In this episode, host Kaili Vernoff (Susan Grimshaw in Red Dead Redemption 2) interviews Carolina Ravassa. Gamers will know Carolina best as the stealthy hacker Sombra in Overwatch and Valorant's explosive Agent Raze, but Carolina also has a stellar film and TV resume, including roles on "The Affair," "Mr. Robot" and Step Up 3D, as well as the amazing web series she wrote, produced, and starred in, called Hispanglosaxon. Carolina and Kaili discussed her acting training, the tricky business of auditioning, and how Carolina's experiences meeting fans all over the world have made her an even stronger actress.
Follow Carolina Ravassa's social, YouTube, and Twitch channels for updates on her latest film and interviews with other video game and animation stars:
Instagram: @ravassa
Twitter: @carolinaravassa
Youtube: @hispanglosaxon
Twitch: @carolinaravassa
For bonus material with Carolina, visit the*gameHERs website.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Tune into the*gameHERs Twitch this Thursday, November 19th for the*gameHERs Awards.
In this episode, host Kaili Vernoff (Susan Grimshaw in Red Dead Redemption 2) interviews Carolina Ravassa. Gamers will know Carolina best as the stealthy hacker Sombra in Overwatch and Valorant's explosive Agent Raze, but Carolina also has a stellar film and TV resume, including roles on "The Affair," "Mr. Robot" and Step Up 3D, as well as the amazing web series she wrote, produced, and starred in, called Hispanglosaxon. Carolina and Kaili discussed her acting training, the tricky business of auditioning, and how Carolina's experiences meeting fans all over the world have made her an even stronger actress.
Follow Carolina Ravassa's social, YouTube, and Twitch channels for updates on her latest film and interviews with other video game and animation stars:
Instagram: @ravassa
Twitter: @carolinaravassa
Youtube: @hispanglosaxon
Twitch: @carolinaravassa
For bonus material with Carolina, visit the*gameHERs website.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.
Tune into the*gameHERs Twitch this Thursday, November 19th for the*gameHERs Awards.
TRANSCRIPTS ARE GENERATED USING A COMBINATION OF SPEECH RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND HUMAN TRANSCRIBERS, AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK THE CORRESPONDING AUDIO BEFORE QUOTING IN PRINT.
Carolina Ravassa [00:00:00] I literally was going, who am I? Like, what do I need to do to show them that I'm a three dimensional person and that that it's it goes beyond the stupid hair and the boobs and the whatever you need. But I've just learned to go: "I'm doing my best acting work right now. And if you don't like it, I can't do anything else to convince you."
Verta Maloney, the*gameHERs [00:00:29] Welcome to Let's Play by the*gameHERs, a podcast hosted by actress Kaili Vernoff.in Fans know Kaili best as the fiery Susan Grimshaw and Red Dead Redemption, too, and Miranda Cowan in GTA five. Our series features some of the most informed and exciting people in the gaming industry today. Kaili and her guests discuss careers, gaming and so much more. If you like what you hear, be sure to check out thegamhers.com website to hear exclusive bonus material from each of our guests.
Kaili Vernoff [00:01:01] Hey, everybody! OK, my guest today is the wonderful actress Carolina Ravassa. Gamers will know Carolina best as the stealthy hacker Sombra in Overwatch and Valorant's explosive Agent Raze. But Carolina also has a stellar film and TV resume, including roles on The Affair, Mr. Robot and Step Up 3D, as well as the amazing web series she wrote, produced, and starred in, called Hispanglosaxon. Carolina and I discussed her acting training, the tricky business of auditioning, and how her experiences meeting fans all over the world have made her an even stronger actress. This conversation was fascinating and so much fun, and I can't wait for you to hear it. So here we go.
Carolina Ravassa [00:01:48] Hello?
Kaili Vernoff [00:01:49] Hello!
Carolina Ravassa [00:01:50] How are you?
Kaili Vernoff [00:01:52] Carolina, I am so excited to talk to you. I'm I have been like immersing myself in your work for the last few days, and I sort of feel like I know you.
Carolina Ravassa [00:02:03] Oh, my gosh. Exciting.
Kaili Vernoff [00:02:06] And I got to say, I'm kind of surprised that our paths haven't crossed before.
Carolina Ravassa [00:02:10] That's so crazy.
Kaili Vernoff [00:02:12] I know. It seems like and we'll get into some of this, but I it seems like we know a lot of the same people and we've had some of the same experiences. So, you know, I kind of feel like I'm interviewing an...like an almost friend. By the way, you are so much fun to watch.
Carolina Ravassa [00:02:30] Oh, God. What did you what did you watch? I'm like, oh, no!
Kaili Vernoff [00:02:34] I watched everything. I watched everything. And OK, obviously, we're going to get into your remarkable video game career, but I actually want to start with The Affair.
Carolina Ravassa [00:02:42] Oh, cool.
Kaili Vernoff [00:02:44] Because when I watched your reel I remembered you, like, instantly, like instantly I remembered noticing your character and thinking that that role would certainly recur because you had such presence.
Carolina Ravassa [00:02:58] Oh, make me cry. Thank you, that's so kind of you.
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:01] Holy cow, it's true. And I and I mentioned it to my husband and he and by the way, he does not have a great memory and he totally remembered you. And I don't think it was just the bathing suit. No, I really think.
Carolina Ravassa [00:03:11] I was just going to say, oh, there was a bathing suit involved.
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:15] And you rocked it. But no, it was your presence. It was your your absolute just being in that moment with Dominic West. And it was like...
Carolina Ravassa [00:03:23] Well, how could you not be in the moment with Sir Dominic West?
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:27] Oh, my God, I did a day on that show and
Carolina Ravassa [00:03:31] Oh cool!
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:31] Yeah, and it was one of those days that was like there was just a lot of green screen stuff, like the Thanksgiving Day parade. So even though it was one scene, I was there for like 14 hours and he was the nicest man on the planet.
Carolina Ravassa [00:03:43] He is. He really is. Absolutely.
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:45] But he was not wearing a bathing suit when I worked with him. I'm just I'm just saying you know, apples. Oranges.
Carolina Ravassa [00:03:50] Yeah. Him and I had well, I come back and so I saw him in less than a bathing suit.
Kaili Vernoff [00:03:55] Oh, yes, that's right. Yes, you did. And I knew you would.
Carolina Ravassa [00:04:00] You know, I didn't. That was set to be just a two or three liner in the pilot. And then eight months later they were like, oh, we want to bring you back. Are you cool? I'm like, absolutely. It was a lucky thing.
Kaili Vernoff [00:04:11] I yeah, it is lucky and it's a credit to you because, you know, you you inhabited that role in a way that was not distracting, but was like, oh, there's something there with them, you know.
Carolina Ravassa [00:04:25] Yeah. It's too bad, you know, I didn't get pregnant from that one time and then I coulda come back for child support or something.
Kaili Vernoff [00:04:34] Yeah, I wouldn't have been surprised on that show. People watch that show. It's so fun. OK, so let's back up. You grew up in Colombia.
Carolina Ravassa [00:04:43] Yes. Yes.
Kaili Vernoff [00:04:45] But you spent a lot of time in the States with your grandmother. Did I get that right?
Carolina Ravassa [00:04:49] Well, so my grandma was from Wisconsin and she actually, when she met my grandfather and fell in love and all that beautiful story, she moved down to Colombia. So we actually grew up with her there. But because she had ties, obviously, to her sister in Wisconsin and then two of my aunts had moved to the States, we would come up often to visit family. But my grandma was the one that actually was in Colombia with us. Like she basically raised her family there. So we had this kind of dual, dual language, bicultural household thing going on.
Kaili Vernoff [00:05:20] That is so cool that you had that sort of all in your household.
Carolina Ravassa [00:05:23] You know, and now I realize that. I think growing up we got made fun of because we spoke English at home and they were like "ooooh you're so American!" Kids, obviously, like all our little Colombian friends, like they spoke English like this, you know, and it was like they kind of made... Kids make fun of you for whatever reason. And I think I was I was very blond and I looked Scandinavian and I just I didn't fit in to Colombian standards. So it was it was tough as a kid, you get bullied for whatever. But now I realize, oh, my God, thank gosh, I speak English well, and I can do these accents. And I... You know, in the end, what we get made fun of for is, I think what ends up being our strength sometimes, you know, as adults.
Kaili Vernoff [00:06:02] Yeah, I think I think one of my greatest lessons is that whatever it is that is make-funable of-able about you.
Carolina Ravassa [00:06:10] A ha.
Kaili Vernoff [00:06:11] Is the thing that eventually sets you apart. If you manage to hang on to it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:06:16] Yes. And somehow exploit it or develop it.
Kaili Vernoff [00:06:20] Or just inhabit it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:06:22] Yes. Inhabit it.
Kaili Vernoff [00:06:23] Then it can it can be the thing that sets you apart, especially in our business.
Carolina Ravassa [00:06:27] That's why when I launched my web series, after a while, I realized that my personal motto as a Hispanglosaxon is to embrace your inner weirdo, because what made me super like loud and funny at times or annoying at times was my weirdness. And that's what gave me my acting talent, I guess, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:06:49] Yeah. I love your Web series and we're going to get to that in a little bit. I think it's brilliant. But but I want to, I want to talk a little bit about your acting roots. So you went to Boston College for theater?
Carolina Ravassa [00:07:01] Yes, I just saw that you went to B.U.
Kaili Vernoff [00:07:03] I did. I was a terrier.
Carolina Ravassa [00:07:05] Yeah. Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:07:06] Wasn't that a great town to go to college?
Carolina Ravassa [00:07:08] An absolute I mean, besides the winter that really killed me. Yes, I loved it.
Kaili Vernoff [00:07:14] Well, we did you did you go straight to Boston from Columbia? Because that would be a shock, right, weatherwise?
Carolina Ravassa [00:07:21] Yes, I know. It's funny, really random aspect of my life. But when I was in middle one year of middle school, one year of high school, my, me and my family, we moved up to Rhode Island and we lived there for two years. And so I kind of had, you know, the American experience of belonging to a tennis team and the swim team and doing theater in America. And then we moved back down. And then two years later, I went up to college. So I kind of already lived in the states understanding what seasons were and all that crazy stuff in the Northeast. But college hit me really hard. It was definitely very different than living with your family in a warm country.
Kaili Vernoff [00:08:01] Yeah, yeah, I think college can be such a shock. I did feel like being in Boston that has so many so many colleges and universities in such like a small like radius.
Carolina Ravassa [00:08:15] Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:08:15] You know, there were at least a lot of us, a lot of young and lost.
Carolina Ravassa [00:08:20] I've read that there are eight, 80, 70 or 80 different colleges within the Boston area, which is big because Mass is big. But it's that's a lot of universities and colleges.
Kaili Vernoff [00:08:32] Yeah. Yes, for sure. So what was the theater program like there like? Did you already know that that's what you wanted to do or did you find that in school?
Carolina Ravassa [00:08:42] I knew that I wanted to either be an actress or a painter. I loved...Not that I was good at painting, but I really enjoyed it. So I, I thought I would do fine arts. And then when I was looking at RISD, I was like, oh my God, I need to apply with a portfolio. What? I don't have that.
Kaili Vernoff [00:08:57] But they want to actually see me paint before they bring me there?
Carolina Ravassa [00:09:02] Deep down, I knew that acting was was my thing. I had done plays since I was five years old, so I did have I got it to be you and I got into Emerson. And so in the end I was choosing between those three and I chose B..C because I felt like I wanted I wanted the campus life and I liked that it was a liberal arts program. So it wasn't just Emerson was a little bit too specific and I still scared. What if I change my mind? So BC kind of gave me the the opportunity to do the liberal arts stuff as well and figure it out, which in the end, like within a month I was like, oh yeah, I'm a theater major, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:09:33] Yeah, it sort of hits you that way. It's like, this is me, these are my people. This is. Yeah, it's what lights me up.
Carolina Ravassa [00:09:40] Absolutely.
Kaili Vernoff [00:09:41] Now, I read that you worked with the Theater of the Oppressed in Brazil, is that right?
Carolina Ravassa [00:09:47] Yes.
Kaili Vernoff [00:09:48] So tell me, was that after school? How did you how did they find you? How did you get involved?
Carolina Ravassa [00:09:54] It was the craziest thing. I took a class at B.C. It was called Creative Dramatics, and it was just talking about how, like drama can be incorporated into so many different things -- drama therapy, teaching kids all the different things. And we touched on Theater of the Oppressed very lightly. And I was like, oh, this sounds like it's great on paper. I don't know if it actually works, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:10:13] Right.
Carolina Ravassa [00:10:13] And then separately to that, I had been obsessed with Brazil since I was in seventh grade. I wanted to be a photographer back then and I love waterfalls. And my mom said, oh, you're going to have to go to Iguazu Falls someday in Brazil and take pictures of that, because that was like my dream. I wanted to photograph waterfalls. How crazy is this?
Kaili Vernoff [00:10:30] I think it's beautiful. I love it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:10:33] It's hitting me now as I'm telling you this, because I had totally forgotten. And so when I when it came time to think about going abroad, I'd always wanted to go abroad, even though I was abroad, I wanted to go to yet another country. So I looked into going to Brazil because I wanted to learn how to dance samba and capoeira and learn Portuguese and duh, go to Iguazu Falls. So then all of a sudden my teacher was like, Wait, you're going to Rio? That's where Theater of the Oppressed is. And I was like, What? I started doing research. And they had internships there. And of course, because Brazil is Brazil, I couldn't lock it down before I actually got there. So I literally landed. And a day later I took myself physically to the Theater of the Oppressed office to say Hi, I'm here. How can I learn from you people? And they're like, Oh, you're just in luck. These six months, we're going to be doing a bunch of programs with Augusto Boal himself. We're going to go into into prisons, work with prisoners and with housemaids locally and with public school teachers. I mean, you name it, we did so much theater. I can't.
Kaili Vernoff [00:11:40] How long were you involved with them?
Carolina Ravassa [00:11:42] It was six months. I was there six months. It was four months of that college semester. But I would do my college classes and get the heck out of there. I would take an hour bus ride up to Lapa where the theater is. And my life there in Rio was the theater. It wasn't really the exchange with the, you know, with the Jesuit institution of Rio.
Kaili Vernoff [00:12:03] And how many waterfalls did you photograph?
Carolina Ravassa [00:12:06] You know, I did go to Iguazu when I did a hike. I got myself to Iguazu. I had to. Stunning. So stunning. And I think a few hikes. Yes, I did photograph a ton of them. I also had a film camera, so I was taking pictures in black and white because it was so artsy.
Kaili Vernoff [00:12:22] You know, I've been to Brazil exactly once. I did just before I got married. I did like a hiking, kayaking and yoga retreat on Ilha Grande.
Carolina Ravassa [00:12:33] Oh, yes.
Kaili Vernoff [00:12:33] Oh, my God. Amazing. Gorgeous. Yes. And they tried to teach us capoeira like there where we got the Brazilian experience. And I always thought that I would go back. I was so filled up just by being there and being near all the water and being I mean, and the and the hiking and being around the people and the food. And I always thought I'd go I'd go back and I'm I'm sort of. I'm realizing that it's been a while and I need to get on that,.
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:01] Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you stopped in Rio because that's where it's close to Ilha Grande, but it's just one of my favorite cities in the world. It's it's yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:09] I think we had lunch there, but it was like the people that were hosting the retreat picked us up at the airport. I mean, it was like I mean, barely.
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:16] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's a great country.
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:18] Oh, God. So then you go back and you finish school in Boston.
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:22] Yes.
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:23] And then did you come directly to New York?
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:26] I went straight to New York because a summer, the summer right after Brazil, before going into that senior year of college, I did a program in New York at the time it was called the New York -- sorry -- School for Film and Television in New York. And then now they've changed to the New York Academy... New York...
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:45] I think it's the Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:48] Thank you.
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:48] Yes. I only know this because I actually taught voice over there for two semesters. So I.
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:53] Shut the front door!
Kaili Vernoff [00:13:54] I swear. And I saw that you studied with Mary Elaine Monti. And I was like, oh, my goodness!
Carolina Ravassa [00:13:59] Look, Mary Elaine, change what I loved...I loved her like characters that were really gravelly. Oh, my God, I love her.
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:07] I'm love her.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:08] I met with Abrams in New York as well. And her son is the sound engineer. I love all of the connections.
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:13] Yeah. So our connection was that she was in a play that my sister wrote about our family and she played my stepmother.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:20] Oh my God.
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:21] And I played myself and. Yeah.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:24] That is so cool.
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:26] I know I love all these New York connections. It's just we really are the luckiest. We really the luckiest.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:32] You know, I wouldn't be surprised if we did. You know, we were in the same waiting room at some voiceover audition or something. We just didn't know of each other, you know?
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:41] Yes. Yes. I found that like I wanted to reach out to other people in the last couple of days and ask if they knew you and you know, and then I said,.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:48] Get the grub.
Kaili Vernoff [00:14:50] And then I thought, oh, just ask her what I want to ask her.
Carolina Ravassa [00:14:52] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so yeah. Because I did that summer program, then I thought, you know what I'm going to do one year, one more year there. I didn't feel once I was done with B.C. I didn't feel like I was ready to hit the ground running. I was a little scared and I think I felt like I still needed some training. I knew I wanted to do film and TV and Boston College does theater. And so, yeah. So I wanted to prepare kind of like the TV stuff and what's voiceover and commercial and, you know, the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts taught that. So I went for one more year and that's why I moved to New York initially to study a little bit more and figure out where I wanted to live. I didn't know if I was going to stay in New York. I was a little scared of the city, to be honest.
Kaili Vernoff [00:15:34] I understand that. Yeah, it can be very, very intimidating.
Carolina Ravassa [00:15:40] Yeah, but you get the hang of it, you kind of learn to find your Zen on the subway, you know, it's crazy.
Kaili Vernoff [00:15:45] You know, it's one of...the subway is one of the things I have missed the most in this quarantine, which is sort of crazy. But I'm such a people watcher when I really...
Carolina Ravassa [00:15:57] Where are you in New York?
Kaili Vernoff [00:15:58] So I live in the same apartment that I moved into when I graduated from Boston University. And I'm on the Upper East Side.
Carolina Ravassa [00:16:05] I cannot believe that.
Kaili Vernoff [00:16:06] It's insane. It's insane. But it's also so new York.
Carolina Ravassa [00:16:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I shouldn't say I can't believe that. Of course I can believe that. It's just craziness.
Kaili Vernoff [00:16:14] It's crazy. OK, so I do now need to talk about Hispangosaxon, which is this web series that you created. And since we're talking about New York, you did such an incredible job of just illustrating what it's like. I mean I mean for all of us, but especially for someone who people might try to pigeonhole. I mean, I think they try to pigeonhole all of us. And if they do woman doubly. Um, but I, I loved all of the episodes, but the one that really hit me in my heart was this episode you made where you're having this dream.
Carolina Ravassa [00:16:54] Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:16:54] Although I've just spoiled it. Spoiler alert. It's a dream.
Carolina Ravassa [00:16:57] No, it's fine.
Kaili Vernoff [00:16:57] Yeah. Yeah. But where you're with this sort of nameless, faceless casting director who starts like one by one asking you to add on every stereotype about a Latina woman.
Carolina Ravassa [00:17:13] Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:17:15] And and as you gamely smile through it all and even crossing your own personal boundaries at the end, your hair color is not dark enough.
Carolina Ravassa [00:17:27] Yeah, yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:17:29] And you made me laugh throughout this series just because you are...you are so precise. And you are you are I mean, you are a technician. It's amazing to watch you work. But that episode sort of opened me up because it was it really illustrated how hard it is to try to hold onto yourself.
Carolina Ravassa [00:17:50] Yeah. Yes. You know, it's funny, I was talking about this in another interview recently, like, how do you how do you do it? How do you make a character stand out? And I said, you know, it's been a crazy journey because at the beginning you're just listening to the feedback you get. You were too like you were too skinny. You weren't voluptuous enough. You're a great actress, we just went in another direction, more Mexican. And all that feedback made me start doing things like, luckily, I never got unhealthy or like got fake boobs. That would be horrible. But dye your hair, try tanning, all the stupid stuff. Yes, I still keep a pair of hoops in my jewelry box that [unintelligible] because you got to do that like Latinos all gotta wear hoops. But I think that the episode after that is another audition where. Yeah, I don't know. I look Italian because I did my hair. I don't look Latina, I look Italian now, and I start I cry next to a dumpster and it turns into this dramatic thing. But it's because I remember: I walk out of an amazing audition for it was a Spike Lee project and they needed a Brazilian or something. I can't remember. And I did a great job. And then the the the feedback was, oh, she just looked Italian. And I am standing on the corner of twenty third and Sixth Avenue on the northwest corner. I remember this. And it was raining and I was bawling my eyes out as my manager gave me this feedback because I literally was going: Who am I? Like, what do I need to do to show them that I'm a three-dimensional person and that, that it's, it goes beyond the stupid hair and the boobs and the whatever you need, you know. And I think that going through all of that, after all that, that's when I started Hispanglosaxon because I'm like, you know what? F this, I'm going to have a good time. I'm going to do my best. I'm going to focus on the acting and not on the darn look or what I think they want. And if they don't like it, well, then I'll move on to the next audition. Of course, it still hurts when you don't book something. But I've just learned to go: I'm doing my best acting work right now. And if you don't like it, I just I can't do anything else to convince you, you know?
Kaili Vernoff [00:20:10] Yeah. I think that one of the things that has happened for me with maturity is that I actually no longer want feedback.
Carolina Ravassa [00:20:17] Uh huh.
Kaili Vernoff [00:20:19] Because a lot of times the feedback is just because they don't know what else to say.
Carolina Ravassa [00:20:25] Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:20:26] So, you know, sometimes the feedback might not even be accurate. It's just that they're trying to come up with an answer that isn't just: we loved her, we just went a different direction. When actually that's the truth.
Carolina Ravassa [00:20:38] Yeah. And I think that the best thing to receive is, oh, we just went in a different direction because whatever dude, I don't I don't want to know that she was more this more that more whatever. You're absolutely right. And we have to just move forward with what we feel our essence is and our like deep down in our hearts, what we feel. One of my friends, she she coached on a lot of my self tapes and stuff. Brilliant actress in New York, Patricia Noonan, and she does a lot of theater and writes, and she's so talented. After a few episodes of Hispanglosaxon, she goes, Carolina, I think this is the most honest work I've ever seen you do. And I remember that word honest, stuck with me because, you know, sometimes we put on this persona when we're doing a scene. And Hispanglosaxon, man, they're all weird characters, but they're all me. They're all coming from deep within and and they're not fake, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:21:32] Yeah, I noticed that actually. I noticed that it was it was surprisingly authentic. Even the characters that had extreme voices and I love all the borrowed wigs, they were all sort of they were really fleshed out in real you know, I felt that I felt like you weren't having a laugh at anyone's expense unless you meant to.
Carolina Ravassa [00:21:55] And and they were also people that I felt like I just -- that one casting director: you just you're not quite -- like that was her voice and I was like, I want to punch you in the face, lady. But it was that she was giving me that rating feeling. So sometimes it's like, what did she evoke in me and what did she sound like to me? That's what I'm recreating, you know?
Kaili Vernoff [00:22:15] Right, your perspective doesn't need to match her voice, it's how you heard it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:22:20] Yeah, and maybe I was like that, but, you know, like, I took some liberties. I had to, with accents and stuff, but.
Kaili Vernoff [00:22:27] So let's talk about this ethnically ambiguous thing that they talk to you about in your series. Right. So you're you're you're experiencing that out in the world. But then when you find video games, it seems like you have really made that your your moneymaker, how good you are at these accents. My God.
Carolina Ravassa [00:22:48] You know, video games and animation. Animation has been really good to me out in L.A. because New York didn't get a lot of those back there. But it's funny. So I would walk into a film and TV audition and the casting director would look at my resume and go, oh, wait, you speak all these languages. So I'm sorry. What are you Brazilian? Are you Spanish? I don't understand. What are you? I don't understand. This is confusing. I would take those off because it confuses me because you look white. .
Kaili Vernoff [00:23:15] I remember those. Take this off. Oh God.
Carolina Ravassa [00:23:19] But it's like but this is me and this is an asset. I speak languages. How could I not list these? And then in the animation world and video games because I don't need to look brown or or darker or have an Afro or have a Mexican looking whatever they want. All of a sudden I just sound it because I am good with accents. So I feel like for the first time it didn't matter what I looked like because I understand my look isn't congruent with my accent. I get it. So. So that's why they've just been open to you, like I can be Cuban and sort of talk like this or whatever or like Puerto Rican or Mexican, you name it. Or I can be an old lady or a little seven-year-old kid with so amazing.
Kaili Vernoff [00:24:00] It is amazing and it is rare. So it was Max Payne, your first video game then?
Carolina Ravassa [00:24:06] It was. And it was again, because they needed Brazilian Portuguese speakers. And I had lived in Rio thanks to the Theater of the Oppressed. So I auditioned on my own. I didn't even get that with an agent I just submitted on New York castings because they were looking for Brazilians. And I mean, I didn't that was Brazilian. I said I spoke Portuguese, and and that's how I booked that.
Kaili Vernoff [00:24:25] And then did that lead to GTA5?
[00:24:28] It did, because I was smart. I was working on Max Payne and I bonded really well with Tony Greenidge. What a sweetheart. And
Kaili Vernoff [00:24:37] I love Tony.
Carolina Ravassa [00:24:38] Who's now at Riot Games, which I'm working for. So it's just all amazing. But him and Rod and everybody, I connected with them. And on Max Payne, if you weren't an American-sounding person, they were all from Brazil. And they all talk like this, you know, a very heavy accent you when they talk to you. And so I was like, hey, Tony, next time you need just English like this or Spanish, think of me, because I'm not just a Brazilian Portuguese speaker with an accent. And he was like, oh, yeah, yeah, thanks. So I kind of had to plant the seed like, I know you have me here as a Brazilian, but like, please consider me for other things. And I did not audition for GTA5. He just called me up for a role and said, hey, we want you to voice Taliana Martinez. And I went in the booth and recorded and it was awesome. And then I got to do MoCap for them. And same for Red Dead.
Kaili Vernoff [00:25:26] Oh, right. So for Taliana. You did MoCap for.
Carolina Ravassa [00:25:31] I did the voice of Tatiana and then I did MoCap for a bunch of other characters. I didn't do the MoCap for Taliana.
Kaili Vernoff [00:25:36] Oh right. OK, I had a similar experience where I, I, I was brought, I was currently shooting Red Dead and I got a call for a day of work and when I got there to the studio I found out that it was for GTA5.
Carolina Ravassa [00:25:53] Oh yeah?
Kaili Vernoff [00:25:54] And I had no idea. I ran into one of the producers who was like "What are you doing here?" And I was like I'm working. And they were like, no, you're not. Oh, you're doing GTA5. I said, wuh?
Carolina Ravassa [00:26:05] Oh yeah, I love it when they spilled the beans. And then you're like, Oh, that's what this is! Cool.
Kaili Vernoff [00:26:09] Exactly. I mean, you'll take information wherever you can get it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:26:12] Absolutely. Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:26:14] OK, so so you have that experience and then was Sombra in Overwatch yourjust like breakout role for video games?
Carolina Ravassa [00:26:23] Absolutely. Absolutely.
Kaili Vernoff [00:26:25] She is so cool. Like I cannot believe how cool she is. She and it's not surprising to me because you have such great energy and joy in your voice. But I was watching some of some of her stuff just as this, you know, she's this hacker with this stealth. And how much fun did you have playing her?
Carolina Ravassa [00:26:51] I love her because she is so confident and sassy and she has a dark sense of humor, which I totally have and funny. Back to the sound engineer at Abrams, who's Mary Elaine Monti's son -- he every time I auditioned for commercial stuff, he'd go, Yeah, Carolina, just just do your, like, sarcastic, like, dry humor thing. And I go, Keagan, but I'm not booking these man, why do you keep telling me that? He's just like it's just so great and then I used that for Sombra and that's what got it. You know, she has to be dry and like, I'm too cool for school, but I know exactly what I'm doing. And I'm going to you know, I'm a kill you because she does.
Kaili Vernoff [00:27:30] Yeah. She has that, like, badass confidence.
Carolina Ravassa [00:27:34] She's fearless. Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:27:36] I don't know if you know this, but when I started playing one of one of the pieces, my daughter came out and started like talking with you. And I was like, but you haven't watched, you haven't played Overwatch. And she's like, no, but that's a TikTok soundbite. Yeah. Did you know that that's like one of your, like, signature lines from it's like, what is it? It's something like...
Carolina Ravassa [00:27:58] I thought this was supposed to be the most advanced security system on the planet.
Kaili Vernoff [00:28:01] Yes, that is exactly it! And my daughter started talking with you and I was like, how do you know this?
Carolina Ravassa [00:28:07] Oh funny. Yeah. You know, I hadn't joined the TikTok. And then a fan said, hey, did you know that you're one of your things is going viral on TIkTok and I'm like I don't know what you're talking about. And then that's what made me join. So I actually joined TikTok doing a video of myself doing Sombra.
Kaili Vernoff [00:28:26] That is so smart. Yeah. Speaking of playing Sobra and sorry I mispronounced her name earlier, so I'm saying it properly now: Sombra. I watched a really cool video of you doing Sombra cosplay and it looked like you were that you were at a Comic Con.
Carolina Ravassa [00:28:43] Yes, sI've done it three times. It was I wearing purple. Yes. Yeah. Because that's the main that's like the original costume. And that's the first time I did it. And it was so much fun, this cosplay. I kept bumping into her at Con and she was like, hey, you want to try my jacket on? Hey, someday I'd love to do the Sombra makeup on you for a Con. And I'm like, I'll see, I'll see. I don't know. And then finally she was like, hey, we're going to be at this Con together. You should do this. And I was like, OK, let's do it. So I sent her my measurements. And she just got to work and she did all my makeup and she took care of stuff because I could have never done it myself.
Kaili Vernoff [00:29:20] They are such artists, these cosplay artists, they are just incredible.
Carolina Ravassa [00:29:24] Yeah. Yeah. They're so talented. So I give her full credit. Melanie Jasmine has taken care of my three plays and they're so rad.
Kaili Vernoff [00:29:32] They are so rad. Did the fans just go insane?
Carolina Ravassa [00:29:36] You know, a lot of them just were like oh cool Sobra outfit and like yeah thanks man and I booped them and then walking further down people would go like this is a real Sombra and then they don't come running back.
Kaili Vernoff [00:29:46] Oh my God.
Carolina Ravassa [00:29:48] So it was really cute when they had that a ha moment.
Kaili Vernoff [00:29:51] You know, that is so cool. Yeah. I interviewed a couple in Germany that have a cosplay company together. They go by Maul cosplay and it was just incredible, their process. I don't know how they do it. And when you see them walking around in the conventions, I mean, you can appreciate the work, but you might not...I wouldn't have realized that like seven hours of makeup goes into this stuff.
Carolina Ravassa [00:30:16] Yeah, luckily, I've never done that long because mine have been more simple, but the end well, I lied... I wasn't doing it to myself, so if I were doing the makeup, it would have taken probably seven hours.
Kaili Vernoff [00:30:27] Yeah. Yeah. I'm not really good at that stuff either. I can barely get it together to look like myself for an audition, let alone like a world-renowned character.
Carolina Ravassa [00:30:38] Yeah, I wanted to be, I wanted to be very specific and I couldn't I couldn't do a crappy Sombra, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:30:46] No. So are are you, are you a gamer or were you a gamer?
Carolina Ravassa [00:30:49] Oh God, no. I'm so bad at it. I'm terrible.
Kaili Vernoff [00:30:53] Yeah, me too. It's sort of devastating. And people will ask me questions and I just feel like I never got to that chapter. I can't I can't stop getting murdered long enough to get to that chapter.
Carolina Ravassa [00:31:04] Yeah. You can see how how their little eyes go dead. And they're like, oh, I wanted her to be a gamer too.
Kaili Vernoff [00:31:11] I know they want to have these like they want to tell you about stuff they've done. And and I just I just feel so sorry. I'm like, I'm so sorry. I've tried. And I have tried. I'm just miserable at it. I'm terrible. Yeah, good, I'm kind of honestly, I'm kind of glad to hear that. So let's talk about Raze in Valorant.
Carolina Ravassa [00:31:33] Yes.
Kaili Vernoff [00:31:34] Talk about another incredible character. I love how they describe her. As they say she explodes out of Brazil with with a blunt force trauma play style. Everything explodes, like she explodes everything.
Carolina Ravassa [00:31:49] She's explosive. Yeah, for sure.
Kaili Vernoff [00:31:54] She is explosive. And that that game came out this summer?
Carolina Ravassa [00:31:57] Yeah, it came out in June.
Kaili Vernoff [00:31:59] Wow. So I wanted to ask you about that. What how do you think that the quarantine has affected gaming and new games coming out? How has that experience been for you?
Carolina Ravassa [00:32:09] I mean, I can't speak... I don't know what that what would have happened with Valorant had they released it during not... No quarantine? I did read an article, and I believe it to be true because I also communicate with the fans a lot of where they're just so grateful to be able to be connecting to their friends as as they had been before. But if they can't see them in person, this is how they get online at the same time and they play and it gives them a sense of normalcy because that's what they've been doing and connection and entertainment. So I feel like, you know, we're all glued to the Internet right now trying to get work done or entertainment or whatever. And I think that it's definitely helped. So I'm sure gamers are gaming some more and I hope they discover Valorant because I think it has been very fun. It's a little bit more competitive than Overwatch. So it's more high stress, in my opinion, probably for them, it's just really fun.
Kaili Vernoff [00:33:02] I'm just thinking about timing. Did you have to do any of the work for Raze in your home studio or were you finished?
Carolina Ravassa [00:33:11] We recorded all of the stuff before before quarantine hit. But then I did during quarantine, I did record. Oh, my gosh. I had to go to a friend's because there's been construction near my house. So even if I have my little booth set up, the sound was terrible. So I created a fort with four chairs and put the duvet on top and sat on the floor and recorded voice lines out of my really good mic in my friend's living room.
Kaili Vernoff [00:33:41] I really hope you took pictures of that because I don't think people realize how much we just have to MacGyver this stuff these days.
Carolina Ravassa [00:33:49] You know, I might have a look for it. I thought, yeah, I just I didn't want. Well, maybe Riot knew that I was doing that. I wanted to seem professional, you know, like, I know. I think they knew I had construction going on. So I told them I'd figure something out at a friend's house.
Kaili Vernoff [00:34:04] I will tell you that as we speak, I am in a beach cabana like a stand alone beach cabana that I have clamped moving blankets around the sides and on the top and on the bottom and then so that I can pack it up and put it away when we're done and then take it take it out tomorrow when I have voiceover auditions.
Carolina Ravassa [00:34:27] That's amazing. See, I finally just put my mind in my closet because I kept having to move stuff and rearrange stuff every time. And now I, I record auditions maybe every day. So I'm like, I need something that just lives where it lives. It's tiny though. I get very hot in there.
Kaili Vernoff [00:34:44] It's very hot, it's very, very hot. And I don't even have a closet that's big enough. And like while we're talking, I have the front panel open so that I'm not as hot because we're talking and like we can edit out any sirens. But, you know, when you're working, it's like it's closed on all four sides and it's hot.
Carolina Ravassa [00:35:04] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:35:05] People need to know how we suffer.
Carolina Ravassa [00:35:07] Suffer and have fun at the same time.
Kaili Vernoff [00:35:10] You do. So I would love to ask you, since you've done both, tell me about the differences in playing characters with performance capture and characters that you just have to create in a booth,.
Carolina Ravassa [00:35:22] You know, PCap or mocap is really fun. I got to work on a video, that I was I was cut out of so we won't talk about that one. But it was fun because I got to, we trained with an Iraq vet who taught us like war tactics, how to move, how to hold these big weapons. You know, it was cool because I learned some stuff that's going to help me for future things. So I'm really grateful for that. And working with a team in the mocap studio, there were about five of us, such lovely people. All we did was have fun. While we were waiting for the next scene to shoot, we would be doing handstands and cartwheels like it was just... I love the feeling of being on set with other people. I think that when you're in the booth, it's just like, OK, the director in the sound engineer and you, and I think I like a more family setting, but it's really nice not to have to memorize lines.
Kaili Vernoff [00:36:18] Yes.
Carolina Ravassa [00:36:20] And yes, I think that some of the lines I do as Raze or as Sombra if I had to do them as a normal human, they might I might look strange doing them because I think that sometimes we. We we turn into these other people while we're doing these these voices, right? And so I don't know how it would feel to be acting it with your body and seeing the lines. There's something nice about V.O. Sometimes that gives you a freedom that I think on camera you don't always have.
Kaili Vernoff [00:36:50] I never thought about that. It's so true. There's like an anonymity to it where you can really let your imagination take over your face. Yeah, that's really, really interesting. It's an incredible skill to have these really physical characters that you play like Raze and Sombra who are so physical. And I feel that physicality. But I know that you're standing in a booth and that you're hardly moving. That is. How do you manage that?
Carolina Ravassa [00:37:22] I mean, I think that I do move in a booth and sometimes they're like, we heard your pants make noise. But I think that if I can physicalize something, I will, because it helps. You know, it's just high energy. You have to keep it up. And and I'm always stretching in the booth to make sure I'm not feeling laggy or I usually stand. There's just stuff that we do that we can keep feeling active, even though we're we're not.
Kaili Vernoff [00:37:51] Yeah. Yeah. So tell me about this new character that you are playing in Onyx Equinox. I, I think it looks so gorgeous.
Carolina Ravassa [00:38:01] Yes. That's a really beautiful project that is anime inspired. So it's not anime, but it's anime-inspired. And it will go on Crunchyroll.com, which is a website where there's a ton of anime stuff and it's kind of Mesoamerican mythological gods and goddesses dealing with all the crises they've they've dealt with in mostly Aztec mythology. So I gets to play a warrior, let's call her a princess, but she's just a warrior chick who's really cool. I can't say much about the storyline because I'll be ruining it, but it's been really cool to get to work on something that, you know, all the characters are Latinx and we don't get enough of that. We're getting more of it. But I think this is one of the ones that I'm really excited about, like Victor Valentino, where most characters are Latino and we just we haven't gotten a chance to see that before. So I'm just really psyched. This Princess, Ziania is very much like me. My voice is just kind of a younger version of me. So it's not a lot of, like, crazy-sounding characters. But she's just again, she's pretty badass, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:39:14] Yeah. Do you have an easier time dropping into the emotional life of characters without having to put on a different voice? Like, does that help you?
Carolina Ravassa [00:39:25] Yeah, I well so far for animation stuff. Yeah. Ziania. It's a drama, right? So that's the first animation that I do that is very connected to the emotions. The others are just fun cartoons that are like, Wa-oh, you know, or like, oh my God, that's so cool. So they're very kind of light and fun.
Kaili Vernoff [00:39:44] So that must be amazing to get to use your, you know, your whole dropped-in authentic voice.
Carolina Ravassa [00:39:50] Yeah. Yeah. For drama. Also, they're not always asking for cartoony voices. So then it goes back to, oh, we're just looking for something very similar to Carolina. So I kind of know when you know the genre, you know kind of what to offer.
Kaili Vernoff [00:40:04] Yeah. Yes. OK, I want to since we touched a little bit on going out to Comic Cons, I know that you have really gotten out on the road and gotten to meet fans and it's taken you all over the world. And I'm wondering if that was something that surprised you and how you have felt about it and what it's been like meeting the fans.
Carolina Ravassa [00:40:25] Oh, my God. It's been the craziest thing. I, I never I didn't know this was a thing. After Bliz Con, I got invited the next day to a Con in Houston and I thought, oh cool. Yeah, sure, that sounds great. I never thought that that year I would end up in Hawaii, Kuwait, Argentina, a year later, the Philippines, Australia. Like what?! So it just in that aspect I've always been a traveler, like if there was any extra money in my bank account, it would go towards travel the cheap way. I would backpack, I would take the cheapest, longest flight, but I would make it happen. And now I just get to travel as part of my job. And of course, I'll always tack on a few days because you better believe I'm going to see that city, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:41:15] Oh, yeah, yeah. Because you're there. And, you know, when you do the conventions, it is a lot of work. I mean, it's incredible work, but you're not really or at least my experience, you're not really seeing the city. Why on the days that you're working, too tired. For me, too tired after like I have to go right to the hotel and sleep.
Carolina Ravassa [00:41:35] It depends, you know? Well right, I haven't had to travel a lot for film and TV. I lie. I have. And they've always been great experiences, but with cons, there's something about like, yes, you're totally dead at the end of the day and like you need a drink because you're brain dead. But there is this also like energetic feel in the air that you just feel like you want to go and explore. And I mean, Jen Cohn and her mom in the Philippines, we were exhausted, but they went out and explored more of the Philippines. It was just like there's something that you kind of like. And cons are different, right? I'm not acting, so I'm not worried about I don't know my lines and I need to have slept well to perform well tomorrow. Cons are social and fun. And they do take a lot of out of you. But but it's just you being present. And I can do that without having to worry about my craft and my script and and that kind of thing versus. Yes, if it is film, you're being very careful about what you're doing.
Kaili Vernoff [00:42:35] Yeah, I think you're right that it's about being present. And I found that was what that was what surprised me was how, you know, I realized I wanted to be present for every single person who had spent their money to be there. I wanted to really hear their stories and just be there with them and not be distracted and hear everything they wanted to tell me and know, answer what I could. And that is it's such a surprise and such a privilege how how invested, you know, people are in these characters and the work that we've done.
Carolina Ravassa [00:43:09] Yeah. Well, you know, I started off by saying, like, the travel has been amazing and then add on to that, that you get to meet people from all walks of life that have these stories and have their lives have been changed somehow by this game, which to me is like insane and beautiful. And I'm like, oh, wow, we're creating change via entertainment. That's an incredible thing, you know? And the more I listen to them at Cons, I've become a better actor, I think, because we have to actively listen. Right. We can't have a fan tell you that this got them through postpartum depression. And you go, OK, well, thank you for coming. And here's your autograph. You go, oh, my God, you just told me this important personal thing. I'm so sorry you went through that. But I'm really... Like it's all of a sudden, like we're fine-tuning our listening in a way that I've never had to focus so much for so long on what people are saying, you know?
Kaili Vernoff [00:44:09] That is really well said and really perceptive. Have you been surprised at who the fans are? I know I was really surprised to meet so many mothers who were fans of the game and women in particular. You must get a lot of young women that identify with the characters you play.
Carolina Ravassa [00:44:28] Yeah, yeah. I love when when young women, especially Latinx girls, come up and say, you know, we've never had a character like this in a video game that's not, you know, an illegal immigrant or all the other horrible things that they always do to portray us. But I'm also always surprised when men come up and they're all like, "yeah, I love your character." And then they get all teary-eyed saying that, you know, they've never felt represented. And finally their mom sits down next to them to watch them play because Sombra connects to her and their accent and their language. And and it's cute because they're trying to be like, broey but they crack, you know, it's kind of cute and beautiful.
Kaili Vernoff [00:45:12] That is really beautiful. I love that. I mean, and when we talk about, like, who would have thought, like who would have thought that, as you know, as you're as you're building these characters in your voiceover booth and making whatever crazy faces that you will be affecting people and helping them, like you said, get through post-partum. What a gift. Yeah, that's crazy. Crazy. And it's different from other things that we do. Like if we do a play, some people might wait by the stage door. But for the most part, you don't get to learn how your performance has affected an audience member.
Carolina Ravassa [00:45:44] Yeah, it's funny how we don't we don't always have that interaction. And I think this is the first time where I get the immediate feedback. You know, there's still a level of disbelief sometimes that that so many people could get affected and positively influenced and all of the things. So I'm just I'm really grateful that that I feel really proud of Sombra because I, I can stand behind her and and. Yeah. Feel proud. You know, I'm representing Latinos in a really great way with this character.
Kaili Vernoff [00:46:14] Mm hmm. Well, I am not surprised because I, I think you are just incredibly talented. I really can't wait to watch where you go.
Carolina Ravassa [00:46:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Kaili Vernoff [00:46:26] So tell me about what is coming up next for you that you that you can share?
Carolina Ravassa [00:46:30] Well, the crazy thing is that I've really missed on-camera acting, even though I love, love, love the voiceover world. And it's been really good to me the last three years. And Con have kept me busy and all that stuff. I haven't done a lot of film and TV acting. And so a script came into my hands by a director who just wrote this and wanted to make a film about a girl going through quarantine. And I read the script. I loved it. And I was like, oh my gosh, we have to do this. And it's all set in one location. So it's like minimal crew because of covid, like all the things set in place for trying to shoot this still right now. But it's the first time that I'm connecting gaming with my film and TV life. So this character's a player who does Twitch live streaming and then she goes down some dark tunnels in her emotional life during COVID and then has to kind of come out on the other side. So it's a really beautiful film because I feel like it's something that my followers could really connect to right now, because it has to do with gaming, cosplaying, addiction to social media and how we always think that everybody else has it better when really we're all just in the same struggle trying to figure out what life is all about. So it's more about an emotional journey that this individual goes through. But it's going to be really interesting with all the different cosplay going on.
Kaili Vernoff [00:47:52] And I have to tell you, I have like tingles. I think this is an incredible idea and so timely.
Carolina Ravassa [00:47:59] Yeah, absolutely. Because I feel like even though I have a good head on my shoulders, I had moments where you can't stop the insta scrolling in COVID and you're going, what's my future? And then we're in the relationships that don't make sense for us. And then turning to the people who really do care about us and how they're going to help us through and then and turning inward to see what we really want. I just think there's so many.... We judge ourselves so harshly now because of getting to see what other people are, quote unquote doing. But we don't really know if that picture is genuine because of social media. So I don't know if it spoke to me on so many levels.
Kaili Vernoff [00:48:38] Hmm, amazing. I really can't wait to see that and hear more about it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:48:43] And also, like, all the info is going to be on all my social media.
Kaili Vernoff [00:48:46] So, yes, I love that you're like you've got your name. It's like Ravassa. It's like I was like she like owns her name everywhere. It's very cool.
Carolina Ravassa [00:48:55] Except my YouTube channel I guess is the name is the Web series Hispanglosaxon. So some people are like, is that your channel? Hispanic, Anglo, Hispanic? Nobody can ever say it.
Kaili Vernoff [00:49:07] But I said it right. I'm pretty sure I said it right.
Carolina Ravassa [00:49:09] You, you got it. I was very impressed.
Kaili Vernoff [00:49:12] Oh good. Hispanglosaxon. I'll say it again.
Carolina Ravassa [00:49:15] Absolutely.
Kaili Vernoff [00:49:18] OK, so as we're winding down here, I, I would love to talk to you about well you know, as we were just discussing, right? We can't do anything totally alone and we get in our own heads especially in quarantine. Right. So we can't do this in a vacuum. We need each other. And so I would love to give you an opportunity to tell me about a time in your life, in your career, when somebody recognized something special in you and really gave you a chance to shine.
Carolina Ravassa [00:49:49] Mmmm. There have been there have been a few. I mean, a few people that have said things to me that have stuck quite beautifully, trying to choose which moment.
Kaili Vernoff [00:50:12] And you can give me more than one, because I would love to hear it.
Carolina Ravassa [00:50:16] Sure.
Carolina Ravassa [00:50:18] Most recently well, two years ago, I sent my my animation demo reel to Dan Povenmire, who works for Disney Animation. He created Phineas and Ferb and I know... Murphy's Law. Yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:50:31] So good.
Carolina Ravassa [00:50:32] Yeah. So it's so amazing. And I sent it to him and saying I'd love to take you out to lunch and because I want to start auditioning for animation here. We'd been put in touch through a mutual contact and he set up the luncheon and then he calls me and he goes, HI Carolina, it's Dan Povenmire. I'm like, Oh, hi. Dan. He goes, I just wanted to let you know, I just listen to your demo reel. And he paused and I thought, oh, my God, he's going to tell me he listened to it and he doesn't think there's a place for me and he wants to cancel lunch. Right. And he says and I just want you to know that this is one of the strongest demo reels I've heard in a really long time. And I am just so excited to this and that. And he went off and I was like [gasp] and since then, Dan has been a super champion for me. He's any time he can recommend me for something he does. And because of him, I've worked with some really great creators for Netflix and Disney, and he's just always, always has his eye out for any way he can help me. So that's been beautiful in the in the kind of animation world that is beautiful.
Kaili Vernoff [00:51:44] And I love that you were thinking the worst.
Carolina Ravassa [00:51:46] Yeah. Because we I don't know why we're wired to do this and maybe how he paused. And I was thinking about a director friend in New York, Manolo Celi. He's Venezuelan. And the first short I ever did in New York right after graduating The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, I auditioned for him and she was a pregnant Colombian young lady. And I walked in with a helmet under my dress as a pregnant lady. And he he watched me walk in and I was walking with a hand behind my back as if the belly was so heavy and he just loved it. And later on, he said, Caro, as soon as you walked in, I knew I just know you're going to be a star. And I was like, Dude, that's stupid. Don't don't talk about star stuff. And he goes, no, you walked in owning this character and other chicks were wearing heels and tight dresses outside. And I love that you were just so connected to her. And I... You just have to always trust your gut when you're when you're performing. And I have I have called upon him in later times when I just was bombing auditions. And he goes, Caro, you just need to like you need to take a step back and sit for a little bit and connect to yourself, because right now you're just you're so anxious about trying to do the right thing for that casting director, that director. You just need to like you to chill. Like sometimes we try too hard. And I remember that that just sitting really well because he believed in me so much that I knew whatever he would say to me was going to help me, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:53:18] Yeah. What a gift.
Carolina Ravassa [00:53:20] Yeah. And there's been there's been other ones like this. You find little nuggets of people that give you gold and you hold on to those those moments.
Kaili Vernoff [00:53:31] Yeah. I think what you're reminding me is that there there are those moments when it all just can feel with what we do, like we're just constantly up against a brick wall. And those voices can come back to us in those moments to, you know, to be true to ourselves and. Yeah, and and wait for it will.
Carolina Ravassa [00:53:51] And this idea that we keep trying for that role or this, oh, I could pull my hair up like I could do this for that. And sometimes it's like just knowing that what's what's yours is yours in a universe in a universe sense. And if that world is meant for me, it's meant for me. Obviously, I'm not going to phone it in. It's not about that. But it's believing that the right things are going to come for you, you know, with your preparedness and also just with you chilling a little bit. We gottta. We've got to trust, you know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:21] Yeah, just take it easy.
Carolina Ravassa [00:54:23] Deep breaths, yeah.
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:26] Oh, well, this has been such a delight. I have just loved talking with you.
Carolina Ravassa [00:54:31] Likewise. This has been so great. Thank you. Oh my gosh.
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:34] I really want to see you like in person. I don't know if we could ever make that happen, if the world would ever reopen.
Carolina Ravassa [00:54:40] Knock knock world! Would you please is open up again?
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:43] And so there. Mentally I'm already there. I can't wait.
Carolina Ravassa [00:54:46] I know. Yay. You let me know.
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:50] OK, I promise I will. Thank you so much.
Carolina Ravassa [00:54:53] Thank you.
Kaili Vernoff [00:54:56] She is so fun and so talented. Be sure to check the show notes for her socials where you can find updates on that film she's producing, where she plays a cosplayer and gamer living the ups and downs of quarantine. Carolina and her team were able to successfully fund the film on Kickstarter thanks to the help of a lot of fans, and I personally cannot wait to see it. Carolina also interviews other incredible video game and animation actors on her Twitch channel. So follow her there to keep up with the latest conversations. For exclusive bonus material with Carolina and all our other awesome podcast guests, be sure to check out thegameHERs website. And now a message from the*gameHERs: oK, everyone, it is time to recognize women in all aspects of gaming for their dedication to creating content, building communities and empowering each other, the*gameHERS Awards honors exceptional women in gaming in 17 different categories nominated by you, the gameHERs community. So it is your time to make your voice heard and vote for who you think should win each gameHERs award. Anyone can participate. So head to thegamehers.com. That's the game hers dot com and click on awards to cast your vote. And be sure to tune in on November 19th to watch the awards show live on the*gameHERs Twitch Channel. You know, I'll be watching and I cannot wait to see who wins. See you there.
Verta Maloney, the*gameHERs [00:56:24] Thanks for listening. Let's Play was brought to you by the*gameHERs, a community that connects all types of women gamers and welcomes every human who supports this. Let's Play was produced by Kaili Vernoff and co-produced by the*gameHERs team, Laura Deutsch, Rebecca Dixon, Verta Maloney, Heather Ouida and Alexis Willcock with Sound Design done by Frank Verderosa. Please visit thegamehers.com for show notes, to access exclusive bonus material, and to learn more about the*gameHERs community. And we'- so appreciate if you subscribed and gave us a five star review. Thanks again for listening.