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 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.

Share a couple stories of the celebrities I have met along the... Oooooo, this is an is an incredibly difficult question!!!! I’ll tell you one of my favorite memories simply because I laugh out loud every time, I relieve the memory and then I will tell you about 2 actors that have impacted my career on a multitude of levels.

One hilarious memory I have is of a scene that was entirely cut out of the movie ’10 Years’ and for damn good reason lol! This was an improved scene where Anthony Mackie, Michelle Griego and I were supposed to be having a threesome in a bathroom stall with Chris Pratt taking a shit in the stall next to ours reading the newspaper as Channing Tatum walks in on all the shenanigans! At one-point Anthony Mackie picked me up in the air so I could have a heeled foot peeking above the top of the bathroom stall and we all died of laugher because it was absolutely ridiculous! Working with Anthony Mackie was like engaging in a live action fun house where you never knew what you were going to be surprised with next! All I can say is that all of these amazingly talented actors that I had the privilege of working with has such a good sense of humor that we laughed every day we filmed like we were at a live comedy show! The movie ended up becoming more of a drama but when we were filming it was by far the best comedic experience I ever had.

While the above memory is my favorite because my insides hurt from laughing so hard, I have to say that I have to share my gratitude for two actors that impacted my career in more ways than I’m sure they realize. These two beautiful souls are Bryan Cranston and Brad Dourif.

I always loved Bryan Cranston because he was the voice of the Blue Power Ranger! I have to admit I may have made fun of my younger brother for liking the show but I quickly had to check myself because I would find myself walking by and stopping to watch completely captivated by it. So, you can only imagine how excited I was in 2008 when some of my acting teachers at UNM brought Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in for a Q&A! They shared their stories with us of their struggles as well as all of their successes in the film industry. Bryan Cranston even went as far as to share his 5-year struggle of trying to get cast after being in ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ because the casting directors couldn’t see past him being the goofy dad. He told us ‘Breaking Bad’ was his break into stepping outside of that typecast and shared his gratitude with us by letting us hold and take pictures with his Emmy Award! It was an experience I will never forget and not just because I’m a fan but because in that hour I realized that while I had planned on leaving New Mexico for California once I graduated to pursue an acting career, I realized the film industry was coming my way and I had everything I needed to thrive in my home state. So that is what I did and 4 years later in 2012 I was cast in the final season of ‘Breaking Bad’ with Bryan Cranston as Lucy the Denny’s waitress in the flashforward opening scene! Honestly this was a dream come true because I truly felt the cycle of events come full circle and to top it off, I was amazed to know Bryan remembered me from all those years ago. The whole experience has been remarkable and to this day I am still remembered for that role and am grateful for how Bryan impacted my career as a whole.

Brad Dourif also became an actor that impacted me in a very different way that I find myself revisiting every time I find myself in a state to connect to my characters emotionally. In the end of 2012, I landed my first lead role in a film called ‘The Control Group’ and I was to shoot in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. If that wasn’t exciting enough to have my first lead role out of state, I learned that I was going to be working with Brad Dourif whom I geeked out over because I loved him as voice of Chucky and none other than Wormtongue in ‘Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’! I was on cloud 9 and to see him work was captivating! At one point I asked him how he was so emotionally available even for scenes that didn’t necessarily call for intense emotion. To my surprise he didn’t just give me a verbal answer; On one of our brakes he took me to a side room, in the abandoned Kirkbride insane asylum we were shooting in, and had me sit down while he walked me through a visual meditation. By the end I was in tears; sobbing like a little baby… I had never in my life felt so emotionally connected to anything and it was in this lesson that he showed me that memories of happy thoughts that we no longer have access to because

things change over time become the triggers that can open ourselves up to the characters, we become vessels for. So here I am an emotional mess and they call for us to come back to set and I can’t seem to control the intense emotions that were completely out of character for the role I playing. I think I had a mild panic attack trying to reign back my emotions in time but what he taught me will never be forgotten because it was nothing like I had ever been taught before.

Right at the beginning of my career in 2011 I was cast as Patient 14 in my 1st horror independent film called ‘Banshee Chapter’ that is loosely related to H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “From Beyond”. This experience marked the beginning of my H.P. Lovecraft adventures and came full circle to the last role I embodied as Yahima in HBO’s ‘Lovecraft Country’ Episode 4 ‘The History of Violence’. Aside from my experience with Bryan Cranston I feel this experience falls into the category of serendipity at its best and shows how my career has evolved in a way to highlight my capabilities in the world of sci-fi, horror and fantasy which is where I thrive and love to be.

Modeling has always been a blessing that I never intended or expected even during the pandemic. My modeling career has been developed through the word of others who have seen me work, loved my look and recommended me when asked whom they thought could fit what they were looking for. It has never been something I actively pursued but the universe had its’ own idea of what would help me manifest my desires to having flexibility while I pursued a career in film… Although, I do have to say, that I would love to create a lifestyle brand called Shypht! A Shyphtor, by my definition, is any being that makes an active decision to alter themselves physically, mentally or spiritually to change the perception of themselves and the world around them. These individuals may be seen as musicians, film makers, artists, writers, athletes, politicians, activists or simply an individual that in unapologetically themselves regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. I want this brand to promote acceptance, build each other up and see each other’s differences as gifts. I honestly can wait till I can model something I believe in and build a community of Shyphtors that I can hire to represent the uniqueness they bring to the table.

I thrive in the arts because of passion. In passion I experience all emotions at a heightened level and I feel that essence gets poured into whatever artform I am working with whether it be writing, painting, dancing, singing or acting. It is my love of storytelling that shines through and with that the connection to my audience to alter our perception of the world.

Optimistic passion and love for working with others is the key ingredient to my success. While I know the journey to living an artistic life is not an easy one when it comes to stability; the reward of connecting to an audience to provide a sense of relief from reality or challenging the world to see things in a different light, that can create positive change, is worth it. I believe that it is this desire that all creatives thrive and when we realize it’s not “a rat race to the finish line” but one where we find our creative family who support those desires to create magic that we all flourish because we know what each person brings to the table and use their skills to the best of their ability.

My biggest challenge as an actress is accepting that some typecasting is a positive, embracing what people see and finding ways to use my natural energy to shift their perception in a direction that I would want my career to go. Example: My main typecast is for roles that are extremely technical (Ex: military personal, agents, officers, scientists, nurses etc.) I have to acknowledge that I am two-spirited and it is my natural ability to lead that gives the quality of authority. This authority and ability to carry both masculine and feminine energy is what allows me to fit roles that are gender neutral. I am blessed that my agent takes the time to know her clients inside out in order to properly pitch us and I am blessed that I have had the ability to audition many times for various casting directors that I have earned their trust to keep bringing me back and use me as a wildcard for characters they feel I can embody regardless of character description. The role of ‘Yahima’ was the universe allowing my manifestations to become a reality. As an artist I give myself up as a vessel to tell a story and give a voice to those who need it. How this impactful role,

This phrase may be true for many but that is not where I draw my inspiration. I do believe that we have to live a full life of experiences, good and bad, to allow us to authentically relate to characters and accurately identify their relationships with others. It is our past traumas and our elated experiences that allow us to see the world through various lenses. Through these lenses we can identify patterns that are familiar to situations either to prevent them from happening again, encourage them to be a regular habit in our life or help someone that is going through a similar experience. This is why we must not forget our past but use it to build a foundation where we can thrive and not just survive. When we have these experiences, they become a part of our creative tool kit and that is how we sometimes breathe life into the characters we have the privilege of embodying or other various creative works of art.

Aside from life experiences I am a hayoka empath and find solutions to problems in my dreams and I often use my dreams as inspiration for the stories I write. So, I’m never at a loss for having a plethora of creative content wanting to come to life.

The only suffering I have had to go through for my art is being a part of a union where I never qualify for health insurance, struggle to get approved for loans when it comes to buying a car or a home (because of a lack of what is considered stable income), always having to work a multitude of jobs to make ends meet and keeping enough jobs alive so that when I lose one because I had to drop what I was doing to go for an audition or leave the state for a lengthy period of time I can survive and pay all my bills while I am away and still have enough to experience all that can be explored in the new area I am getting the privilege of visiting. But even with all of this I am not afraid to work. I take pride in every job I have taken on so I always give my 110% in everything I do regardless of whether it’s cleaning toilets, serving tables, supervising recreational sites for children, teaching special ed students to embrace themselves for who they are and find new and fun ways to learn that is fit for how they absorb the world around them, or sitting down for 8 hours doing data entry for a payroll company. I have learned so much in life by diving in to each and every one of these jobs that I have a lot in my tool box that I can layer into my characters. So even working hard I do not see as a bad thing. It’s just not an easy stress to endure for a long period of time when there is no stability.

The internet has had a huge impact on the film and modeling industry in some negative ways and some very positive ways. The internet has provided the ability for anyone around the world to connect and provide opportunities that we would have never have thought possible unless we were signed with an international agency that had those connections.

Streaming and allowing the ability for so many new platforms to provide entertainment has given artists the ability to thrive and work way more than what was possible. Now that so much content is needed it’s not just about being an A-List actor or a Victoria Secret Model. Now you can find work fairly easily because there is such a need for content that productions/agencies are opening their doors to a more diverse environment. The downside when dealing with internet jobs is that there isn’t a standard set as to what everyone should be making as an income. There is a lot of room for negotiations but it’s most likely done without representation and it’s more of a numbers game of how many follows one has over the skill that the individual actually has to offer. As a model I find there are even less contracts used to protect or compensate the model when they are not represented by an agency. In New Mexico there aren’t legitimate modeling agencies. Everything is self-negotiated a with that said many models can be paid for the day of hire but never receive any compensation for promotional use, percentage of sales based on how many items sold, what their face can be put on and sold for, or where they can share or manipulate the image digitally. So, while I am grateful for being a model, I know that I am blessed to be frequently hired by Carolyn Pollack to model jewelry. However, I am well aware that this is not a common experience that can be pursued by others in the same state.

As a union actor I have been excluded from the huge array of content I could be cast in digitally or develop a means of creating my own content to provide some form of income/stability that would at least help me to build a following and actively work on my craft... This has happened because there really aren’t union contracts made to fit these new environments and many companies do not want to go through the headache of creating a Sag-AFTRA contract when more than half of their cast in non-union or they simply do not have the financial means of making it union or following the safety protocols that must be implemented now that the world is going through a pandemic. If a union actor gets cast in a non-union project and it gets reported they could lose their Sag-AFTRA card and never again be able to audition or be cast for big projects that go union and pay the higher rates for professionalism. We are seeing things progressing because some companies do want to make sure that they are getting quality work for their content but not fast enough for how rapidly things are changing. I also have mixed feeling about Sag-AFTRA limiting their performers from creating their own digital content unless they can legitimately get a union contract which requires a lot of information which they don’t always have readily available when they don’t know if there is any money to be made with their idea.

So, why do I stay union if I could have the ability to make steady income and work regularly online? The truth is, SAG-AFTRA makes sure that I am safe in whatever environments I work in, I have the ability to make residual income from the projects I work on, my safety is protected on set and now there are even intimacy coordinators to make sure their performers are not being violated in any way. Being union allows someone to know where I am at all times; With so many native women and children that go missing or murdered and the multitudes of other women around the US that are being sex trafficked I do not want to be a victim of negligence on my part. While I may not have the opportunities to work as frequently, I am also not being put into questionable situations that can strip me of my dignity or life. That alone is worth being union in any situation and I will continue to pay and sacrifice stability for my safety.

Singing is my security blanket. It my youth it helped me to get through some of my darkest hours and realize that when I connect to the arts it is to give myself a safe space to express myself and find new ways to use pent up energy in a positive manner aside from fighting. As I grew up, I quickly learned that the arts, no matter the format, is all about energy, connection and telling stories that can allow us to see the world differently as a source of escape or enlightenment. This realization helped me as an overall artist because I am in tune with my voice and how it is used to give or command power. I understand the placement of energy within my chakras to manipulate them according to what is necessary for a character in film or for a still photo to tell a story that others can connect with on a visual format. Sound waves, movement carries recognizable energy as do thoughts. Most performers are aware of sound and movement. Most models are aware of lighting to create an energetic mood as well as angles to direct their audiences eyeline depending on what they are modeling. What is forgotten frequently by both performer and model alike in the energy of thoughts. That internal dialogue or the memories recalled, fabricated or not, that connect us to a certain situation or person is what an audience can pick up on without even realizing it. That is why someone can see a performance and even say that it was good but they didn’t connect with it and they don’t know why… Usually it’s because the performer is having an emotional disconnect from what they are doing to what is going on in their head. It’s the difference of internal versus external thought energy. When we have thoughts like, “Oh sh*t… What’s my next line?” or “Is my smile right? Does this angle look right?” those are internal thoughts that are sending energy inward because it is purely focused on oneself. When you have thoughts like, “I love you… You’re a creep… Get out… I want you…” Those are external thoughts that are being directed to the camera lens or your scene partner. These thoughts are a felt energy that can be layered under the text that’s given and that is what creates dynamic characters. Even weird fragmented thoughts that a performer or model can visualize are powerful because the emotion it triggers is authentic. An example would be “Butterflies, Pikachu and puppy dog kisses”. It makes no sense in a sentence but how we connect to each word pulls up a different emotion either individually or as a whole of being genuinely happy. in my journey of being authentic and not giving a performance of forced emotion. I suppose I don’t actually respond the way people seem to respond in scripts. I cry when I’m over complimented and when someone dies, I am struck with anger and a need to figure out what happened and take action. So, in this way when it comes to roles that have a lot of self-pity without a recourse of action, I get more annoyed than emotional and that is something I had to acknowledge in myself and learn to work around it. When in the scene with other characters I can tap in the fabricated memory of my character and the energy given by the other characters in the scene but when it’s just the camera in my face I have struggled to cry on demand…

The best advice I received was from Brad Dourif on how to connect with the emotion of sadness because this was the biggest emotional block I faced.

Brad told me, “Identify your happiest memory. When you find it recognize that it is your happiest memory because you don’t have it anymore but you still want it.” This was something I had never heard before. In school I was taught to recall moments of intense sadness that were from over five years ago and relive the moment until I could find the trigger and then hone in on the trigger to where tears could come on demand. Many of those traumas that had that effect on me I had already come to terms with so I couldn’t use that to draw up the appropriate emotion. Instead of tears I would be filled with anger. I was also taught how to put my body to be in a certain placement to recall moments of sadness but I found without genuine thoughts attached I couldn’t seem to connect. I was also taught to alternate between fake crying and fake laughter until both emotions blend together and through repetitive force the body would tap in and identify. So here I was 3 years after graduating with a Theatre Degree emphasis in acting and I was getting my mind blown. What brad said was a concept so opposite to what I was ever taught and yet within a five-minute meditation he proved to me how effective it was and I have used it ever sense; not necessarily to pull up my own memories but to find what makes my characters genuinely happy and letting that pain of it being gone truly set in.

At this moment I have auditioned for many projects but the majority of them would have me shooting in Canada if I land them. In my home state everything is still currently shut down. New Mexico is trying to open things back up for the film industry to continue to thrive but it is a slow process and I have barely started seeing auditions within this past week from a local casting director. I have not been able to work on anything since the pandemic hit so from my work last year, HBO’s ‘Lovecraft Country’ Episode 4 already aired and the film ‘Driftless’ that I worked on as #1 on the cast list is able to be viewed through a temporary link for rent. It’s about a park ranger named Nova Abbey that is discriminated against for being native, has to deal with racist comments to not just her kind but a Puertorriquena that gets harassed by an “American” for what she is wearing. Nova has to deal with the concept of choosing to be a ranger because she couldn’t make enough to be an environmentalist with her degree but wanted to still be close to nature. Through-out the story she deals with government shutdowns, destruction of natural resources like water, druggies, murder, abduction of a young female and having to face her own fears. If you would like to see it please look up “Driftless: A Feature Film” on Facebook to find the Vimeo link. It will soon be in festival circuits so it may take another year or two before it can be purchased.

As a reliable source to see what films I have been cast in and what has already come out please find me at on IMDb at: imdb.me/MoniqueCandelaria

I interact most frequently on Instagram so please follow me @MoCa369 and if you would like to see my paintings follow my art page: @MKC.369 My facebook page link is: https://www.facebook. com/MoniqueCandelaria369