MONIQUE CANDELARIA Carving Out her Path to Success We caught up with the lovely Actress, Singer and Model, Monique Candelaria in her down time. In 2009, I graduated from the University of New Mexico with a BA in Fine Arts Emphasis in Acting. Making the decision to get this type of degree was the first building step I took to gaining the knowledge needed to navigate the film industry. By 2010 I became Sag-Eligible on the film ‘Bless me, Ultima’ and by 2011 I was a must join when I was cast in the film ‘Banshee Chapter’. Modeling was an unexpected blessing! At 7, I was picked to do a catalog shoot for JC Penny that I got because someone believed I could do it and suggested me. That was my only experience with modeling as a child, until I became a young adolescent. In my teens, around 2002, I was chosen to perform a song and dance for ‘Dance, Dance, Dance, it’s a teen thing’. After one of my rehearsals a photographer name Roberto Bilbao asked if I would do a couple of modeling shoots. He gave me the building blocks I would later use when I was asked to model for Carolyn Pollock Jewelry and American West jewelry back in 2015. To this day, I continue to work with them and I am truly grateful. In choosing this career I didn’t see it as competitive; I saw it as an avenue where I could let my passion for storytelling come to life. This realization for
27
storytelling through song, words, colors and story became a magical ride when I watched ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ at the age of 6 years old. Since then Tim Burton became my inspiration in more ways than one and I always contemplate how to bring more depth to anything I do in my creative endeavors! Working with him is on my bucket list and would give anything to be a voice for one of his characters.
