Winning Actor Zachary Laoutides: Staying in Inspirations

Zachary Laoutides is co-owner of the first Hispanic film studio in Chicago and the Midwest named Ave Fenix Pictures. His latest 2019 release Black Ruby had solid reviews domestic and foreign, with Celebrity UK and Essex TV Magazine giving the movie four stars. The Huffington Post praised Laoutides’ performance as respect to Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando.

With Laoutides’ bright horizon on the future and the world changing due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic a lot is changing. I was able to connect with Laoutides and talk with him about his acting future and how creatively he is staying inspired.

Is it hard to see your career in 2020 becoming temporarily stalled, you received some great praise in 2019 being called the Next Generation of Hollywood’s Rising Stars in 2019?

No not really. I feel bad for everyone else. Acting to me is a rarity and the chances of me becoming an actor and doing it for a living was always slim to none. I love it, but I keep a loose grip on it. I take it seriously, but not as serious as you’d think – I’ll adjust.

How have you passed the time with movie projects being shutdown?

I feel I’ve still been on my toes creatively, so it hasn’t been hard for me to pass the time. I’ve indulged myself in some of my projects, so I can be in ‘la la land’ for a large part of the day (laughs).  

Do you practice during the shutdown – your acting?

I have tried that and it’s somewhat unnatural. I thought of shooting some monologues and sending them to my team, maybe get reactions or we discuss character development… But it’s so unnatural and I feel it’s disingenuous to the character and the story. I’m really not a fan of monologues, unless we really need to test something out.

What keeps you inspired?

Stories – Sometimes you go through a spell and you’re just not feeling anything. I felt very constraint for a while and that I was limited inside a box. A few months ago I just didn’t want to write that way or create that way anymore. We had a great run with the La Raza style of filmmaking that combined community into our films. It was experimental, it was art house, and it was giving back in a way… Then I have these more cinematic ideas floating around in my head and it was time to move into that next level.

Any advices to actors in the field feeling the effects of beings stuck inside?

It’s a great time for reading, researching and learning – anything you want – now is the time to grab that extra wisdom and use it in your craft.