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Balder Nieto: Choose to be special!
36 Plays8 months ago
With me this week is Actor Balder Nieto.
We talk about how he found his passion in acting, his journey with the Actor’s Forge and embracing the connectedness of all of life’s experiences. We also discuss Forest Gump and Tick, Tick… Boom!
Find Balder on Instagram.
Find me on Instagram.
Show Art is by Craig Pearson.
Theme Music is 'Silent Movie 91' by Sascha Ende.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'What Makes You Tick'
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to What Makes You Tick, a conversation podcast where I, Ryan Watson, talk to North East artists, that's actors, writers, directors, filmmakers, or anyone else that piques my curiosity about what they do, how they make it work, and the media that inspires them to
Meet Balder Nieto, Actor
00:00:23
Speaker
do that work.
00:00:23
Speaker
Today on the show I have Balder Nieto. Balder is an actor who's appeared in a number of short films like Show Me the Mirror and Distance. He's recently appeared on stage at both the 90s Theatre Showcase and the Actors Forge First Annual Showcase. He's playing the lead in the upcoming DM Productions feature film, A Malevolent World, and he'll be scaring people at the Psychopath Screen Park in the Northeast.
00:00:45
Speaker
So, Balder, thank you for coming on the show. are you doing? Thanks, Ryan, for the lovely introduction. Yeah, I think you've nailed it. ah Yeah, pretty much just all I've been working recently, like acting-wise, and Yeah, so fun times.
00:01:01
Speaker
So I guess before I get into any of the main questions, always just like to say something that is notable to me about the people
Balder's Love for Cinema
00:01:08
Speaker
I'm talking to. And we do it then film reviews. You always put film reviews on Instagram. Yes, I do. It's been a strangely consistent presence for me over the last few months just reading your... Hopefully not for the bad. No, no, positively. Around October, I started getting the cinema pass.
00:01:24
Speaker
Yes, the Unlimited. Yeah, and because it were it were it was a weird time for me. Things were a little bit rough, and I just went to the cinema all the time. But then I was like on Instagram, and I was like, oh, you're clearly seeing a lot of ah ah lot of the same Yes. um they were just there It was nice. but um yeah and I think it was last week, Bring Her Back, did you?
00:01:45
Speaker
You'd seen Bring Her Back? Yes, yes. And I'd seen you put, this is an interesting interesting episode of Fullmetal Alchemist. yes i've been watching fullman alchemist at the minute as well ah oh cool yeah i was gonna say like i don't know how like how many people would get the reference but uh it's a very cool anime yes i've been enjoying it i'm about two series nice but that that was funny because then uh i think i went to see it like the next day yeah how did you find it i thought we're all right like I don't know. i can I mean, it's a horror film. So like ah yes like I can't complain too much, but the the teeth stuff were too much from it.
00:02:20
Speaker
um I it. agree. I think like some of it worked, some didn't. But I mean, i think they got like really interesting ideas. The directors, like they came up with Talk to Me first, now this one. So they got some definitely interesting ideas for horror. I can see them like at some point in the next few years coming up with like a really...
00:02:40
Speaker
you know like a map our masterpiece i think it's just like there it'll take time for them to properly gather all the right ideas and show them in the screen but i think they'll get there i've not actually seen talk to me i remember it coming out and hearing a lot about it but is that it is quite similar i would say like you can definitely like tell that it it comes from you know the same guys give it a watch but it's it's all right no i think i'll i'll definitely give it a go at some point Okay, so um I guess to start with, I just wondered about sort ah your background and kind of how you how you
From Engineering to Acting
00:03:10
Speaker
came to acting. Did you only start last year with ah with a forger? or Were you doing anything before then?
00:03:14
Speaker
Yeah, I just literally started last September. like we were at the same class, actually, like Saturday mornings. Wow, that's like, I don't know. I was never sure if you'd done it before then or anything.
00:03:25
Speaker
No, no, no. So it's like, I've always been interested. I wouldn't say interacting, like always into like cinema. ah But... i never knew that i would that I wanted to go for acting. like My path was very strange because... So I'm an engineer and I'm a scientist and this has, you know you you could say, like nothing to do with the acting life. but at the end At the end of the day, I think that everything you do in your life and all the skills are transferable. So whatever you learn in one discipline, you can apply in another, even if
00:04:00
Speaker
apparently they're not like connected. So yeah, it's just like flowing with life. But you know, for some years I was like trying to find my passion because I like what I do and I like like engineering and science, but I don't love it. And I always knew that i loved cinema, series, you know, movies, but I was trying to find how to do more on on my free time, like some hobbies that I could doing something more than just, you know,
00:04:30
Speaker
watching films so that's how i started you know doing all these reviews and then i i eventually started the podcast actually with some friends a couple of very good friends from mexico uh one of them was living at the time in the us and another in canada so we called the podcast well it was in spanish but it it was like cinema at the distance and because we're having like and long distance conversations about cinema But then like it was very difficult you know to find the right timings for everyone because you know time zones and we've we've all got jobs
Joining The Forge Acting Group
00:05:00
Speaker
and that.
00:05:01
Speaker
So we stopped doing the episodes. We started this at 2022, I think. Then was like, well, i i feel like i want to do morally but Obviously, I cannot do it with my friends anymore because of everyone's schedule.
00:05:20
Speaker
So I started doing YouTube videos. I was doing some analysis and reviews of movies, recommendations. I did a few. My YouTube channel is still there. It's not the best, but it's it was just something that i like to do. It's called The Legend of Balder. So I'm a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda, hence the name.
00:05:41
Speaker
was my channel. And yeah, like when I was doing that, I found out that I really liked the process of writing. So writing the script of what I was going to say in the videos was the part that I enjoyed the most, followed by the actual recording.
00:05:56
Speaker
And the one part that I don't particularly like is the editing. So that's why I stopped doing the videos because it was like taking too much of my time. So I just I stopped doing it, but I was you know like still curious about doing something that was related in some way to cinema.
00:06:14
Speaker
So I started looking for acting groups and eventually I found out about The Forge, I think on Facebook. I don't remember well. But I decided to give it a try. And yeah, session one, I was like, this is what I was looking for.
00:06:31
Speaker
Like all these years, like it made sense immediately. That's really interesting. So it's like, yeah, you were sort of almost like trying different ways to get further involved in films beyond just watching them. And it sort of eventually led to the acting. Yeah, it was like a slow progress, like slow transition. Like it didn't happen from night to day.
00:06:49
Speaker
Like it's literally like years of thoughts and trials and, you know, eventually it clicked. Because I sometimes find this because at the the Actors Forge, we usually do scenes that are from from other things, films and TV shows. Does it sort of does performing the scenes and thinking about being the character in a scene, has that sort of changed how you think about any any films or TV shows or anything? ah yeah That's an interesting question.
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think of it like that. about that that often, but I think, yeah, it it changes your perspective. I mean, it works both both ways around. Like when you have a script of something that you've seen before and then you analyze it and then you like work on it, you also like go back and see the original one and think, I like it the way it was done or I would have done it differently or... And also when you watch movies,
00:07:49
Speaker
you also learn and you can apply this into your acting. So I really love watching movies in series because I've always done it.
00:08:00
Speaker
But also at the same time, like now that I'm more into acting, it may not look like it's work, but it's also doing work. You know, when you watch movies, you are actually learning from the actors that are on screen.
00:08:14
Speaker
ah Recently, I watched the classic movie like Philadelphia. with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. And I was like, wow, this is a masterclass. It's a really great film, but at the same time, like I'm watching these two legends acting and I'm learning so much in the process. So it's like, i am I'm enjoying it and I'm also learning at the same time.
00:08:39
Speaker
And i'm I'm thinking like, oh, I like what he did there. So I might apply it or that.
Preparing for Roles
00:08:45
Speaker
But without ever forgetting that it's not about copying.
00:08:50
Speaker
It's, you know, learning from the best. But when you're acting, you put yourself out there, you embrace the character. and you show your uniqueness to it. I tend to find myself looking at, you know, if someone's sort of being relatively natural in a scene, I tend to find myself sort of trying to work out work out how they how they did it, because that's something that I kind of struggled with to start with you know it's kind of like you can go a bit like big and dramatic but then you sort of realize maybe you need to talk like a normal person as well ah so that's something that I always try and pay attention to now when I'm watching things do you have any any things like that any particular things that you find yourself noticing specifically when you're watching things well I also watch like a lot of
00:09:35
Speaker
behind the scenes too. And yeah, like recently I watched this video from the Wolf of Wall Street and you can see it's really cool. Like how Leonardo DiCaprio is like doing like a slow-mo movement just before they say action. And he's just, you know, gets into the character like immediately.
00:09:58
Speaker
You can see the transition, but you know it's in less it takes less than a second. These transitions, these quick transitions are you know really useful when you are you know trying to become a professional.
00:10:11
Speaker
And because I was ah like Recently we had a screen acting exercise at The Forge, the group of actors in in Newcastle, and we were playing with reactions and we were giving word and we needed to say it in different ways.
00:10:30
Speaker
So to me, it was really useful to see those videos back because I could see that when I was giving a certain prompt compared to another, I was taking longer to make that transition.
00:10:42
Speaker
You know, the best actors, you know, they transition immediately. So it's it's a lot of practice, of course, but I would say that you know this transitioning has really like marked me like recently. Sorry, that's the exercise as well. You have to emphasize a different a different word in each take. Yeah, or they would tell you that you say the same word. Like in my case, it was like, thanks, you know being grateful. Right, sorry, okay, yeah. But if you you were given a different scenario in which you would use the word thanks, and some are easier to react than
00:11:15
Speaker
others. if yeah there There was one like weird case that you know you receive a lot of paperwork, but for whatever reason you love it, so you say thanks, you're really excited, like, thanks, this is the best thing in the world.
00:11:29
Speaker
But when you have to say, versus when you have to say thanks, but you received present that you don't really like. So it's like a fake thanks. You're like, oh, yeah, thanks. Part of the reason I thought you'd maybe been doing acting longer than than just the year, you always seem so like committed to the scenes you're doing. That first turn that we did, at the end you did the Joker scene from the film, the Joker, where he shoots... ah
00:12:01
Speaker
Who is it again? Murray. Yeah, it's Robert De Niro. Is it Robert De Niro? and it Yeah, it is. yeah Yeah, and you did that scene. and this This shouldn't count as a spoiler because the the movie's been out for years. that Yeah, it's been. yeah i watched it I watched it at this outdoor screening in London and it was like literally in a park and I'd never seen it before.
00:12:21
Speaker
um Oh, wow. It was terrifying just watching someone get shot. but but but Yes. no Anyone who went there to watch it, they could totally see it. They could totally see it and it spoiled it for them. and But ah you always seem so committed to the scenes you do. I guess like I'd seen the Joker and I guess a similar ah similar thing the other week when we were doing a Malevolent World, which again, it's something that um it felt like quite a struggle for me getting and get to that point where I could just really fully commit myself to a scene. And I don't think that's uncommon. Is it as easy as it looks? Is it something you you think about or do you just really go for it?
00:12:55
Speaker
Ah, it's it's really weird, you know, like it It depends on the role, on the scene, yeah know the the character. like i don't I don't know how to explain it, but I mean i always commit to my characters.
00:13:11
Speaker
I always do that. But some sometimes I connect quicker with them than with others. Or sometimes, I don't know why, but I'm reading a script that is you know the same length as another one and I learn one immediately. So I get, you know, the lines and, you know, that's one of the first steps, you know, like getting to,
00:13:37
Speaker
read the script, understanding what's happening in the scene, and so then you can see what you're doing with the character. But yeah, like sometimes, for whatever reason, I learn the lines so quick.
00:13:49
Speaker
And sometimes the lines are bit, you know, like blurry. Like I get most of it, but there are like parts that don't come as easy and i i cannot explain it but i think it's got something to do with the connection like sometimes i make an immediate connection and that just helps with the memorizing as well but yeah if i if i'm struggling i just like put more work on the scene so i can nail it but yes so that's that's one of the first things like you know have your preparation time
00:14:21
Speaker
ah One one like advice that I think that is really good, and this this is like not from me, this is like from one of the workshops that I attended in the last few months, this is from a really cool director, like Irish director, and like he's a great guy, Baz Black. So he mentioned that when you're reading like a script, read it at least three times before you start doing something with it, because first you get like a general idea,
00:14:51
Speaker
But then you, by by reading and rereading, you really get into the fine details of what's actually happening and what sort of movements or variations you can add with your your character.
Challenges in Acting
00:15:05
Speaker
But yes, I always commit. I always go for it, whatever it is. I just focus on it. And I know that it works differently for different people, like Sometimes when you have a past experience that you can somehow connect to the scene, you can use that, but many times you cannot.
00:15:27
Speaker
So I don't rely on that. I don't rely on like past experiences. If I can, I can use the emotion, try to bring back an emotion from one of my personal experiences.
00:15:39
Speaker
But personally, most of the times, I'm just in the mindset of the character. So I just commit. and the character doesn't necessarily have to be similar to my persona, to like har and how I am. So for example, like one of the scenes that i perform at the Forge ah showcase, I was in a wheelchair.
00:15:59
Speaker
I've never had the need to be in a wheelchair. I'm thankful for that. Yeah, so in that scene, it's it's from a movie called Stronger with Jake Gyllenhaal. And like he receives this news that his partner is expecting the baby. So he's like, he starts to get really desperate because he doesn't know how to react to this news because he's like...
00:16:18
Speaker
how the hell am I gonna raise a child like in these conditions? not So like I've never been married, I've never expected a baby, I've never been in a wheelchair, but i was I really connected with this character and I was trying to think why,
00:16:37
Speaker
And I got to the conclusion that it's because in my real life as Valder, I'm usually like a pretty chill guy, like pretty calm. Like I think take things like easily and I don't get...
00:16:50
Speaker
mad that often. like I don't go to extreme emotions normally unless there's something like really impactful happening, but I'm like pretty calm. So when I get to portray a character like this one, I really go for it because Balder doesn't do this often.
00:17:07
Speaker
He doesn't let you know explore these emotions. So it's really freeing. So that's how you can also connect with a character, even if it's not necessarily like you. That makes sense. I mean, I guess my example of the Joker scene, I would not say that you get anything like the Joker in real life. No, no, no, no. Yeah, no, no, no. But yeah, again, that's that's another like great great example. The Joker is such a troubled person and...
00:17:34
Speaker
has been has had a rough life and just getting to play these moments where he's just like you can tell he's desperate i find it really freeing i've been dying to do something where i'm just like really really shout at someone or something just just because similar to you it's it's very rare that i get to that you know so you mentioned the actors forge showcase you did and you also did the 90s 90s showcase a few months ago as well is that the first times you've been on stage then Yeah, yeah, that was actually the first time I was on stage.
00:18:07
Speaker
well Well, yes, unless you count, and this this is like, gonna sound like a bit strange, but when I was in in Mexico, I was part of this youth group at the church.
00:18:21
Speaker
So it was like, you know, like Catholic church. And i i got to portray like ah one of the like Jesus disciples at the Passion of Christ. because ah like yeah but So i'm I'm from Mexico and like in Mexico it's religion, Christianity, Catholicism is big thing.
00:18:39
Speaker
religion like christianity like catholicism is is big thing so you can see like, even if they are like small cities, you'll have some sort of representation of the passion of Christ in the streets and all that.
00:18:56
Speaker
So i yeah I got to portray like one of the disciples a couple of times and I didn't have like any, words, it was just like acting, actually, like some actions. And and I could say that there's some sort of like stage acting.
00:19:12
Speaker
And I didn't identify it then, but I had like lots of fun. And yeah, maybe there was like a hint back then that I really liked, you know, acting. This for when you were a lot younger.
00:19:26
Speaker
Well, yeah, I'm I'm going to turn 34 this month. Yeah. So this happened maybe when I was early 20s, not super young. To be honest, also, when I when I was maybe like 14, 15, we had a class that was about theater.
00:19:41
Speaker
I got to say that it was not a really good class. So like the professor didn't put like a lot of effort in it. So I didn't get very interested at that point. But I remember like one one time that we had to act in one sort of like a commercial. We had to create a commercial.
00:19:59
Speaker
We had to present it there for the class. Yeah, and I remember we we did something that involved like pizzas and a funeral. It was a bit weird, but I remember also having fun back then. But, you know, all these things were ah always, you know, like, oh, like this is fun, this fun.
00:20:18
Speaker
like I never imagined that it was actually my passion, like is something that was waiting for me to be discovered. It's almost like a recurring theme when I'm talking to people.
00:20:28
Speaker
I guess because... yeah so I went to university to study film slash script writing. And in some ways, for a good few years after that, It's not exactly that it kind of kicked the passion of out of me, but it was like, because I'd done it for like deadlines and things, I found it really hard to motivate myself afterwards. I ended up giving up on any anything like until until last year, really, when I started
Balancing Science and Acting
00:20:52
Speaker
The Forge. I did the odd bit over the years. Do you find that having a sort of different career and not necessarily thinking and thinking about acting as a possible career for a long time has helped you keep a passion towards it?
00:21:04
Speaker
it's It's really weird. and As I said, like I think that whatever you do in life, it can be connected in some way with something that you don't expect it to you know find a connection. I mean, i work as a scientist, so I did my PhD here in England. That's how I ended up here.
00:21:25
Speaker
And yeah, my PhD is in solar energy. So I work actually as a scientist that is developing like a new type of solar cells. and And it is it is quite cool and it's interesting. And in some ways, i think it is also helpful for for acting because and at work I'm always faced with issues. And because we're developing a new product, it's not something that is out there in the market.
00:21:56
Speaker
like We need to come up with solutions. So that also applies when you act. You need to find a solution for your character at a given scene. So there's an element of creativity that you can draw from different parts of your life. I don't know if that makes any sense.
00:22:15
Speaker
I think that makes total sense. Yeah. I mean, it is is the thing that you that you keep saying that it's sort of the different elements of your life are connected. Yeah, ah because I like to combine my different passions.
00:22:26
Speaker
Yeah. Like over the years, I've tried like so many different stuff and somehow it has worked, some has not worked. But I always tell people, I always encourage people to try things.
00:22:38
Speaker
you don't really know if you like something if you've never like tried it but yeah like i have like many like hobbies and like uh when i was doing my phd i was also like uh football captain of you know the the college team for some time i was working as uh you know staff at the bar uh then i work at the COVID test center at the university.
00:23:03
Speaker
At some point I was thinking like dancing lessons. So I'm, you know, I'm always trying different things, trying to look if there's something out there that, you know, can have a positive impact on my
Philosophy, AI, and Cinema
00:23:16
Speaker
life.
00:23:16
Speaker
And some things stay, some, some things like don't, but you can draw inspiration from anywhere, like literally anywhere. And Like one of my recent like interests is in philosophy, for example. In April, I went to Cambridge. I attended a conference on philosophy and AI. And it was really cool.
00:23:37
Speaker
And I got to meet a lot of very interesting people from different parts of the world with different backgrounds. And they were all like really interesting. like I met lots of interesting people. And I learned a lot about different topics.
00:23:49
Speaker
related to philosophy and AI. And as a consequence of that, I started taking this online course of the philosophy of the ancient Greece. So I just like finished that course. It was like every Wednesday i was I had like two hours of philosophy lessons and now I need to write the final essay for that.
00:24:09
Speaker
And now I'm a friend of the guy who is like in charge of this like philosophy society. she she she He's Brazilian, but lead lived most of his life in Mexico.
00:24:23
Speaker
He's married to a Mexican, but he lives in Cambridge now, and he did his master's in philosophy there. And... Yeah, so we're friends now. And in this November, I'm actually going to go back to Cambridge to the conference.
00:24:38
Speaker
But this time I'm going to be presenting. So going to give you a presentation. And I had like total free. Well, the the main theme of the... week of conferences is going to be on robotics and philosophy.
00:24:50
Speaker
But they, like he told me, like, you can do whatever you want. So what I'm going to do, like my talk is going to be about ah philosophy and engineering of robotics in the cinema.
00:25:02
Speaker
So I'm kind of, you know, like creating this Frankenstein. with all my expertise, interests. So I'm really excited about this. And and actually, like by the end of this month, I'm going to go with this guy to Cambridge.
00:25:20
Speaker
to like he's and he's He's also got a podcast. ah His podcast is more and like the philosophy side of things. But he's interested in the lives of people.
00:25:32
Speaker
and with different backgrounds. And yeah, so I'm also going to be his podcast. So I guess this is a good month for a podcast. Wow. I guess in some ways it's like you seem to have this really great attitude and ability to just kind of say yes to things. And it seems to lead you to some like really, really exciting.
00:25:47
Speaker
it's Like the movie Yes Man from with Jim Carrey. Yeah, i guess I guess so. Sometimes you need to say no, but I think being open and just trying things like it's it's so good honestly it's most of the times when when you try something new it's it's gonna be for for the better you're gonna learn something i usually quite like to ask people how they balance acting or creativity with job stuff and quote unquote real life i guess in some ways it sort of seems like you kind of thread them all together in some ways is that yeah i'm not gonna lie it it is uh challenging in the past like
00:26:25
Speaker
I never really used ah like calendars you know to to know what I was doing. I always had in mind what I was doing, so i would start the week and I would know what was happening like throughout the week.
00:26:37
Speaker
But now I think that I'm doing so much stuff in different fronts that I just had to start making use of of of a calendar. Especially because you know if I'm taking, for example, like the philosophy lesson online,
00:26:51
Speaker
I need remember that I have that and not say immediately yes if someone tells me to you know work on a short film on that day. So I need to know that it's going to clash.
00:27:02
Speaker
Now I'm doing a lot more planning and scheduling. like I can tell you like already that the the rest of my year looks really busy, but I like that. you know be Being busy is it's it's a good thing. It's just like difficult to find the balance, but it's it's definitely worth it. like At the end of the day, I feel that now that I'm busier than ever, I have more energy than ever as well.
Staying Motivated and Seizing Opportunities
00:27:26
Speaker
And that might sound like counterintuitive, but... That's the reality. It's just because I get more motivation to do stuff because I'm doing things that I like, that I enjoy. That's how I try to sort this issue or this challenge of combining the different aspects of my life. Now, if I had the opportunity, if I'm like truly honest with you, I'd love to live off my passion. So, and and I'm working like towards making my professional career. And that doesn't mean that I'm going to forget about other stuff.
00:27:58
Speaker
If I make it into acting, you know, if I get good income that I can live with, I'm not going to forget of everything else, but I'd like to dedicate most of my time to acting and I'm working towards that. I know it's going to take a while.
00:28:14
Speaker
Same as it happened with identifying my passion. It took years, literally like years to find it. Now, okay, I've identified it. Now I need to work towards that life that I know that I want.
00:28:27
Speaker
Like I love my life now. I enjoy it. But I have a vision of where I want to be and I'm working to get there. And it's going to take time. but gonna make it work.
00:28:38
Speaker
Do you have um specific steps in mind that are part of that plan or is it sort of approaching it things as they come? Well, in my case, one of the difficulties, and i I know that this is one of my clearest goals, like in the medium term, is being able to settle in the UK because I currently have a visa. So I came with a student visa I finished my PhD studies and then I got a skilled worker visa.
00:29:08
Speaker
The thing is that that visa ties me to my current job. So I can do extra work, so I can work up to 20 hours in different things. but In order for me to be just like me in the UK, I need to have my job.
00:29:24
Speaker
And yeah, by the end of this year, I'm going to be, I'll have three years with this skilled worker visa. And I need five years with the skilled worker visa in order to apply for the indefinite lead to remain so I can, you know, be in the UK without being tied to a job.
00:29:40
Speaker
Although I'm looking for an alternative with another visa that is called Global Talent Visa, I've actually like like already applied and I'm waiting for a decision, but that will be like game changer because if that gets approved, it will allow me to apply lot earlier for the indefinite lead to remain, like basically by, you know, early next year.
00:30:01
Speaker
So that'll be amazing because then it gives me more freedom if I want to pursue more professional opportunities in acting.
00:30:12
Speaker
Like at the moment, I cannot commit to something that is going to take weeks of my time, you know, because I've got my full time job. And I can take holidays if I get like a good opportunity that, I don't know, it lasts a week or something like that. ah But other than that, like many things are just not possible at the moment because of that situation. So I know like one of my clear goals is being able to be in the UK without visa restriction.
00:30:43
Speaker
without aes or restrict the 20 hours thing would that affect if there were a like a longer a longer action role that came up yeah so that's why at the moment i'm like I'm trying to be patient. Like yeah I'm doing lots of cool stuff and I'm learning a lot.
00:31:01
Speaker
So for the rest of the year, I'm just like focused on my acting courses and in the short films, if I get the opportunity to do some more stage acting would be cool, but I'm just building, building up experience.
00:31:16
Speaker
So I know that for the rest of the year, like part of the next year. My goal is just to you know participate in as much stuff as I can. If this happens on weekends or ah like after work on a weekday,
00:31:36
Speaker
I'll do as much as I can. I'll keep building up my CV and getting more comfortable with acting in different scenarios. And yeah, just waiting for the stars, the planets to align. So I have more freedom to take the professional decisions that I looking forward to. think that's a sort of really interesting answer to to the question about practicalities. But also it's like, obviously there's there's things that are maybe maybe up in the air or taking taking time, but it also seems like you have a very practical approach to progressing with it yeah yeah i mean that i think that's just life and i keep saying the word passion but like honestly it's so good when you find your passion and that's why i encourage people to try different things because a lot of people struggle with identifying their passion but they don't really try as much things i found my passion like after uh being you know
00:32:30
Speaker
30 plus years old so it doesn't matter if like if you don't find it early but just you maximize your chances if you try more things but what One thing that I've always had in me, even before finding my passion for acting, is when I have a goal and I visualize something, I really connect with that vision and I commit. like Same to the to my commitment with the roles.
00:32:55
Speaker
like if If I have a goal, like I commit to the goal. like One example is when i when I knew that I wanted to do a master's in England, I knew that I had to work some overtime to get money to pay for flights and accommodation because well I got a scholarship that's another part of it and I needed to apply for a scholarship and pass the English exams to prove that you have a good enough English for the course and all that. But the first time that I applied for a scholarship, I was rejected, actually. And I was like, OK, this is going to happen. Like you get rejections in life. You're going to get many rejections, but that should not stop you if you're pursuing something. So I look for the next opportunity. Then I got the scholarship.
00:33:42
Speaker
And then actually, ah by the time that I got the scholarship to come here, I had two offers. So one was the one that i eventually took. which was a program at Durham University, but I was debating between that one and another program that it was in Dublin, in Ireland.
00:33:59
Speaker
So yeah, I could have chosen like any of them with the scholarship and I picked Durham and I think it was the best option. And eventually Durham connected me to Newcastle to the Actors Forge. as weird how life
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
00:34:12
Speaker
works, but... I think what I'm realizing as I talk to you, it's like, what you really have is like this ability to take yourself seriously. i think that's something that a lot of people, definitely something I've struggled with until quite recently is like having an idea and having having passion for the idea, but not necessarily having the, I guess, like passion for myself and my own ability. And think I think this is something that I i think is really sort of, I guess, impressive talking to you. It's this ability to take yourself seriously. Yeah, thank you. Do do you think that there is some sort of like imposter syndrome? I guess so, yeah.
00:34:46
Speaker
I mean, maybe yeah ah it's possible that i've that I've been so deep in it that I have imposter syndrome about saying I have imposter syndrome. Yeah. but I think this is the thing, something that I found I've learned a lot from from going to the Forge is sort gaining that ability and and like understanding you're doing yourself a disservice by not having that belief in yourself. And it's like it's almost like spending your life needing someone to tell you you can do it and realizing you're the only one who can actually do that. I have this thought that i I think that everyone is a special. And like if they ask if someone asks me, are you special?
00:35:22
Speaker
I would say yes, but I'm special not because I was special. born special. Like I choose to be special. And I think that anyone, like every single person can choose to be special because everyone has its like own uniqueness and no one is better at being you than you.
00:35:42
Speaker
So yes, like sometimes I might have been affected by imposter syndrome like in my life, but rarely I would say just because I trust in myself and yeah, I don't know.
00:35:55
Speaker
everything. I'm like really far from knowing everything like no no one no one does. But I know what I'm good at. I also know what I'm bad at. But I focus on the positives, like always.
00:36:06
Speaker
And this is the message that I like to give to people, to trust themselves, to to know themselves and and try things and and do things.
00:36:18
Speaker
This is a world of actions, you know? Yeah, it's good to have thoughts and you need these times to be thinking about things, you know like having these reflections and all that.
00:36:30
Speaker
But if it just stays there, it's like, I think that you're limiting yourself. You need to go into the into the world of, the real world, the the world of actions where things happen.
00:36:41
Speaker
And i really think that it's great that you're doing this, for example. You've taken the decision to to do this podcast. And I don't know, like for how long have you had the the thought of doing the podcast?
00:36:53
Speaker
But it's amazing that you've already you know done six or seven, something like that, episodes? i think so I think this one's six, yeah. They might not be released in that order. But but honestly, that it's it's quite cool. and um And I'm genuinely happy that you've taken the decision to do that.
00:37:10
Speaker
And like someone might listen to to this episode and because of that, they'll take the decision of doing a podcast or giving a shot to acting or maybe not something that is like, you know, not even related to anything that we've talked here, but just like doing something. Yeah, it's like the push to do. Maybe they've got something that's sort been playing in their mind for a while to do. Yeah.
00:37:35
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's really interesting. That's like really encouraging. ah ah um In some ways, i feel like that might kind of go quite nicely into just the last little bit that I like to do, which is talk about a film or piece of media that whoever I'm talking to is meaningful to them in some way.
Personal Connections to Film Themes
00:37:50
Speaker
And so you said Tick, Tick, Boom and Forrest Gump. What is sort of important about those two films to you? I think they are both really good movies. I mean, trying to be as objective as possible. because I think that you know whenever I do reviews and even professional critics, obviously there is some sort of agreement of what is good or what is bad.
00:38:12
Speaker
But there's always some level of subjectivity, right? But in this case, if I try to be as objective as possible, first of all, I think they're good movies. Okay, so that's to begin with that they're great movies. But now you don't always connect with a movie just because it's good.
00:38:26
Speaker
In this case, I connected with these two movies for different reasons. And actually, like I've only seen Tick, Tick, Boom once. I want to revisit it. I'll definitely do it soon.
00:38:37
Speaker
I've watched Forrest Gump many times. But yeah, I guess if I go first with Forrest Gump, the reason that I like this one is because it really brings me back good memories.
00:38:49
Speaker
I remember when I when i was like really young, i was I was a kid, and I used to watch this film with my siblings, my mom. and Yeah, like, I don't know, it like brings me back to that moment, you know, being in the same living room, watching this wholesome movie.
00:39:06
Speaker
And I actually like rewatched it recently. And I was afraid of doing it because I was like, I don't know if I want to, you know, ruin the memory. Like, I know, I remember that it's a great movie.
00:39:19
Speaker
and that I like it. But part of what it makes it special is, you know, watching it with my family. And I was going to watch it here, like, on my own. But then, yeah, no, I watched it and I was like, no, yeah, like, this is a great film. And i from the film, i what I like is that, you know, when Forrest Gump is going she he's also like trying lots of different things so in some way i can say that i connect with him like i haven't done the things that he did but he tried lots of different stuff and that sort of connects with my life and also there's like a part of the movie when he starts you know running and he doesn't stop just like runs and runs and eventually like he gets back to jenny and
00:40:03
Speaker
he is telling her about all these beautiful simple moments and memories that he's he has from those trips seeing the sunrise or when he's just like cutting the grass and you know doing Stuff that you don't need to pay for it, you know? Moments that you experience in life. And that's why I love this movie. So it's because I connect with my childhood, with my family, and also because it makes me appreciate life and the simpler moments and things that life has got to offer. Yeah, just the sort of the moments you can just kind of enjoy. Yeah, yeah. It's like you don't...
00:40:48
Speaker
Like every day, again, everyone is special and every day is special. So it doesn't need to be, you don't have to wait for it to be your birthday or Mother's Day or Christmas or on our anniversary or whatever.
00:41:05
Speaker
Every day. you know, you can make something impactful, something meaningful. Like today, like honestly, like being in this podcast is for me, like I was really looking forward to it and I'm enjoying it.
00:41:18
Speaker
So I'm like, cool. Like this, this is a really cool way of spending a, know, Thursday after, after work. So yeah, like that's, that's why like, That's why I like, no, that's why I love Forrest Gump.
00:41:29
Speaker
In the case of Tick Tick Boom, it is because, well, I think that like Andrew Garfield is one of my favorite actors and have this dream and I really wish I can make it through one day that I want to act with him at some point. That's pretty achievable.
00:41:47
Speaker
Well, I hope you're right. Yeah, that's that's like one of my greatest dreams. Like, be be be on something with him. Doesn't matter if he's a stage, movie, series, whatever. But I like that. Now, he's in this movie and he plays...
00:42:02
Speaker
Jonathan Larson. And I remembered when this movie came out. Oh, and also like it's directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which i admire because he's like a great composer. I recently watched Hamilton at the theater in Sunderland, in the Sunderland Empire. Oh, yes. I went as well. It was amazing. After that, I was like so inspired by it that I had to watch the original cast version that is on Disney Plus with Lin-Manuel Miranda. So, yeah, I was just, know, like,
00:42:31
Speaker
singing all the songs and yeah, it was great. So Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Garfield, a great reasons to watch this movie. Now, Andrew Garfield portrays Jonathan Larson, this composer and playmaker that died years ago and he died at a young age.
00:42:50
Speaker
But the start of the movie, she is and Andrew Garfield is, who's playing Jonathan Larson, ah He starts when he's ah turning 30.
00:43:01
Speaker
And at that time I was also turning 30. So it was like, there was a connection there that that was like, huh, I'm also turning 30. And I had all these thoughts in my mind because this was before I started with the podcast with my friends.
00:43:15
Speaker
And I knew back then that I wanted to do something, but I needed to push. And that movie was one of the biggest pressures that I had back then. Because in the movie, like they show you, you know, part of the life of Jonathan Larson and that he was trying to make something big in theater.
00:43:37
Speaker
But he was, you know, he had this creative part of it as a side thing because he needed to pay the bills and all that. So he had a work, he had a job. had a job And the he was really struggling because he was like, I'm turning 30 and I haven't achieved anything. all That i was like the feeling like, and I want to go into the creative world, but like I'm struggling a lot.
00:44:02
Speaker
So he was you know eventually very, very successful, but also like he died really young, but he was able to create them the musical Rent, which is about, you know, so like struggling,
00:44:14
Speaker
creative people. Is it right? i can't remember. Is it right that he died before rent got big? Yeah. Yeah. yeah So he never even got got to see. No, no, no Which is it's it's really a shame.
00:44:25
Speaker
But but I'm, you know, I'm glad that he was able to to finish it before it became a hit. And I'm sure that he he enjoyed until the very last day, like all all that experience. But yeah, it is just a shame that he didn't get to to experience the success of his plays, but such is life.
00:44:45
Speaker
Like I was really inspired by his story. And actually like this year I went to watch Rent the musical and yeah, like by the end of it, I had like, you know, tears in my eyes because I was like,
00:44:59
Speaker
It was so meaningful to me because I was like, it's not only that it was like a nice musical, but it's also like this is connected to the story of the person that is portrayed in this movie by two people that I admire, Andrew Garfield and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
00:45:17
Speaker
So it's just like, you know, everything connected at the same time. And it's just, I find it so inspiring. So it's it's been a cool circle there of connecting all all these things.
00:45:29
Speaker
Basically, that's why I love these these two films by two different reasons. Yeah, that's that that's why I connect so much with them. I feel like there's sort It's different reasons, but I can sort of see like as well like a connectivity between the... Even between the two. two Yeah, yeah, sort I guess just in terms of like sort of just embracing kind of life, because that's sort of... You know, I think the thing with Tick, Tick, Boom... um I watched the film. I do this a lot with musicals, where I watched the film, and I enjoyed the film, and then I sort of forgot about it for a little while. But because I was listening to things like Hamilton, it got recommended to listen to some other songs, and it's... I feel like I've actually come to then know Tick Tick Boom because I've ended up listening to some of the songs quite a bit. And there's just, you know, like there's the cages or wings. so
00:46:12
Speaker
um Yeah, I think I did ah quite a similar thing. Like around COVID time, I got super into listening to Hamilton and then Tick Tick Boom came. I think it was 2021 or two. two twelve Yes, 2021, because it's when I turned 30. All right. OK, yeah, that's an easy to remember.
00:46:28
Speaker
How do you feel about the musicals? like not I mean, trying to do a musical, like acting-wise. You know what? I think i it's something I'd love to do. i just I'm just getting used to learning how to act. One thing at a time. i did notice to do a musical theatre dancing course at Dance City, which I briefly thought, i would I be able to do that? But then i thought you might need dance experience.
00:46:49
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that's one thing that I really like to to try because I love musicals and um I'd like to at some point, maybe next year, like not this year, maybe next year or the year after, I'd like to take like singing lessons.
00:47:04
Speaker
yeah And not because I want to be a great singer, like that's not my goal at all, but I just want to be a good enough singer that I can be considered for musical roles and stuff like Because when I was seeing Hamilton, I was like, wow, this is really good. I could see myself being Hamilton. I was like, I can do it.
00:47:21
Speaker
I just need to you know you know learn how to sing properly and control it. like It's easy to say that. I know it will take a lot of work and lots of time. But I think I could be there. I just need to get to work. And also like connecting again the dots from from from the past, like another hint that was would have loved to do acting is whenever I was at the karaoke, I would always like enjoy enjoy
Balder's Social Media and Farewell
00:47:48
Speaker
it a lot.
00:47:48
Speaker
I would always put on a performance. So I didn't like back then I didn't have like any acting experience, like any acting lessons or whatever. But I would always go for songs that I could show lots of movement and more than singing a song i was always like a storyteller and a performer so again like the hints were there i just didn't get them it's always it's always been there it's just coming to the the realization to actually push to do it yeah that's amazing i love i love that that you've uh that you watched hamilton and you thought i'm gonna be hamilton i didn't say i'm gonna be having no you're gonna be you're gonna be manifesting um have you have you listened to linman mor moranda's just done album the warriors album you listened to to that oh i i haven't actually that's really like it's really good it's like it's similar to you know that you can just listen to hamilton like as an album it's like that except there's no stage player for it and
00:48:48
Speaker
It is in some ways a bit, I think he he said he's he's made it really quite complicated and it would be hard to stage as a musical. But but that's like, I really enjoyed listening to so that. i knew yeah I definitely need to listen to it. Yeah. Yeah. Based on obviously the film, The Warriors. I really, I really enjoyed listening to that. That was just me ah ah giving you a recommendation.
00:49:09
Speaker
No, I'll definitely take that one. yeah Thank you for talking to me. I think that's that's everything. Unless there's there's any anything else you want to to add No, no. So again, thanks thanks a lot for the for for the invite. I've had a lovely time having this conversation with you. I hope that you know the listeners have found this enjoyable and that they can... hope that there is listeners.
00:49:30
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I'll send this to my mom. Okay, right. maybe we'll We'll get one. Hello, brother. Yeah, do you have anything you want to either plug or do you want to tell people where they can find you? ah Yeah, so, well, if if you want to follow my acting endeavors, like i I'm very active on on Instagram, so you can find me as balder22, balder with BS about.
00:50:04
Speaker
And like if if you know any Spanish and you you want to give it a watch to my YouTube videos, they're not great there, okay? but and Again, it's the legend of Balder.
00:50:17
Speaker
ah So you can give that a watch as well. And yeah, I mean, you'll see but what I'm doing these days and and what I'll be doing in the future. And i if if I don't know you, I'd like to meet you at some point.
00:50:33
Speaker
And I'd like to listen to your story as well. Thank you for talking to me and I'll see you then. Thank you. What Makes You Tick is hosted, produced and edited by me, Ryan Watson. Thank you to Craig Pearson for designing the show logo. The theme music is Silent Movie 91 by Sasha End.
00:50:48
Speaker
Thank you once again to Balder for speaking to me for this episode. Join me next week for my conversation with actor and voice artist Pam Jackson. And keep an eye out for a preview of that conversation by following at Makes You Tick Pod on Instagram.
00:51:00
Speaker
Thanks for listening.