booked to go back home, but isn’t that when they say you’ll book something? Whenever you are planning to be out of town? Anyways, I was very happy to reschedule my flight, and the shoot was a fantastic experience. I’m excited to see it air soon.
What about movies, anything happening that you are excited about?
Yes! I booked a movie in which I will be playing an athlete, a boxer to be exact. I am super excited about that one! It will be physically extremely demanding. We already shot the teaser last year, it is currently being edited. All that dance training, the workouts and being very athletic definitely comes in handy now. It is also part of why I have been cast in this role. It was the same with “LOOP”, the movie I shot a while back in Chicago, it was very physically challenging. It was such a great experience.
That sounds awesome. Anything else you’re currently working on?
Yes, I am filming the show “The Gatekeepers”, a show which focuses on both the music as well as the film and television industry and shines a light on what is really going on behind the scenes. Filming this has been such a great experience, I am learning a lot! We have already shot episodes with film and television music supervisor as well as head of the Guild of Music Supervisors Thomas Golubić, Image Award-winning and Black Reel Award-nominated series head writer Abdul Williams, experienced music supervisors Yvette Metoyer Jabari Ali, Andrew Kahn and Carolyn
Richardson, Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter Taura Stinson, president of Go Music, DJ and 5-time Grammy Award-nominated film and television music supervisor Gary Calamar, long time music editor Craig Pettigrew, music editor Daniel Waldman and more.
I’ve always found it fascinating to hear someone else’s story and I believe I share that curiosity with other people. Aside from that, I would like to provide some answers to all the questions people may have about the entertainment business. By conducting these interviews I am learning a lot myself. It’s great to hear all those personal stories and it shows once again that everyone’s path is unique. But there are certain characteristics, like discipline and perseverance, that all these people have in common.
Exciting! Last question, what has thus far been the most rewarding part of being in the entertainment industry?
I’ve met so many amazing and extremely talented people, and every time I am on a set I am surrounded by creatives. I really enjoy that. It’s also extremely rewarding to finish a project and see it being screened. So much work goes into making a movie or a show and it’s lovely to see it all come together in the end. I also love being on stage and do theater. It’s a lot of rehearsing and so much time goes into making a production happen, but at the end you get to put up an amazing show and it is so worth it!
Thanks so much! Have a fantastic rest of your day!
You too, thank you!
You can follow Ursula Maria on Instagram & Twitter @ursula_maria_
and check our her facebook page facebook.com/page.of.ursula.maria as well as her Imdb www.imdb.me/ursula-maria
