Photo Credit: “Damian playing in public for the first time” Still frame from “Believe In”. Masato Di Santo.
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Masato! What a wonderful guy! Check out his interview below.
Hi, Masato! Thank you for granting the interview. Your career is soaring and we’re excited to speak with you about. What do you enjoy most about acting?
Thank you for having me! The experience of acting either on set or on stage, or even in a class, is something magical for me. A place in which your emotions can fly freely; you can be as big as you want, as small as you want, or loud, or threatening, or funny! You allow yourself to get lost in the reality of the character, and for a moment, nothing else matters. Acting is liberating for your expression and it helped me recognize many aspects of myself that I didn’t even know existed. It’s interesting because as any craft, you learn to enjoy it more through experience. There’s a threshold that you cross between the nerves before performing and trusting yourself that feels exhilarating and quite intense. After I experienced that, I was sure I would never give up on acting.
What inspired you to become an actor?
Since I was a kid I had a fascination for film and certain TV shows that motivated me to learn English by watching them without captions. My parents had to drag me out whenever we passed through the TV section at an electronics store, something about the screen really caught my attention. However, what truly attracted me the most as a kid was the opportunity that film gave you to experience a fantastical story. Films such as Del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth”, or Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” captivated me and made me dream of one day being part of a story in a world of fantasy. This was my initial goal, but as I learned more about what acting really was, I was inspired by the process that some actors went through to develop their characters, and felt like the type of artistic work I wanted to do. It really baffles me how many techniques and tools you can find to develop interesting roles, and discovering new elements I can bring to my characters is something that I always enjoy doing.
Let’s talk about the importance of branding yourself. What advice can you share with aspiring talent?
Branding is essential for a smooth entrance into the film industry in LA, particularly more important than in other places. Due to high competition and the fast-paced rhythm of productions, you need to make an impression that makes you stand out in the fastest and most effective way possible. However, to find how you want to brand yourself, you have to know who you truly are and be honest with your answers. Finding the look, or looks, that best fit you takes some time, and for some people, it can be challenging in the beginning, but my advice here is to focus on your strengths and find a way to use what you might consider flaws to your advantage. The beauty of this industry is that if you show up with enough conviction, bringing something truly yours and unique, the doors will open in unexpected ways. So be yourself! But take the time to find out all the nuances that make you unique, and don’t be afraid to show them! My second advice is perseverance because many times there are timing factors that may make your opportunity happen at one point or another, but if you stay around long enough and you have good work ethics, it will come!
What has been your biggest challenge in the industry?
One of my biggest challenges has been getting used to the rhythm of work in LA for actors, which can be very unstable and irregular. Because of this, sometimes there would be periods of long days of work with very little rest, and then I might have a week where my time suddenly freed up and I had only a couple of auditions to go to. I quickly learned that this time is critical to build a routine, and not let the No’s bring me down and lose focus. Whenever this would happen, I would remember that there are always opportunities coming up, and they did in one way or another. Sometimes there were unexpected projects that turned out to be great high-quality products, in which the most important part ended up being the connections I made. LA can also feel a little overwhelming for an outsider in the beginning, and I felt homesick for the first year I was here. Now I still miss my family and friends back home, but I have made peace with the fact that there are certain kinds of sacrifices that need to be done to stay in this career, and we live on an age where people often need to move out to follow their careers, but this hasn’t stopped me from being close to the people I care about the most. And even though it’s emotionally tough sometimes, I’ve learned to appreciate everything that can be shared even at a distance.
What’s the ultimate direction of your career?
I am interested mainly in genres such as drama, thriller, suspense and fantasy films. However, I am also a martial artist from a very early age, so I would love to be in martial arts action films. On another note, I find comedy challenging for me, and for this reason, I would love to do more comedic roles. It’s an art that takes a lot of courage. But if I had to choose a certain type of roles for the upcoming years, I would always incline towards complex anti-heroes, roles in a unique environment with unusual obstacles, paradoxical wise characters with childish flaws. Any roles that seem out of the ordinary call my attention without even making a conscious choice. I just love the opportunity to explore different personalities from a personal point of view, and every new character I perform has taught me specific lessons that otherwise could have been overlooked, or harder to fully understand.
How can fans-to-be gain access to you socially?
I have a Facebook fan page and Instagram, but the best way to follow my career at this point would be Instagram. Feel free to reach me! I strongly believe that some of the best people you can meet in life come from the most unexpected scenarios, and I’m always open for interesting conversations on my social networks. Check out the links below.
Who or what are your biggest influences and why?
Even though my family hasn’t influenced me in an artistic style, I need to mention my parents before anything. I was given full support to follow my passion for singing, music, theatre, filmmaking and acting without conditions, giving full trust to my commitment and my determination to make it a career. But I would have never succeeded in following this path if it wasn’t because of the values they taught me, and the work ethics I was taught as a kid. Aside from its artistic side, acting is a profession like any other, and your professionalism is what will make you succeed. I could name remarkable artists that have inspired me to follow this career, but when I face obstacles, I think of all that I’ve been given and how lucky I am to be here, and it’s all thanks to their love. So, ultimately, their constant support and encouragement influence me every day to choose stories that I would be proud to show them, even when my style and taste for movies might not always be completely the same as theirs.
When looking forward on your career, what do you hope to achieve and why?
I hope to be part of films that bring forward social issues in need to be addressed, that’s one of the overarching goals I plan to follow. More specific goals would be to work with directors such as Nicholas Winding Refn, Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright and Denis Villeneuve, among others. If at any point I am able to work with any of them, I would consider my career an everlasting success. I’m also very interested in voiceover, and I would love to be the voice for an Anime movie, a cartoon show, or even a video game. I had the opportunity to do a couple of dubbing sessions for the character Roque in the Spanish show called “Coast of Cocaine: Fariña”, now streaming on Netflix, and I enjoyed every session to the fullest. The booth feels like a safe environment where you’re free to try anything and have fun with the character.
Do you have any additional skills that you add to your acting?
I learned many skills while growing up, but the most noteworthy are singing, acoustic guitar and martial arts. I had 8 years of private singing lessons and 7 years of acoustic guitar. My father is also an Aikido teacher, and I grew up practicing this martial art until I was 18. Then I also did 2 years of Capoeira, and I have been practicing Stage Combat and Stunts for the past 4 years in Los Angeles. I used my musician skills for a short film I wrote, starred and produced called “Believe In”, and is currently in the festivals circuit. It will be screened this Friday, August 31st at the LA Shorts Awards. Other than this project, I hope to involve more my stunt skills in future projects.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose this career? Would you do anything differently?
I wouldn’t change anything. There are several obstacles that I’ve been through and also many achievements that have shaped who I am today, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the ups and downs that have brought me here. I feel that sometimes we get too caught up in the results, and we might overlook how the challenges are truly what makes us stronger and appreciate our successes. With this in mind, I stay humble, hoping that the upcoming challenges will only get me closer to my goals.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career?
There are a couple projects that will enter the festival circuit soon, and among them, there are interesting stories that I’ve been waiting to share with everyone for a long time. One of them involves a kid being kidnapped and developing an interesting way of coping and dealing with the guy in charge of keeping him locked until the ransom deal is made, another one involves a dark character that is forced to repent on his past doing business with the Cartel, after he’s forced to see his sister fall in hands of one of its members. Stay tuned, and, hopefully, soon I’ll have greater news to share! It’s been a pleasure to be part of this interview.
Connect with Masato:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masatothesanto/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masatothesanto/
Feature Image Credit: “Damian playing in public for the first time” Still frame from “Believe In”. Masato Di Santo.
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