Juan Teisaire- Argentine Acting (Rising Actor & Performer)

Edition Forty-Two- Week Forty-Two:

Written by: Jacob West

Hi Juan, tell me about yourself, where you’re from, your hopes and dreams, etc.

“I was born and raised in Argentina. I was around 6 when I discovered that I loved acting and singing. My mom told me the story of when I performed “Help” by the Beatles at my school play. I can’t say that’s when I realized that that’s what I wanted to do for a living, but it sparked something in me. Years later, in school, I would still read Uta Hagen, Strasberg, and Meisner books in my free time, study for exams, and work a little side job as a Carpenter to get some money. When I finished school, I studied Business, and that Carpenter job became a full-time job for many years. But acting was still in my mind.”

How did you wind up transitioning from carpeting to acting?

“Well, a friend of mine told me about this free training program led by TELEFE (Argentina’s most prominent network), so, along with 50,000 other actors, I auditioned for it and was one of only 20 actors to be selected. Eventually, this led to some screen experience on the tv series “Kally’s Mashup” for Netflix and Nickelodeon, several leading roles in commercials for brands such as “Milka,” “Fanta,” and the “Olympic Games” and singing on the famous tv show “The Voice.” That slowly made me leave carpentry behind.”

Tell us about “Kally’s Mashup.” What was that experience like?

“Amazing experience. I was almost 20 years old, and it was my first time on a professional set for a TV show. First time in my dressing room too. Everything was so well organized, and I couldn’t believe the number of people involved, like more than 40 people on set constantly. I also met so many talented people I still keep in touch with. For example, Maia Reficco, who played Kally in the show, is now shooting a prequel to Pretty Little Liars here in New York so that we can hang out all the time. It’s good to see she is succeeding too.”

How was your experience on The Voice? What did you take away from that?

“The audition process was already insane. More than 300,000 people auditioned for that. My audition number was 47,960, and I still remember it. The Voice was my first encounter with Live TV. By this point, I was used to singing live because of all the musical theater I was doing. But was I singing with many cameras and world-known artists sitting on those chairs? That was different. But it all went well; I got featured in the first episode and learned much about decision-making in songs and stage presence from these amazingly talented coaches.”

You claim that you took acting classes in Buenos Aires but felt that you were “missing something,” so you moved to NYC. What were you missing exactly?

“I’m not trying to generalize because there are some exceptions, but in my case, every acting class I took was the same. They were teaching me how to ACT. Like how to pretend I had that feeling instead of living in the moment. I didn’t know much, but I had read all those “American” books that saw things differently, you know? I remember having 3 seconds of what I called “being for real,” I enjoyed that so much. Meanwhile, they were teaching me how to fake cry and react in a specific way to a particular line instead of seeing my actual reaction. So I came to New York because I wanted someone to teach me to “be for real” as long as possible in a scene.”

Congratulations on your numerous awards for your short film “Cortado.” Can you tell us what that film was about, and can you tell us some of your experiences working on it?

“Thank you! This film is about a couple trying to handle the frontiers in international relationships and blaming the toxicity of their failed communication on that. They may not be suitable for each other. Lizzy McAlpine’s song “Nothing,” says, “That it could be the way I don’t speak Spanish… or it could be you”. It was a great film to work on. I learned how to deal with being the Director and Actor at the same time and kept working on how to take concepts that hit really close to home and expand them to make them interesting for a film. Also, the film’s aftermath was terrific, and it was quite an experience, you know? Showing the film to people from all over the world, the country didn’t matter; they felt identified with the situation. We were going for that with Hannah Abdoh, who also wrote and gave a fantastic performance in the film.”

I see you’ve also acted in several musicals (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, etc.). Do you see yourself as more of a musical or film actor, or do you try to cover as many bases as possible?

“Yes, I cover as many bases as I can. I’ve been doing a lot of Films recently, but my love for the stage is always present. I am working on translating an Argentinean play called “Guarda con el Angel” (Beware of the Angel) and planning to put it up together with some great talent here in the city.”

Who has been your inspiration throughout your career?

“Do you mean acting wise? It would be ridiculous if I didn’t mention names like Michael Chekov, Pacino, or Brando. I also learn much from “modern-day” actors like Gael Garcia Bernal, Luis Brandoni, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Adam Diver. On the non-acting aspect of it, my friends and family are a huge inspiration too.”

What are you currently working on?

Apart from that play I mentioned, I am also about to shoot a feature film called “If that mockingbird doesn’t Sing” with actors Kevin Corrigan, David Krumholtz, Elizabeth Berridge, and Ricky Velez, among others. I don’t know how much I can talk about it, but it’s not only the “film actor” base I’m covering in this one.