This week we chatted with rising star Ava Cantrell, who has gone from recurring roles in television and supporting roles in films to her first leading role in the new horror-thriller ABIGAIL where she stars as the titular character who has “an axe to grind” with some neighborhood bullies. Ava talks about the challenges of taking on a manipulative character and the physical challenges of nearly a month of night shoots working sundown to sun up, and also shares some advice for parents of child actors. “Your parent’s support is so important as a child actor, it’s a very hard thing to do by yourse ..read more

This week we are joined by a delightful trio from the hilarious new queer-led comedy series OPEN TO IT: Frank Arthur Smith ('Greg' and series creator), Tim Wardell ('Cam') and Jason Caceres ('Princeton'), to talk all about the series' first season, upcoming Pride special, what they've learned about themselves throughout production, and what they hope changes in the industry, from better representation to more open-mindedness in the casting process. The series follows loving gay couple Greg and Cam as they open up their relationship to explore a potential throuple with a Princeton. You can see ..read more

New Year, New Season of Actors With Issues! For our first episode of the year we are joined by former casting director and current acting and audition coach Sam Stiglitz. Sam got her start as a theatre performer with aspirations of becoming a Broadway performer. When she realized she wasn’t the biggest fan of New York City (no offense taken!), she made the move to Los Angeles, and after interning at a casting office, began her career in casting. Since then, she’s worked with some of the biggest offices in LA, started her own office and made the transition to coaching clients.  “I found wi ..read more

For the final Actors With Issues of 2023, we are joined by the delightful star on the rise Diego Tinoco for a special ONE HOUR episode!. At just 26 years old, Diego has four seasons of On My Block under his belt as lead character Caesar and multiple feature film credits including the action-packed Knights of the Zodiac and the upcoming Bad Hombres where he stars as Felix, a young immigrant on the run, working opposite Luke Hemsworth, Thomas Jane, and Hemky Madera. Diego gives such an insightful look into his life, career and hopes for the future, reflecting on hit time on On My Block and ..read more

Cobra Kai alum and rising star Gianni DeCenzo joins us this week to talk all things acting! It’s Actors With Issues, what else would we do? Gianni began his career at just eight years old, booking roles in commercials and co-starring roles in television series like The Middle, The League, and Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie. Since 2018, Gianni has starred in the hit action dramedy series Cobra Kai as Demetri where he was able to use his own martial arts skills in Krav Maga.  This episode focuses a lot on transitioning, growing and learning as Gianni chats with us about his work as a ..read more

In this interview, Zamani shares her experience working on the new comedy film Bottoms where she delved into stunts, physical comedy and improv, as well as her roles in Blumhouse projects American Refugee and Sacred Lives, two roles she credits as having learned the most from. "There were things with those characters that we talked about at table read and with the director that I realized about myself. I thought 'oh, this was self-evaluation for me!'" she laughed. " I was a lot younger when we filmed Sacred Lives and I was at that age where you're just trying to figure ..read more

Born and raised in New York City, actor Bibin Shrestha moved to Los Angeles within the last few years and soon found success working in commercials, booking campaigns for brands like Starbucks, Blue Diamond Almonds, Muscle Milk and Maruchan, to name a few. Bibin delves into some of the discoveries he made during the pandemic about pursuing an acting career, the many lessons learned along the way, and (the different approaches to commercial auditions vs auditions for film and television.) “You have to know who you are. You use yourself all the time as an actor when you’re working on a project ..read more

Rising star Raphael Alejandro joins us this week to talk about his role of Hugo in Apple TV+ series “Acapulco”, a role he has played for nearly 5 years since the film “How To Be A Latin Lover”. Despite his age, Raphael has more professional credits under his belt than most twenty-something actors and is wise beyond his years. He talks about finally heading to Las Colinas for season 2, the series’ lesson of family and who from the “past” Acapulco cast he would most want to work with. Season two of “Acapulco” premieres Friday, October 21st on Apple TV+. Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed the ..read more

This week we are joined by TV veteran Tony Danza and his acting coach of 10 years James Price at The Acting Studio in New York City, who each share some of the most important lessons they’ve learned in and out of their professions, how much the industry has changed since they first began their careers, and the importance of actors of all levels continuing their training, regardless of their experience. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review! ? Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/3iC2Gml ? Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3iC3Q ..read more

In today’s episode, we speak with Candace Nicholas-Lippman, who stars in the STARZ series Blindspotting which is making its 2nd season premiere on April 14th. Candace plays the loyal, hilarious, and charming character Janelle on the series and Candace talks about how courage remains one of the biggest things she learned from playing the character, and how overnight success is the biggest misconception she debunked once she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review! ? Listen on Apple: htt ..read more